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Back to recording
tips
There are as many ways to record drums as
there are ways to play them, from one mic out in front of
the kit to the every-mic-in-the-studio-and-scrounging-for-more
method. Whatever
your approach, ribbon microphones are excellent for tracking
drums – natural sounding, great transient response
and the added advantage of handling EQ really well with no
chance of harsh or grainy sounding tracks. Today, engineers
are using Royer ribbons all over the drum kit and as room
mics. You’ll see this in the examples below.
Before the mics, mic pre’s, recording system or anything
else, your true essentials are 1) a great drummer, 2) a well
tuned drum set and 3) no rattles or squeaks in the drums.
Assuming you’ve got that covered, the first step is
to find where the drum kit sounds best in the room. You might
have to move the kit around several times before you find
the sweet spot but it’s well worth the effort!
You can do this by simply listening to how the kit sounds
in the room without doing any actual recording. Once the
sweet spot is found, than it’s time for the fun part.
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Minimalist
Miking |
Some
of the most legendary drum recordings were made with very
few mics on the kit. Listen to early Beatles records where
the recordings were made on four-track tape machines. The
limited amount of tracks meant that they needed to get a
good drum sound with just two or three mics. A common practice
was to place a Coles 4038 ribbon mic overhead, an AKG D19
on the snare and an AKG D20 out in front of the kit - the
classic Ringosound. Old Motown records employed similar minimal
miking techniques - since many of the sessions were done
live with all of the musicians playing in one large room,
minimal miking was necessary, and it helped reduce leakage
problems. Eddie Kramer used three to four mics to capture
John Bonham’s legendary huge drum sound on many of
Led Zeppelin’s tracks. No one can argue with
that great a sound! There’s a lot to the old saying “Less
is more…”
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| Let’s
start with some simple setups: |
| Mono – |
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Place one R-series
mic in front of the kit, waist high, about 5 feet in front
of the kit. Add compression – maybe an 1176 or
a Distressor. Done.
CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE |
| Stereo – |
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Place an SF-12 or SF-24 over the kit and an R-121 or R-122
on the kick, knee-high, pointing toward the center of the
kick at a 45 degree angle, about a foot in front. Adjust
the height of the SF mic to get the best balance between
the direct sound of the kit and the sound of the room. |
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Usually,
the higher the ceiling, the more height you use. Conversely,
the lower the ceiling, the lower the mic. If reflections
off the ceiling are a problem, place the mic toward the front
or the back of the kit and angle it down 45 degrees. This
picture of an angled SF-12 was taken at Capitol Studios -
Al Schmitt was the engineer. Note the low ceiling of the
isolation booth and the angling of the mic to deal with ceiling
reflections.
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Add a mic on the snare,
if desired. SM-57 or equivalent.
These setups are great for a couple of reasons – simplicity
(obviously) and for achieving a ‘vintage’ sound.
These setups are also perfect for Jazz! |
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Kitchen
Sink Miking |
Minimilist
miking is good for some things, but most engineers today use
a number of mics on the kit and at least a pair of mics in
the room. Here we’ll look at miking the drums on a more
individual basis and show you how a number of engineers use
their Royers.
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| Overheads |
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A great
place to start is with the overheads, as they establish the
imaging and the natural balance of the kit. Your overhead
mics can be spaced closely or spread out for a wider stereo
image. The R-122 is excellent for drum overheads - engineer
Bruce Swedien’s favorite
overhead mic setup is a pair of R-122 phantom powered
ribbons. For Omar Hakim’s kit, Bruce used a pair
of R-122’s for overheads, an R-122 on the ride
cymbal and an R-121 on high hat. |
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Elliot
Scheiner also uses R-122’s for drum overheads.
This pic of the kit was taken during a
Jane Monheit session. |
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Mono
overhead miking can be very effective. To capture
a “cannibal vibe” in
Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Alan Meyerson put one R-122V
tube ribbon mic over each of three kits on the Sony scoring
stage in LA. The drummers - Vinnie Colaiuta, JR Robinson
and Abe Laboriel Jr. - played together simultaneously. |
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The
stereo SF-12 and SF-24 are perfect for single point X-Y stereo
miking, capturing the kit in perfect stereo without any phase
cancellation. Pointing the microphone’s
logo at the snare drum centers the snare in the stereo
image. Moving the mic higher and lower can make a lot
of difference, giving the kit an immediate, punchy sound
(close) or a more open ambient sound (further).
SF-12 for drum overheads on The Dirty Dozen |
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SF-24
for overheads on Train, being recorded by Don Gilmore. Notice
the high ceiling at NRG Studios, which allowed for higher placement
of the microphone without ceiling reflections. |
| Room Mics -
Front of Kit |
| It’s a great idea to use one or two mics in front
of the kit; after all, that’s usually how we listen.
Here are a couple of options: |
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A single
R-series mic 3-4ft. high about 4ft. in front of the kick. This
will pick up the overall sound of the kit and can support your
other tracks nicely – compress
this mic to stun to add hugeness and compressor pump. Here
is Richie Hayward’s kit miked up for a home recording.
This method also works very well in large rooms. |
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An SF-12
or SF-24 stereo mic placed 3-4ft. high, 4-8ft. in front
of the kick generates a nice stereo image. Kenny Aronoff’s
kit miked by Ross Hogarth – SF-24 in front of the kit
with a Coles 4038 ribbon mic under it. |
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Engineer
Steve Kempster’s setup – SF-24 8 feet in front
of the kit, R-122’s overhead, R-122 on ride cymbal. |
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Now try
the same position with the SF-12 or SF-24, but 6-8ft high. Engineer
Steve Churchyard’s mic setup on a Meatloaf Bat Out Of
Hell 3 session. |
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A pair
of R-series ribbons split tight or wide in front of the kit
as room mics. Drums set up in Chuck Ainlay’s studio with
R-122’s split out wide. |
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R-122’s
close together in the room on a Train session, with an SF-24
overhead. |
| Toms |
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R121s
and R122s both sound great on toms! Position the mic at a 45
degree angle, pointing at the center of the drum, making sure
to leave enough room for the drummer’s sticks. Here’s
another Bruce Swedien setup with R-121’s on toms and
high hat. |
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Sean Beavan’s
drums with R-121’s on toms and kick, SF-12 overhead. |
| Kick
Drum |
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For a
modern sound, combine an R-121 with a dynamic mic. Angle the
R-121 downward at 45 degrees, and position it 10-14 inches
from the kick drum head. To protect the ribbon from blasts
of air, be sure to position the mic away from any holes cut
in the head. The 45 degree angle protects the ribbon element
by allowing it to take the low frequency, high SPL kick drum
impact unevenly down the length of the ribbon, letting the
ribbon flex without stretching it out. The
sound of the R-121 in this position has often been compared
to a FET-47. Add a dynamic mic, such as a D-112, 421, or
even an SM57 placed inside the drum, to pick up the attack
of the beater. Balance to taste! |
Important
Note: |
| Royer
R-series ribbons have excellent side rejection which extend
to the top and bottom sides of the mic as well. If you were
to talk into the null points (the ribbed sides) of an R-121
or R-122, or directly at the top or bottom of the mic, you
would hear next to nothing. This pattern is extremely useful
for rejecting unwanted sounds in your recordings. Because the
top of the mic is a null point, leaning the microphone forward
- which points the top of the microphone directly at the rest
of the drum kit - gives you a well isolated kick drum, almost
as if you had a blanket over the kick and the mic for isolation |
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For
a more ‘vintage’ sound, skip the dynamic mic. Brian
Blade’s live drum miking – R-122 on kick, R-121’s
on overheads, R-121 on high hat. |
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Position
the mic a little further back for a nice jazz kick drum. |
| Snare |
| Although
ribbon mics sound great on snare drums, they’re
a bit tricky to use without endangering the ribbon mic.
Here are some tips: |
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Place
an R-series mic underneath the snare with the rear of the mic
facing the snares and front of the mic facing the beater side
of the kick drum. Remember to flip phase with this mic so it
will be in phase with the top mic as well as with the front
kick mics. Compress to taste! This
is engineer Dusty Wakeman’s snare drum setup. |
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This
snare is from an MXPX session, produced by Dave Jerden. |
| For a
jazz or vintage setup, place an R-series with the front facing
the snare and the back toward the hi-hat (remember, ribbons
are bi-directional). |
| Hi-Hat |
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R-series mics are wonderful on hi-hat and can handle
all the hi-freq eq boost that you can throw at them. You
can get all the sizzle you need without the sound getting
grainy or harsh, or leave the track non-EQ’ed and
have a warm, natural high hat. Place at a 45 degree angle
and leave room for those drum sticks. This is Bruce Swedien’s
high hat miking technique. |
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Richie
Hayward’s kit on a home recording session. |
| Ride
Cymbal |
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Sometimes
it’s a good idea to close mic the ride cymbal, just in
case you find you want to bring out some detail in the mix
without affecting the overall drum balance. It’s better
to print it and not use it than to need it and not have it.
Ride cymbal miking on a session engineered by Steve Kempster. |
| Cymbals |
| Here’s
a great technique that might come in handy. Place an R-series
mic between the cymbals, pointing the front toward the ride
cymbal and the back toward the crash cymbal. The mic should
now be at a 90 degree angle to the floor. Ribbon mics are bi-directional,
picking up to the front and to the back. A bonus is that
they have a strong null-point to the sides. In this configuration,
you can get a lot of cymbal coverage without much snare.
Try it – you’ll be amazed. |
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