Drum mic techniques

Does anyone have any recommendations on good sources for drum mic'ing techniques & tips? A thread here on the forum, another site, a book, etc?  Not just mic placement, but addressing the number of mics to use. Our last recording, we used 5 mics on the drums (kick, snare, HH, 2 OHs - the HH mic didn't add much because the OH mics pick up the HH just fine) but our drummer would like to use more mics on our next recording. I did run into some issues with mixing the drums on cymbals and toms where I wished I had more mics. For example, during a fill I couldn't raise the toms without raising the crash, etc.
Thanks!

Do some research on the "Recorderman Drum Technique".  I've been using it off and on over the last 5 years and I keep coming back to it. 

Long story short, you measure each OH mic roughly 3ft away from the snare and pointing straight at it.   Depending where the drummer keeps his snare, it might look wacky, but your snare will end up dead center and the kit panning should sound very natural.  Most importantly, it should be in perfect phase with the snare mic.  Best way to check that is to record a snare hit and examine zoomed in close to see the direct vs overhead tracks and adjust mics accordingly. 

The big drum mic revelation hit me after I started interning and worked with some kick-ass engineers.  I found that they generally place the snare mic (sm-57) almost parallel to the drum's skin (flat) with the plastic head lined up with the steel rim of the drum.  Basically, the way I understand it-- when micing a snare or tom, flat/parallel placement will get you more "attack" and angled gets you more resonance or "bonk".  Generally for rock music, you want the attack.  4:1 compression should give you the basic rock "thwack" sound.

Room mics were the other major piece to the puzzle, for me anyways.  Standard practice, we would always use a stereo pair (as far away from the drums as possible and facing in the opposite direction) and a mono room mic stashed in a "creative" place.  The thing with room mics is you dial them so you almost can't hear them, but they add this mojo that you can't always get with reverb.  Also room mics can sound pretty sexy when you abuse them with compression and hard EQ.

I still struggle with Kick sounds, but it has gotten a lot easier since I started using the Audix D6 + Yamaha Subkick combo.  D6 gets the attack and the sub gets the woof.  As long as the drummer isn't a sissy, I can get keeper tracks that don't need to be sample replaced.  Both mics are kinda idiot-proof.  I usually have the D6 almost outside the port and I have to flip the phase switch to be in phase with the other mics.

Hope that helps.  Good luck!

http://www.sweetwater.com...rophones/miking101.php

There are several videos there and one is on drums.

"our drummer would like to use more mics on our next recording."

You have two choices....

1) Pay him to play and then refuse to use more mics.

2) Force him to mix the mess himself.

:-)

remind him he already figured out the hi-hat mic is only useful when playing brushes.

Dave and Mike have already given you some great advice, but I'll go ahead and chip in too.

Re: the drummer wanting more mics. Just remind him that he's only a drummer!

The first rule of mic club, is that there are no rules. Or at least that rules are meant to be broken. It's by breaking rules that new techniques are developed, such as the BBC technique (as I also know it - see Recorderman). The bottom line - it either works or it doesn't. Being creative through experimentation is a wonderful thing, and if ever someone says that you are doing something wrong, just turn round to them and say, "I know!". Then carry on doing it!

Setting up overhead mics for a drum kit is something that people have the most trouble with, and I'm sure it's because they don't fully understand the point of having the overheads in the first place. Once they understand the purpose, they normally start getting a better result straight away. A common misconception is that the overheads are just there to capture the cymbals, hats and maybe a bit of overall ambiance. In fact some people refer to them as cymbal mics. They are correct to a degree, but they are missing the bigger picture. The overhead mics are there to capture the whole drum kit. With just the overheads, you should be getting a good sound where all the drums and cymbals are balanced in terms of level, EQ and pan. If the kit doesn't sound good through the overheads, if a drum or cymbal is prominent or if you find your self adding more than just a smig of EQ, then the mics need repositioning - assuming you are using suitable mics in the first place. Don't try to fix these issues later in the mix. because you won't be able to.

The BBC technique is a very good starting point. It has a long, well proven history, but again it isn't a rule, and there are other techniques. The reason the BBC method works well, is that it is positioning the mics to pick up all the drums as uniformly as possible. Most mic'ing styles involve the overheads be above and to the sides of the kit, with the mics aimed at the snare, because the snare is roughly the centre of the kit, and is also a dominant drum that needs to be clear in the mix.

After the overhead pair is setup and sounding nice, it's time to close mic the individual drums. The point of doing this is to bring out the character of each drum and capture it's individual range of frequencies to make them fuller. Dave mentioned how positioning the snare mic changes the sound, and this is a very important point. The SM 57 is my favourite snare mic too. The angle you have it in relation to the drum head, and the part of the drum head it's pointing to will significantly change the sound. The same thing applies to the toms, and the kick too, and it's a great area for experimentation. If you are recording the same drummer/kit regularly then it's well worth spending time experimenting until you find a setup that works well, then make a note of it for future use.

The kick drum needs a bass mic such as an AKG D112. Again positioning is important. If you aim it at the beater you will get a sharp, clicky attack which is often desirable. In addition to using a bass mic, you can also add a sub to the front skin, which is basically a loudspeaker driver connected through an inline attenuator which picks up the sub frequencies. That's an optional extra though, so if you have an old, biggish speaker driver hanging about, you could try that out.

Another thing that shouldn't be over looked is the tuning and padding of the drums. Some times you need to add some foam, a bit of rag or some gaffa tape to tame the drums. Chucking a pillow in the kick drum etc. A new set of drum heads is always good when embarking on a session too.

Mic'ing the hats and multi-mic'ing individual drums is mostly unnecessary, and can be problematic. The hat should be just fine in the overheads for most styles. Mic'ing the underside of toms in addition to mic'ing the top is pointless as the lower resonant skin interacts with the batter skin and therefore gets picked up by the upper mic. The same goes for the snare.

A couple of other points to consider. Phase issues can develop when mics are pointing in different directions. This can cause part of the signal to be cancelled out. This can largely be avoided just with sensible mic placement. Cymbals are very underestimated. They are in effect bells, and should be treated so. The trebly clash of a cymbal is misleading, because it also contains a lot of low frequency energy that can extend down below 20Htz. On the subject of cymbals, in another recent post, someone was complaining of a sweeping/wooshing sound coming from their cymbals - that's what you get if your overheads are pointing at the edge of the cymbals as they swing. Position mics where drummers won't hit them! Use good stands - there's nothing worse than a mic dropping down on a skin! When it comes to mixing the kit I like to hard pan the overheads left and right, but it's important to remember to pan the individually mic'ed drums to match - Toms for example.

After it's all said and done it add fullness to the snare.

You'd think it's adds some sizzle to the sharp attack recorded off the top skin... but sometimes it adds more "smack".

The extra mic helps fatten the tone and it gives you an opportunity to blend a custom snare sound.

It also increases the issues of comb filtering...  and so it contributes to making the cymbals sound less than wonderfully natural.

I suggest you dial in your overhead technique and you'll find less and less need for spot mics. If the OH is done right the snare will sound nice and fat.

After that you can use the top and bottom mic to have fun and explore options.

best,
mike

I was surprised at the amount of tonal variation obtained between micing the top & bottom of a snare, certianly on the sample sets included in BFD2.

FXpansion actually provide 2 different mic samples for the top skin & 1 for the bottom, though when it comes to mixing, 1 on the top & 1 on the bottom is usually enough.

The bottom one really brings out the attack of the stick hitting the skin, while the top mic brings out more of the body.

First thing... drop the HiHat mic (not necessary)
A well positioned set of OH mics will pick up plenty of HiHat and Ride cymbal.
 
Listen First:
Listen to a drummer playing up close... then listen at a distance.  Note how different the sound is from each perspective!  Cymbals sound best from a distance.  Forgo close mics on cymbals... and make sure to place the OH mics high enough to allow some distance/space.  Your goal is to capture the sound of that drumkit... as it sounds in the room.  That starts with the Overhead mics.
 
Overhead Mics:
Get the bulk of your sound from them.
If you're not capturing a good/balanced overall sound from just the OH mics, you need to work on that before adding other mics into the equation.  Experiment and don't be affraid to make mistakes! 
Are the Kick and Snare relatively centered in the Overheads... or are they skewed way off to the sides?
If it's the later... you need to reposition the Overheads. 
Once you have a good/balanced sound coming from the Overhead Mics, do some test recordings and listen to the playback.  What's missing?  Use spot mics to enhance the Overhead sound... not vice-versa.
If you want more thump from the kick, add a spot mic to it (preferably one that works well in low frequency applications).  If you want more smack/crack from the snare, an SM57 placed in tradition position (or mic'ing the shell as SkullSession pointed out) will deliver.
Again, if you're not getting a good sound with the Overhead mics, no amount of close mic'ing will fix that.
Listen to the Overheads, and add close mics to enhance an already good sound.
 
Simpler is usually better:
Use the minimum amount of mics possible to capture the desired sound.
You'll thank yourself over and over when it's time to mix.
 
Phase:
Make sure all mics are in phase.
Careful mic placement goes a long way...
You can use the phase switch in Sonar to test/compare.
 
Room Mics:
If you have a decent room, Room Mics can add a lot to the drum track.
It'll sound more 3 dimensional, you can process the Room Mics to achieve longer reverb/ambience EFX, and the drums will sound larger.  In fact, for some genres you may find that the Room Mics add enough "size" to the kit that you forgo close mics on the Toms.
 
 
The more you record drums, the better end results you'll achieve...
Record often... and be OK with making mistakes and learning along the way
I'd liken the practice of recording drums to "trouble-shooting"... (especially when you're learning)
 
 

Drum Recording Handbook by Owsinski. Also Recording Engineers Handbook (same author). My personal tips.....

*make sure the drums sound good to begin with
*for rock, hit the snare hard (use the butt of the stick if need be)
*not all stage playing techniques adapt to recording well (i.e. open hi hat rides).
*keep oil can handy for squeaky pedals.

Great advice. This forum is awesome!! Can't wait to start experimenting - this gives me a lot to get me started.

I agree about not deadening the kit too much.  Also, I never captured snare sounds I was proud of until I started using Moon Gel.  They minimize ring without taking it away completely.  Now I never do a session without them.  They are washable and can be reused lots of times.