Drums balance for recording.

Chromium

Senior Member
I'm just about to start testing the recording of my acoustic kit for the first time, and I wondered if there was a good starting position for recording a kit? I remember that many years ago when previously working as an unpaid assistant in a recording studio, that the main engineer had a regular setup for a 5 piece or 7 piece kit, but I don't know what it was. I know he liked to mic the snare from below.

What I mean for example, to save me lots of messing about, is there a 'rough' level and pan guide someone could suggest i.e.: Kick -5db, pan to Left 8, Tom 1 -3db pan Right 4, Tom 2 -3db Pan Centre, Tom 3 -3db pan Left 3 etc?

I'm using a Tama kit with 3 close miked toms, front miked non-ported kick drum, 12" Premier snare miked below, all Sabian AAX cymbals & hats. I'm using seven mics all designed for specific jobs (i.e. dedicated kick mic, individual tom mics, two overheads, and a snare mic). Should I also have one for the hi hat?

Anyone offer any advice?
 
I don't think you can do that. As every room, and every drumset is different. When I attempt recording myself playing, if everything is separately mic'd, I just try to get every mic to bring in the fullest signal possible before pegging, then record. I read Simon Phillips, when he was a kid, used to practice and watch that the VU meters on his old reel-to-reel weren't going into the red too much.

I would think the less mics you use, the more YOU are in control of individual levels while playing. But once you started close miking, let the recorder get the best signals it can, and then you mix the balance after the fact. If you already can play consistent, this should be pretty easy.
 
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