Kick Drum Mic - SM57 or SM58?

[sidereal]

It's interesting you say "mixing while playing" Lee. I've never thought of it in those terms but this is *exactly* what I do while playing. I'm hyper-conscious of dynamics when recording drums. Maybe it's because I'm a mixer as well as a drummer (drummer first!) but I maintain a constant awareness of the mix and what the song needs while playing. Volumes, accents and very subtle forms of expression on *every* instrument of the kit is critically important to me. And before you all reply by saying "I do that too" I'm just saying that I'm particularly anal about it. Anyway, I like the term "mixing while playing". That pretty much sums up why I often prefer the 4-mic setup.

[Steve LeBlanc]

Yep "Mixing while Playing," my brother always works hard to get a really good headphone mix before recording so he can hear the dynamics of while he's playing.

 

Sidereal,

We use two Audio Technica AT4041's for overheads...they aren't the best but seem to capture everything with out too much highs.

[Lee Flier]

Yeah exactly, I always tend to err on the side of trusting the drummer. That is, I assume he's playing with the dynamic mix that he wants on each drum, so who am I to screw with it? Of course if you're both the drummer and the engineer you may have a different approach, because you know what you want, but I know that most drummers who are not engineers, REALLY appreciate the fact that I DON'T mess with their sound much as opposed to most engineers they've worked with. You know, the ones who put duct tape all over everything and close mic everything in as dead a space as possible so THEY can control every aspect of the drum sound... including triggering samples. Whose freakin' drum part is it anyway? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

 

I've also noticed that drummers with a lot of studio experience do tend to become more aware of their own dynamics. There was a thread on Dave Frangioni's forum awhile back where I believe it was Chip McDonald said he thought the reason John Bonham's drum sound was so huge was because he played the drums much harder than the cymbals, which really made the drums stand out. I agreed and went so far as to say that I thought Jimmy Page had really nurtured that in Bonham, by never using close mics on him. However the drums were going to sound, had to come from Bonham's hands and feet and drums, not from studio trickery, so he had to start paying attention to the dynamics while playing.

 

Stan Lynch has also used this approach throughout his career even though engineers and producers have messed with his sound plenty. He's always tended to play the drums louder than the cymbals and this resulted in some monster sounding toms, etc. even if you saw him live in a small room with no mics on him. Not that this is the sound he'd want to go for on every song, but he COULD do it and that really contributed a lot to his "signature" sound.

 

--Lee

 

This message has been edited by Lee Flier on 08-15-2001 at 05:07 PM

[Guest]

I know this is going to sound vague but experiment with different setups. I trully believe that there is no such thing as "the" drum sound for any type of percussion. The guys who I admire are the ones who are not afraid to do things differently.

 

When we made our first batch of samples we did everything "far" mic'd. Some highly respected pros I know said that we were crazy for doing that. However now distant miking seems to be coming into fashion in the sampling world. Do I think that I was responsible for this---heck NO but I wasn't afraid to try something different.

 

For example, here's a sound I love and use a lot.

 

For a snare and hi hat combination

 

DPA (B & K) 4006's running into Avalon VT 737's with a touch of EQ and compression. I usually back them off two feet away from the instruments to let them breathe....Again, I'm a big believer in the fact that every instrument has a "sounding" distance. This "sounding" distance is the distance it takes that particular to mature; ie. develop it's full timbre.

 

Just my 1 1/2 cents...

 

Donnie