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I've been getting into minimalist ways to mic a drum kit, and I was curious what methods you guys have to offer. Right now, I'm big into using one SM57 or SM57-adjacent mic pointed toward my snare, a couple feet over my floor toms, which sounds good enough on its own, but also sometimes I spice it up with a condenser in front, looking down on it. I've found that, usually, and when done right, the fewer the mics, the better the sound - just takes some strategic placing...

I've used one mic over the right shoulder multiple times and always been impressed by how good it can sound.

Can't find a lot online about it except the below:

https://www.recordingrevolution.com/blo ... 20hi%2Dhat.

I used it for quick demos with an old band but found it to be adequate for a lot of applications. Recorded an album last year with the kit fully mic'd up but included this over-the-shoulder mic and it really ties the kit together nicely.

I once used a single shotgun condenser mic pointing down over the shoulder toward the kick pedal. It sounded incredible. It was however a very expensive mic, a Schoeps CMIT-5u.

I recently used a Neumann U87 about 5 foot in front of the kit, 4 foot up, pointing straight at the kick drum tom bracket.

The whole kit was close-mic'd but the sound of that 1 big (admittedly expensive as fuck) mic out front, with some good compression, was a wonderful sound. The kit has to be very well tuned and pick the right 'volume' cymbals, but a nice realistic and balanced sound was achieved. Definitely kinda old-school sound that would be great for jazz or that early Motown vibe.

Next step up would be the Glyn Johns method, which can also sound amazing and I'm a big fan of for more stripped-back stuff

For a single mic I like to start about waist high around 4’ from the front of the kick on the ride side and aimed at the snare.

This general placement works ok for a stereo mic too if backed up from the kit a few more feet.

For two mics I’ll usually do overhead and kick and try to get the overhead as low as is practical and slightly over on the ride side. Low to pick up more snare relative to the cymbals.

If I have 3 I prefer stereo overhead + kick over Glyn Johns. I like to use my stereo mic in X/Y.
I like to bring my boom arm in over the ride (see a pattern here?). Coming in at an angle helps put the snare more in the middle of the stereo image.

GreenKnee wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2023 9:35 am

I've used one mic over the right shoulder multiple times and always been impressed by how good it can sound.

Can't find a lot online about it except the below:

https://www.recordingrevolution.com/blo ... 20hi%2Dhat.

I used it for quick demos with an old band but found it to be adequate for a lot of applications. Recorded an album last year with the kit fully mic'd up but included this over-the-shoulder mic and it really ties the kit together nicely.

Omni mics are particularly good in this spot.

Kick, Snare, mono overhead. Superstition was mic'd this way, among many many others.

Is 7 mics minimal?

To someone it is!

I most often use about 8, sometimes 10, and don’t really consider that “minimal.”

But then there are of course people who use two mics on every drum, mono and stereo overheads plus a slew of “character” mics, near+far rooms, etc.

You can get good results with a single good microphone as long as the drummer sounds good in the acoustic space

It will be one specific kind of “good,” but good

Truly it’s “whatever works.” No matter how many or few microphones you are working with you can almost always find a way to do something interesting

Last time I tracked a 5 piece..
I think I used 18? Or 19..

In a good sounding room kick, an overhead set up pretty low, and a room mic can be pretty fun. Crush the room mic to taste of course.

One of my bands has been doing some good ol' cassette 4 tracking, and that's been one of my favorite drum sounds. We used a RNC to smash the room mic mixed the three drum mics to mono on a Mackie 1202, then out to one track on the 4 track hitting it pretty hard.

Our singer even bought a cheap rack reverb so he could mix without a computer involved.

Lots of mics on a kit/in a room can be fun too when I'm paying someone else to deal with it.

I like the Recorderman method of two mics, one behind the kit over the right shoulder (assuming right handed drummer) and one above the kit but as low as is comfortable to get more drum and less cymbal. Even if I’m close mic’ing I run my “overheads” this way too.

I also have a small zoom stereo recorder and if I’m doing demos will put it on a boom over my head and that also sounds fine.

I will use as many mics channels as possible..

Ive been a post sound audio guy since 2001.. More is better.. Ill mute 1/2 or more of it.. but it gives me options..

Thats a me thing.. and why I keep looking at 32-40 channel API consoles,

It’s valid, especially in some circumstances. It’s a shitty feeling to need to accomplish something and not have been equipped to do so (film people might call this “going for coverage.”)

I think for me a lot depends on the impetus behind the limited capture, and the ability of the recordist to have actually achieved their aim.

I got a project to mix last year, it was a younger engineer who had tracked everything on an MCI console. 7 mics, all of them hopelessly distorted (not a good kind of distortion, either… just harsh and sibilant). Two of the mics were totally unusable; they seem to have been just put in random locations, hopelessly phase-incoherent. I was wishing for more usable capture but had to struggle toward adequacy with what I was given (lots of sample augmentation on kick/snare and mooshy tube gear on the overheads)

But I love when an experienced (or exceptionally-talented) producer/engineer (or team) defines the aesthetic sensibility with clarity and commitment on the front end. To me, that’s a preferable scenario to “a lot of options.”

Like in a house?

3 mics: two large condensers for overheads and one dynamic or large condenser in front for more kick presence. Experiment with placement until the phasing is good. Tell the drummer not to hit their cymbals harder than the actual drums

It's all about the sound of the room and the phase relationship of all the mics. So whether is two or seven mics, you gotta get that right. I'd rather deal with 3 mics than more unless you're some audio math whiz.

Also I'm not into fancy mics & pres. I can't afford that shit. I do like the CAPI stuff (not exactly cheap but doable). I also use these mics (I have the older black and yellow striped one):

Neat King Bee

They were designed by one of the people from Blue Microphones I believe. They're usually cheaper on Amazon too, not that I support Amazon