Recording Drums With One Mic

Hi,

I really want to delve into the world of drum recording, most likely in the form of YouTube covers and such! However, I am a 16 year old student, with limited money, so I want to keep it on the cheap!!! I've seen many videos on YouTube of people getting a great sound from just one mic direct into their PC. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice, as well as answer these following questions for me?
  • What kind of microphone should be used: condenser or dynamic? I understand condenser mics often need powering using 48V phantom power, so how could I get around this?
  • Could I and should I go direct from mic to PC, or should I introduce some kind of preamp?
  • What software will be needed for editing?
Some other questions may hit me at a later date, but that's all I got for now! It would be great if some people could help me with this. :)
 
Hi,

I really want to delve into the world of drum recording, most likely in the form of YouTube covers and such! However, I am a 16 year old student, with limited money, so I want to keep it on the cheap!!! I've seen many videos on YouTube of people getting a great sound from just one mic direct into their PC. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice, as well as answer these following questions for me?
  • What kind of microphone should be used: condenser or dynamic? I understand condenser mics often need powering using 48V phantom power, so how could I get around this?
  • Could I and should I go direct from mic to PC, or should I introduce some kind of preamp?
  • What software will be needed for editing?
Some other questions may hit me at a later date, but that's all I got for now! It would be great if some people could help me with this. :)

If you were going to use a regular microphone, you would need to use an interface. An interface would have pre-amps, phantom power, and the ability to convert the audio into a digital signal that the computer can understand. However, there are microphones out there that can connect directly to the computer via USB, that may be a better option for now. Other things to consider would be using a handheld digital recorder, like the Tascam DR-07.

I would suggest using a condenser mic, and the software to use depends on your OS. If you're on a Mac, Garageband is the easy answer.
 
Hmmm... They look like they could get expensive very quickly!!! :L The condenser route sounds significantly more difficult, there is a video here of someone using a dynamic vocal mic, and although his drumming and mixing is too great, I reckon that could be made to sound decent! Is it possible to run a dynamic microphone straight through the microphone port in a PC? If so I think that is the route I'll take, as I'm really only going to do this for some fun!! :p
 
The dynamic won't work straight in to your computer..no preamp.
For cheap, condenser USB is the way to go like Bob said.
Mic placement, since you have only one mic is critical.
It has to hear your kick. I would go with 2 mics minimum, 1 for kick, the other overhead. Then you can get a decent representation of the set. One mic would have to be placed in front of the set rather low to get some kick sound, at the expense of everything else.
 
In this video, it says about 'a little thingo that makes it 1/4-1/8 plugged strait into my laptop'. Would this be a preamp? I would be quite happy with a sound like that just for drum covers and such! :)
 
You said you wanted to be able to do drum covers and possibly post to YouTube, but you're not tacking the video aspect of it?

Here's what you should do: save up your money, or don't eat lunch for a month, and get yourself the Zoom Q3HD flash HD camcorder. It's only $300, records in stereo and actually sounds very good. One of my early drum solos on YouTube was done with the Zoom. You can upload directly from the Zoom into your laptop via USB for putting it on YouTube. Great little device.

If you were to get an audio interface and an OK mic, you would have spent $300+ anyway. Save your money and get the Zoom.
 
The thing is with the camera is we already have a Kodak Playsport (my Dad's, but its the family camera), which can shoot in 720p. This means I only need to sort out the audio side of things, and sync them together. Buying a second camera seems a bit pointless, so I think I'll just go with the mic. Thanks for the idea anyway though!! :)
 
The USB condenser mic is actually VERY easy and gives decent results. Buy, plug it into the USB port, hit record on your computer's recording software, play. Very easy.
 
Okay, on the real cheap. Get a used Shure SM58 somewhere. This will be the expensive part, but you will keep this mic for the rest of your life. Then get whatever adapters you need (from the Hosa rack at the music store or Rat Shack) to convert the 3 pin XLR to the 1/8 mini phone plug mic input on your computer. And enough cable (sometimes you can get these used out of a bin at a music store, or go to Orange County Speaker Repair and order a couple of their cheap GLS cables).

Position the mic about 3-4 feet above the snare and move it around from there. You'll need a decent boom stand as well.

Then you can use whatever basic recording software (Windows Media Player if you have to) you can find.

Upgrade to a decent mic preamp/interface or USB condensor mic when you can. If you get an interface with stereo inputs, you will be able to do more in the future.

The GLS Beta57 knock off from Orange County isn't bad either. They sound good but the isolation isn't very well done so it will pick up noise though the stand from any banging on the floor. Depending on what you can find, this might be $20-40 cheaper than what you can find a 57 for.
 
Ah. Wasn't aware you already had a camera. I stand corrected.

I think the USB mic would be a good investment. Samson makes one for around $100 and it actually sounds OK.

OR - you could get yourself a cheap used mic, like the aforementioned Shure SM58, and get the BLUE Icicle - which is a XLR-to-USB interface/adapter. Those work great too and I found one for $50.
 
Okay, on the real cheap. Get a used Shure SM58 somewhere. This will be the expensive part, but you will keep this mic for the rest of your life. Then get whatever adapters you need (from the Hosa rack at the music store or Rat Shack) to convert the 3 pin XLR to the 1/8 mini phone plug mic input on your computer. .

Don't you need a preamp with a dynamic?
 
I get best results when I place my Samson mic about two feet off of the ground in front of my bass drum about three feet away.
I point the mic straight up. I set it to pick up sound from all around.
The condenser mic picks up the highs of cymbals better that a dynamic mic for better overall sound.
Here is a sample of something that I recorded with it.
The guitar part and the vocals were sent to me and I dubbed my part in with the Samson mic using GarageBand.
The bass drum is a little weak. If I had moved the mic a bit closer it would have louder.
 

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A condenser will sound so much better than a dynamic mic. If you want to use only one mic, a condenser is a far better option. Positioned in front of the kit, you'll get the sort of balance you would aim for in a multichannel mix anyway.
 
I was surprised how well my Zoom mic/recorder worked. I recorded my church band performances to post on our website. If I had software I could probably improve the sound a bit, but it picks up the drums quite well from about 4-5 feet away, and it is mixed well with the keys, guitars and also the vocals coming from the PA system.
 
If you're using one microphone, be it a dynamic or condenser, position it similarly to how I have my room mic positioned, front and center of the kit. It's looking down at my kit which will pick up the bass drum as well as the toms and snare. Move the mic around a bit until it sees or hears all of your kit with the best possible mixture of all. By moving the microphone higher, it will pick up less bass drum and more toms and cymbals. You just got to experiment quite a bit when using a minimal amount of microphones. I position each and every microphone with all others clipped or turned off, so I hear only what's going into that mic.

I've made some fantastic recordings using only one mic. It's all in it's positioning. It could be as simple as a Shure SM57 or as in the photo, a Neumann U87.

DSC_0183-1.jpg


Dennis
 
Okay, on the real cheap. Get a used Shure SM58 somewhere. This will be the expensive part, but you will keep this mic for the rest of your life. Then get whatever adapters you need (from the Hosa rack at the music store or Rat Shack) to convert the 3 pin XLR to the 1/8 mini phone plug mic input on your computer. And enough cable (sometimes you can get these used out of a bin at a music store, or go to Orange County Speaker Repair and order a couple of their cheap GLS cables).

Position the mic about 3-4 feet above the snare and move it around from there. You'll need a decent boom stand as well.

Then you can use whatever basic recording software (Windows Media Player if you have to) you can find.

Upgrade to a decent mic preamp/interface or USB condensor mic when you can. If you get an interface with stereo inputs, you will be able to do more in the future.
I really like this idea actually, and it should be doable on the real cheap! :D I could try for a SM58, and would something like this work for plugging the mic into my PC? Once I've got that set up I could upgrade to a preamp, which would then allow me to use condenser mics instead. I really like this plan actually, thanks! :p

Bo Eder, I should have mentioned that I already have a camera in my first post, so its my bad really! :) Thanks for the advice on positioning as well Dennis, and can I say those are some gorgeous kits you have set up there!!! o_O Are they yours?

Thanks for all the useful advice guys! :)
 
Computers have a basic mic level input. That stereo adapter might not be the best. Converting from xlr balanced to the single ended input on a computer means shorting one leg of the balanced to ground. Which that adapter won't do.

The single mic technique Dennis was showing has been used on tons of hit songs from the basement at Motown to Rudy VanGelder's jazz recordings in Hackensack.
 
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