How To Mic A Drum Set With 4 Mics

For anyone who'due south endeavored the mighty task of recording a total band on a shoestring upkeep, you know one of the hardest set-ups to mic upwards is a drum set.

If you lot're new or only starting out, there's a pretty good chance you don't take the best equipment, let alone a lot of information technology. And then if you're staring downward a dog-eyed drummer waiting to tape his parts, don't worry; there'south an piece of cake and incredibly effective way to mic a drum set with zilch more than than four mics.

In this postal service nosotros'll outline one method that will get you lot a heavy, all-encompassing sound for a standard drum set up. This widely used practise is called the Glyn Johns Methods.

Who is Glyn Johns? Well, Johns was and continues to exist an incredibly important recording pioneer, who was made famous for his recording method. Glyn Johns initially started his career assisting the Beatles, afterwards going on to work with artists including The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Eric Clapton and last but not least Led Zeppelin. Just take a second to appreciate the fact that he recorded the cracking John Bonham using merely four mics. So let's get into information technology.

Like mentioned before, this method involved but four microphones: 2 overheads, one for the kicking drum and one for the snare. For overheads, you'll want to use ribbon microphones, I notice the Beyerdynamic M160 works well. Every bit for your boot mic you tin go for either a dynamic or condenser mic, though I'd propose and AKG d1112 MKII. Dynamic is best for the snare, but doesn't crave annihilation fancy (a Shure sm57 works very well).

At this betoken, you might be proverb "ii overheads, a snare mic and a kick mic seems pretty standard, what'due south different about this?" Well, the whole reason the Johns method is so effective is the way the mics are placed. The overheads work to capture a counterbalanced sound of the unabridged drum kit, with the kick drum and snare drums acting as spot mics for added punch.

Learn how to utilise the Glyn Johns Method here

To brainstorm, use a tape measure and place your commencement microphone betwixt 40-sixty inches above the center of the kit (direct above the snare) pointing directly downwards. This first mic should pick upwardly a good blend of the entire kit. If the loftier tones similar cymbals are far more present than the rest, move the cymbals dorsum slightly or dampen with tape.

Once you've found a good blend, movement on to the second overhead mic. This one volition be ready upwards on the drummer'due south right hand side, approximately half dozen inches higher up the floor tom. What'southward interesting nearly this one is information technology should be pointed towards the high hat, which ways the mics grill will be perpendicular to the center overhead mic.

At present, measure the distance between the first overhead and the center of the microphone over again using a measuring tape or a cable (marking off it's length with tape). The second overhead mic should be exactly the same distance from the snare equally the outset. Conform accordingly. It's super important to make sure that both the right and left overheads are exactly the same altitude from the snare to avert problems with stage. If your mics are out of stage significantly, you'll lose out on certain frequencies and end up with some wonky sounding tracks.

By now, you should have a pretty well rounded track, so it'south fourth dimension to finish upwardly past beefing up your track with some spot mics.

Have your preferred kick drum mic and place information technology in the port pigsty of your kicking pulsate, or close to the skin. Accomplish your desired beefiness by moving the mic closer or farther from the center of the drum. You tin besides muffle some of the boominess of the kick by adding a blanket or pillow.

Finish up by placing your last spot mic over the snare. Similar to the kick spot mic, this one is a matter of personal preference. Position your mic a couple inches higher up your snare, angled downwardly. Point the snare towards the center, aimed at the drummer. Since you already have a full picture of sound with your overheads, play around with the snare and kick mics to achieve whatever kind of sound y'all are going for.

When information technology comes to the mix, keep your snare and kick in the center. Pan the overhead mic of you snare far right, and the overhead of the floor tom all the way left. If everything is set upwards properly, it should sound fairly well balanced, and is ready for your to make some creative tweaks.

Before nosotros finish up, there's a couple things to note.

Tuning plays a huge component of how your drums with end upwards sounding. What skins you use, how you melody them and how new they are will play into how "bright" or "dark" they sound.

Secondly, where you lot choose to tape your drums will likewise brand an impact on your overall audio. If you lot want to go total John Bonham you'll probably have to record a proper recording studio with a lot of open space. Otherwise with enough sound diffusers, about any space can piece of work.