Drum Recording

[Vai the god of Sound]

I have a question about micing my drum kit for recording.

Here's my problem...I'm only using 3 mics for this particular song I'm doing right now.

1 mic for Kick
1 mic for high hat
and 1 mic for snare

The kick is fine, but the snare and high hat aren't dry enough for recording.

I looked at the aspects of the room I'm recording in and its well furnished to get rid of too much ambience...

is there a specific way to EQ the snare and high hat on the mixing board?

Thanks in advance..

[Two hands31]

Go to http://www.digidesign.com, download Pro Tools Free and enjoy strip silence heaven.

[Cowboy49]

Man, where are your overheads? Get some, will make yer life easier.

[Vai the god of Sound]

Well, what kind of mics should I use for overheads....

Right now I have 2 dynamic mics as overheads on either side of the kit...then 1 for one of the kicks....

I have a 12 piece kit (5 toms, 3 cymbols, high hat, snare, 2 kicks)

what would be the easiest way going about micing the whole kit?

I find when I put the mic closer to the drum, it becomes more dry, which is what I need to control the recording alot better.

Any thoughts?

[The Dark Wolf]

For overheads, a good set of cardiod condenser mics is the way to go, placed in an X pattern overhead, each mic pointing not at the OTHER, but meeting in the middle and pointing towards each respective side of the kit, left and right. Pan them left and right, and voila! You have a great overhead stereo image. This is ideal for a 5 mic setup. You then mic the KICK off center with your moving-coil mic, close mic your SNARE (pointed at an angle, 2-3 inches from the top of the head, 1-2 inches from the edge of the snare, about a 60 degree angle. More on the edge=sharper, more tone, more in the center=more percussive, deeper,) with another moving-coil mic. For the HI-HAT, place it in a similar position as the snare, to your hi-hat. but more aimed at the center, or bell. Place it about 3 inches from the cymbal. If you have some good swivel arm mic stands, they'll do ya good.
Good EQ settings for
1. Kick - low, boost 75-150Hz. Mid, cut 250-500Hz. High, boost around 5kHz.
2. Snare - low, cut below 100Hz. Mid, high, a little boost at 250Hz and 5kHz.
3. Hi-Hat - low, cut below 250Hz. Mid (thick sound,) boost around 500Hz. High (Clean sound,) boost 6-10kHz (probably one or the other on thick sound or clean sound.)
Hope this helps!

[rgr]

Sounds like you might need some deadringers or Moongel for the snare, takes alot of the ring out of the drum. I use Moongel on my snare and it works great.

Roger

[xxxcreaturexxx]

You could always trigger your drums and mic your cymbals. If you do this, include a couple of overhead mics and you should get a good combination of sounds. Very clean and flexible.