New audio equipment arrived, almost ready to record.

gr82bagn

Pioneer Member
I’m venturing into the world of digital audio/video drum recording. My goals are simple, I want to be able to put on a set of isolation headphones and listen to a nice mix of me and some high end drumless covers. My style of covers is old school, Who, Zeppelin, Stones and some Motown stuff. I also have some good friends that are sending me some original material they recorded with the drum tracks removed.
In terms of learning and improving, I want to be able to capture my playing on video and improve on my weaknesses. The mics I ordered came in and I’m waiting for delivery on a Focusrite Scarlet 18i20. I was able to test the mics today using a friend’s Focusrite Saffire Pro40. Just based on the quick tutorial my friend offered I can see there is a lot to learn but It all sounded so good. I’m excited about the entire process. Even bought a new Roc and Soc drum throne in anticipation of spending more time on the kit. lol At 51 I need to keep the tush comfy and the old throne doesn't do it anymore.
I’m using DT770Ms for headphones; they did a nice job with isolation. I was amazed at how different it was playing through the Focusrite with the headphones on. I’m going to be ordering a pair of Ultraphones this week to see which I like better. I would have done the Ultraphones first but I didn’t have a Paypal account. So be it. Just wanted to share, I’ve included a picture of the kit after I added the mics.
 

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The next thing you might add is something to soften up the room a bit.

Good luck.
Dennis
 
I agree, I'm looking into either the foam panels or the Audimute absorption sheets. Either way I'm looking to soften it a bit.

Go with these guys. Great service, great product and the best prices. The owner, Glenn is very well known in the audio world. He is all over the internet forums.

http://gikacoustics.com
 
I would also consider using that 57 you have on the hats as a room mic. Not that a 57 is a rad room mic, it's just that I think you'll get more mileage from it as a room mic. It's a much needed glue to get the drums to sound like a cohesive unit. Enjoy man. It's a lot of fun.
 
I would also consider using that 57 you have on the hats as a room mic. Not that a 57 is a rad room mic, it's just that I think you'll get more mileage from it as a room mic. It's a much needed glue to get the drums to sound like a cohesive unit. Enjoy man. It's a lot of fun.

I appreciate the advise. I did make a few changes. I took the 57 off the hats and put it on as a bottom snare mic. I'm using Presonus Studio One 2 and they have a great quick and easy tool called Mix Tool for phasing. This improved the sound of my snare.

My room is small and the two overheads I have seem to take care of giving the drums a nice cohesive sound as well as picking up the hats a lot better than I expected.

So much to learn. I really need to soften the room a little but I'm happy with the sound so far.
 
Sounds like you are off to a great start.

Phase will make a massive difference in your drum sounds. I am not familiar with the phase tool in Studio One but you should record a bit and try to listen to pairs of mics at a time while flipping the phase in your software mixer until everything sounds its best. For instance your bass drum may sound nice and deep through it's mic alone, but if due to positioning the OH's are out of phase with the bass drum mic then when you bring them up in the mix you bass drum sound will thin out. Move the bass drum mic or invert the phase on the bass drum mic until it sounds deep with the OH mics in the mix. Then do that until all the mics play well together.

I usually check:
The two OH mics against each other
BD and OHs
Sn and OHs
each tom with the rest
toms and OHs

Flipping the phase button (or inverting the phase) will only fix some issues because that only changes the phase relationship 180 degrees, some issues can only be fixed my moving the mics around until you hit that sweet spot. So if you have flipped the phase and you still have issues you should experiment with moving the mics and going through the phase again to make sure all the mics work together instead of fighting each other. Of course maybe Studio One does a lot of this for you. Its best to get it right before you track though as getting multiple drum mics all fighting for each other makes it tough to get a really solid drum sound.

And the hihat is like a virus, that thing shows up in EVERY mic!
 
Sounds like you are off to a great start.

Phase will make a massive difference in your drum sounds. I am not familiar with the phase tool in Studio One but you should record a bit and try to listen to pairs of mics at a time while flipping the phase in your software mixer until everything sounds its best. For instance your bass drum may sound nice and deep through it's mic alone, but if due to positioning the OH's are out of phase with the bass drum mic then when you bring them up in the mix you bass drum sound will thin out. Move the bass drum mic or invert the phase on the bass drum mic until it sounds deep with the OH mics in the mix. Then do that until all the mics play well together.

I usually check:
The two OH mics against each other
BD and OHs
Sn and OHs
each tom with the rest
toms and OHs

Flipping the phase button (or inverting the phase) will only fix some issues because that only changes the phase relationship 180 degrees, some issues can only be fixed my moving the mics around until you hit that sweet spot. So if you have flipped the phase and you still have issues you should experiment with moving the mics and going through the phase again to make sure all the mics work together instead of fighting each other. Of course maybe Studio One does a lot of this for you. Its best to get it right before you track though as getting multiple drum mics all fighting for each other makes it tough to get a really solid drum sound.

And the hihat is like a virus, that thing shows up in EVERY mic!

This is all so amazing. Wish I had this 20 years ago, I'm starting from scratch and I'm taking my time but I can't get over how much fun this is, I feel like I joined a cover band without all the overhead and drama, lol. The quality of the drumless tunes I bought are not bad. Summertime is going to be nothing but yard work and "digital bandpractice" for me.

I'm loving the loop feature, I can practice adding some of my more interesting fills to the songs and nobody gives me lip cause I ask to play it over and over. I love it.

What I will try to do going forward is not add to much to the drums because I like the natural sound I get from the kit. I'm starting to understand gate, attack, hold and release as well as mic positioning I just need to bring it all together.

I completed two covers, Mustang Sally and Wild Horses, nice easy tunes, so I can work on my grooves and using the DAW. I have to learn to sync the video. I'm posting them later today so feed back is always welcomed. Thanks for the advise much appreciated.
 
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