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For recording and playing live in large venues a couple of overheads would be necessary. These are generally condensor mics and can be anywhere between £50 each and £700 each. Something like the Rhode M5 set of 2 for £120 ish would be ok.
To be honest the success on mic'ing drums is 60% how good the drummer is, 30% how well the kit is tuned and 10% what mics were used.
I recommend putting the kick drum mic inside the kick drum. The closer you get to the batter head the more attack and presence it will have. Mic'ing outside produce's a mellower sound but will also pick up more spill from the rest of the kit and guitars etc.
Aim the snare and tom mic's across the drum parallel to the skin rather than pointing the mic towards the middle. It will sound less boxy and more like a drum
If you use overheads then it's important to get the mic's an equal distance from the kick and snare, so there are in phase. I normally use a mic cable to measure from center of snare to each mic so I know the distance is the same. Where you put the mics depends on the kit, what cymbals are being used and how the drummer plays etc but where ever you put them make sure they are always roughly the same distance from the kick and snare to stay in phase. If you don't preserve the phase then bringing up the overheads will weaken the sound of the kick and snare. When recording the overheads alone should sound pretty good in capturing the whole kit before you add in the close mic's.
Nb drum mics don’t have to be subtle and detailed at beginners level so don’t believe you have to spend a fortune. As you get more familiar with the sound of the kit and mics then you will see the gaps in your set up and fill them accordingly. For my money the kick is there to provide the beat and timing the groove is in the high hat so they are what needs the help, the snare and the cymbals in most environments will cut through acoustically without any need for amplification
I was looking the AKG set for about 230 quid but now I might just go for something less. In saying that any of the mics we don't use on the drums might be handy to have for the guitars and bass if we're lacking. We do run through a 16 channel desk and have it in mind for demo recording so will probably need a condensor mic picking up the symbols and high hat. We might even get away with it picking up the Tom's. Sounds like the key mic is for the kick. I've got a pretty strong right foot so it'll need to be able to take the high SPL
Theres an AKG D112 and RodeMT5's on the classified now that will be good for kick and overheads.
I also love this guy..its like a poor man's Shure beta 91A: https://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_e100.htm?sid=c8490297c2bbddac278adf83054a8bf8
You stick that guy inside the drum then the AKGD112 in the bass drum port pointed at the batter head.
Obv and decent dynamic on the snare..re-puprose an SM57 or a clone.
I'd also pick up a couple of cheap LDCs for rooms as well, they dont have to be great.
Tom mics I have 2 cheap sets and they're both balls. Theyre ok if you jsut want to retrigger tom samples but tbh I tend to prefer getting tom sounds from the overheads / rooms at the moment
If anyone has reccomendations for low cost tom mics as an aside to this thread Im all ears
Cheers for the updates fella, funnily enough I've just messaged James about the Rode's so they're on their way. Interesting shout on superlus_e100 and a AKGD112! I'll look into that when the times right. I might start off with the cheap one and try a SB57 version in front of the batter head, cheap and cheerful and might be pretty effective.
On the Tom mics I heard the Thomann SB57 knock off is pretty good on some youtube videos, at £27 plus a 5m cable that's gotta be good value? I think I'll need some close mics since the recording studio is small and a bit square. I've set the drums up in the corner which fits the room really well.
I'll look into the LDC mics.
It's really early days yet and the guys are already rolling their eyes at my enthusiasm for buying the right mics already... :-)
Possibly yeah, as @Danny1969 said, it could be useful to try them running parallel to the skin? I've not tried it but sounds like a good suggestion.
And as you suggested I'm just gonna build it up bit by bit. First off is just getting used to the room and seeing what sound we can get from the mics we've got. But I bought those Rode's cos they're decent and we can use them in a variety of ways in room. We're looking for something to capture quality drum segments a build tunes up from that.
We wrote and recorded this in a 4hour rehearsal then mixed it down the nextnight
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VMmYQagmeZ9Nju3Y5thwW3TNw7Np4RbV/view?usp=sharing
Awesome I'll check it out later!
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
The problem with this is you hear more room through the overheads and if the room sounds bad then you are SOOL.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com