question about X-Y stereo mics on drum overheads [UPDATED]

Typically, Dave, you'd set them up so that they are up above the drummer pointing downward so that the mics are "looking" past each other in the X pattern.

The higher you place the mics, and the wider you swivel your X pattern, the more room you'll get.  Lower and less spread will give you more of the kit and less of the room.  However, XY typically captures a lot of room either way.

Make sure that your XY pattern is arranged so that the snare and kick drums are centered in your image, and equidistant to the mics.

You can also place the mics in front of the kit, pointed at the kit in an XY config.  I prefer the overhead config, as the snare and tom attack and transients are more present.  With the mics in front of the kit, you'll get even MORE of the room, and typically more cymbals than drum attack.

I would also urge you to consider taking a listen to a mono overhead with a mono room config instead.  Or mono OH with stereo room mics.

I think you'll be surprised.  Your average family room - if large - can be a pretty useful place to track drums.

Dave....how high is the ceiling in your family room?

Oh...and don't forget to flip the phase back and forth from the OH mics in relation to the kick and snare mics.  Usually, one way sounds punchier than the other....a little more low end energy comes through when the phase is more in line.

If you flip the phase and don't notice any difference, that's not entirely unusual....so just go with it in that case.

It's a whole new can of worms, but at least you're only talking about 4 mics to begin with.  Recording a kit is one of my favorite challenges.

I would turn the A/C off, it can make a big glitch your take when it swithes on ...................

I think Skulls advice is right on the money. Also, X-Y is the safest way to mic overheads especially with a limited track count. One good thing for sure that with Bluegrass the drummer won't likely be playing hard....that can help quite a bit when recording with low ceilings. It's fun to experiment slipping the snare and kick tracks a few ms worth to line up with the overheads. Sounds like a fun project.

Well recording went great last night! Really happy with the kick and snare. The drummer brought a basic set-up (he didn't even bring any crash cymbals since he didn't need it for these songs - bluegrass/acoustic) so my overheads were mainly just capturing the hi-hit, ride, floor tom and snare (the snare was also mic'd individually).

I ended up sticking with the X-Y configuration - both mics on a stereo mic bar on the same boom stand - over the drum kit, but slightly in front of it and angled down towards the snare but not pointing straight down. It picked things up really nicely because one mic was basically pointing at the hi-hit and the other was pointing towards the ride and floor tom, with the snare centered (which also really helped fill out the snare sound combined with the SM57).

Anyway, it worked well for this style and set-up so I'm happy and appreciate the advice! I didn't end up having any problems with noises from the room, etc. I will do some mixing tonight hopefully and will post the results so you can tell me what I did wrong!

Dave - I did the true XY.

I'm blocked from youtube at work but I'll definitely check out your video!

Couple of mixing comments.

The snare and the midrange of the kick will need a boost. The guitar can go down a bit. You captured everything however. I would also add a little low end to the vocal. It was a little crispy on my headphones.
 
Love that clarinet in the video.

Dave,
I'm listening on PC speakers.  Drums sound great.  Nice mix too.
 
Rich

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