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Microphones For Recording The Drums

By Bruce Hathaway

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Published: 24Jun2011
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This may go without saying but the first step is to have a great sounding drum set. The drum heads should not be oil filled or the recording will come out "thuddy and muddy". The cymbals should be thinner than what you would normally use for live playing. The hi-hat is especially important on this note because it often has "bleed" problems with the snare.

It is very important to tune the drum heads and, if possible, resembling the key of the song you're going to record. This will help in getting a harmonious and blending sound with the other instruments and vocals.

The placement of the drum-kit itself is key. Preferably in a large space that has some live qualities but not overly large. The room should not have any standing waves which are created by parallel surfaces. Standing waves will bump up certain frequencies and in general are not desired. Nor should there be flutter or echo frequencies. That's fairly easy to test by clapping your hands and listening to the result. If you do then it's time to either deaden the room or try different areas to see if there are less difficult spots.

Microphone placement is certainly the main concern in recording drums.

1. The Kick Drum

There are different methods for miking the Kick Drum. The method I prefer is by deadening the front head and placing the microphone inside the shell and very close to the head itself. There are other techniques if you prefer a more resonating sound. This is often done by creating a "tunnel" with plywood in a v-shape in front of the kick drum and placing the mic within the tunnel and at a distance. The tunnel is necessary not only for projecting the sound but also to isolate the microphone somewhat from the rest of the kit. The microphone for the kick drum should be one that can withstand a high SPL (sound pressure level) and is almost always a dynamic mic.

I've seen many different models of microphones used here but as a personal preference I use the Electro-Voice RE20.

2. The Snare Drum

Snare drums can be a bit tricky. First you'll probably want to use an O ring that fits around the perimeter of the top head and deadens some of the ringing overtones that can be rather annoying. The annoyance factor probably occurs because the mic can't be placed too close to the middle of the head without getting in the way of the drummer. Because the mic has to be placed near the rim, without the O ring the mic would pick up the "ring" of the snare.

The next tricky part is, even though the mic is close to the rim it should still be pointed as much as possible to the center of the head and positioned so that it's not overwhelmed by the hi-hat.

The classic choice of microphone for the snare is almost always the Shure SM57.

3. The Toms

Again, these can be a bit tricky. You do have a bit more freedom with placing the tom mics but there is the issue of bleed from the cymbals. Therefore you want to place the mics as close as possible to the heads without diminishing the sound by being too close. (If the mic is too close it will pick up a limited part of the sound). You also want to give the drummer some room to hit the head and not the mic itself.

The standard and preferred choice for the rack toms are the Sennheiser 421s and the RE20 for the floor tom.

4. Overheads for Cymbals

Although the overhead mics are primarily for the cymbals they also serve to pick up the overall drum set, unifying the sounds. The overheads are almost always stereo, either in an XY pattern or at a distance from each other and strategically placed for the ride and crash cymbals. This is really an experimental process. With an XY you don't run the risk of phasing problems because the mics are so close together. If placed far apart you'll need to listen for those problems.

The overheads are almost always condenser microphones as they are more sensitive and generally brighter than dynamics - good for cymbals. A matched pair of AKG 414s works well or a pair of small diaphragm pencil mics such as the AKG 460.

5. Room Microphone

If you have a great sounding room and want to record it, place a really good mic (if you can afford it) such as a U87, at a distance from the front of the kit.

If you have a track for each of the microphones use them. This will help greatly in the overall control of the drum "imaging". I would also recommend staying away from the eq in the tracking process - with the right mics and positioning, the eq should take care of itself. You may also want to compress the overheads with a stereo compressor which will help a bit with the loud crashing of the crashes.

Lastly, as I always say, "Do nothing by rote - use your ears!"

Bruce has achieved a lifetime of producing and engineering at his recording studio, Excello, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He is also a drum microphone expert with extensive knowledge of vocal, instrument, wireless, USB microphones and more.

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