Best placement for Zoom H2 recorder

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone had any tips on the best placement for the Zoom H2 when recording a drum kit.

I've been looking at the Tchad Blake method of recording with 1 mic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS_YZpn818A But I;m wondering if this method would make the zoom too close to the drums and cause distortion on this particular mic - even with low gain?

Has anyone tried this method/any other positions & settings which have allowed them to get a decent recording?

I have the zoom h2, when I use it in my basement just to record me drumming I just set the gain in the middle position. I put the recorder on a computer table about two feet in frot of the kit. Sounds fine.

ok, thanks very much for the help

It was really tricky placing the H2 so it would pick up the entire kit. You have to place it perfectly so it picks up at least both the BD and snare.

I would think placing it like the video would be a good idea (above the BD). Whenever I tried to get more snare and HH sound, it took away from the BD. Perhaps point the mic's towards the snare.

Have someone else tap or play your drums and then let your own ears decide where the recorder should be placed. There are a lot of obstacles involved when trying to place an "all in one" unit to correctly pick up sounds evenly from a multi drum kit.

Dennis

ive recorded in that room, it's a pretty small and dry room but with a really high ceiling though.... i think for the zoom you can just put it infront of the kit and it should be fine - that's what i've done with my zoom q3hd and it works a treat!

Thanks for the help guys. I had a little mess around with placement yesterday and got some ok results. My kit is facing a wall and the room has all concrete walls and no dampening (not even curtains!) so I think the recording I got was fairly decent given the fact the room sounds pretty bad to begin with! Haha.

I placed it slightly to the right of my floor tom, pointing at the snare. It seemed to pick everything up ok but could have done with a little more bass in there. But I can't really complain - for a one mic set up it's pretty good!

right in front of the kick drum with the mics just above the hoop. 3 feet away.