The sound quality of your drum tracks is normally influenced by the shape, size, and the proportions of a space you are recording in; the sound proofing, objects, and whatever else that may be inside the room.
It won't make a difference if you are intending to record at home, in a studio, warehouse, or a bathroom - the drums can sound very different depending on what space they are in, plus where in that space they are located.
It is easy to change a few things in regards to the space, however another fact you need to think about is the placement of the drum kit in your environment.
While thinking about the location of your drums, keep the concept of symmetry in mind.
Will there be an identical amount of space from the wall surface on both the left and right sides of the kit? You'll discover that to obtain a balanced sound in the stereo spectrum, symmetry is extremely important.
It's necessary to be aware that tracking a drum sound isn't just about the drums themselves, but more about recording the tones they generate within a live room.
Based upon the location where the drum kit is situated in relation to the wall surfaces and the mics, a standing wave can lead to bass propagation as well as subtraction of audio strength in various areas inside the room.
When the microphone happens to be within the cold-spot produced by a standing wave, it could result in a really low quality drum recording.
Conversely, when the mic finds itself in a hot-spot, certain frequencies of your drum sound might be over-powered at that position.
You'll find positions where the drums seems more powerful, or weaker as a result of standing waves inside the space, however, you are only able to identify the best spot by simply being attentive as the drums move around the room.
The Intention of Overhead Mics.
Close mics do not demonstrate the complete picture of the kit.
They actually account for a limited picture from the top heads of different drums.
They don't represent many of the expanding parts of the whole drum sound from far away.
In addition, we don't have a real reference for this type of tone simply because we hardly ever put our ears anywhere near a drum kit while it's being used.
Overheads can provide a bigger picture of a normal audience position, and they shouldn't be looked at as simply a means of capturing cymbals.
The purpose of overheads is to connect the drum kit to the room.
Close up mics should be employed to fortify the drum sound, so that as you bring them in, your drum sound should get larger and better.
To ensure this, you need to locate the best place for your drums and overhead mics together, known as the sweet spot".
Locating the Sweet Spot.
The simplest way to find the ideal spot for your drums in a given space, is generally to use the drum with the biggest resonance: the floor tom.
Because of its deep resonance, you can get a good idea of how the rest of the drum kit will sound in your space.
In addition to this, phase problems are actually easier to diagnose with the help of bassier instruments.
Experiment with the placement of the tom by having an assistant wander around your recording space while banging on the floor tom with a stick.
Try placing a stool in different locations within the space, and stand on top of it, listening to how the floor tom sounds.
Your ears are pretending to be overhead mics.
Route a microphone (a cardioid condenser, if possible) to a set of earphones and wear them while you sweep the area to locate the sweet spot, holding the mic.
The earphones are going to boost the microphone in your hand, but will place you directly in the viewpoint of the microphone.
The greater in volume the sound source, the more chance that the background level will overpower the volume in your headphones, so watch out.
As well, the phase difference concerning the live sound and the headphone feed might distort the way you hear it even more.
In essence, the louder the drum kit, the less effective the headphone method will be.
Once you locate the deepest, most resonant position for the floor tom and overhead mics, ask your assistant to stop, and place the floor tom down.
The initial overhead mic should be placed at the fullest, most resonant position that you find in relation to the drum.
Continually seek out the place where this deep resonance expands the farthest, and put the microphone precisely where your head (or the test mic) is.
Get the drummer to arrange the kit around the floor tom, but make sure the floor tom doesn't move.
Your second overhead mic needs to be in the symmetrically opposite position to the drum kit's centre point: the snare.
According to the 3:1 rule, the overhead microphones should be 3 times farther from each other than their height above the drums.
In reality, the majority of recording engineers are more focused on the space between the snare and the overhead microphones as opposed to space between the mics.
You can still use a tape-measure in order to make certain the gap conforms with the 3 to 1 rule, but the best option is to listen.
Get your stool and do the identical technique just like the initial overhead mic: listen closely from several points around the kit and place the mic where it resonates best.
Most people put a drums where it looks pretty, but they forget about the fact that a good stereo image doesn't necessarily come from the location immediately in front of the drum kit; it often comes at an angle.
Many others will agonize over precise measurements between the overheads to the drum kit to try to ensure that the sound of each drum reaches the overheads at the same time, creating a peak drum strike which punches you in the face.
Nevertheless, peak power shouldn't be the objective.
The human ear is much more fond of differences in new textures, rather than plain volume, and so your target needs to be the overall picture and composition of the drums, instead of the peak energy.
It won't make a difference if you are intending to record at home, in a studio, warehouse, or a bathroom - the drums can sound very different depending on what space they are in, plus where in that space they are located.
It is easy to change a few things in regards to the space, however another fact you need to think about is the placement of the drum kit in your environment.
While thinking about the location of your drums, keep the concept of symmetry in mind.
Will there be an identical amount of space from the wall surface on both the left and right sides of the kit? You'll discover that to obtain a balanced sound in the stereo spectrum, symmetry is extremely important.
It's necessary to be aware that tracking a drum sound isn't just about the drums themselves, but more about recording the tones they generate within a live room.
Based upon the location where the drum kit is situated in relation to the wall surfaces and the mics, a standing wave can lead to bass propagation as well as subtraction of audio strength in various areas inside the room.
When the microphone happens to be within the cold-spot produced by a standing wave, it could result in a really low quality drum recording.
Conversely, when the mic finds itself in a hot-spot, certain frequencies of your drum sound might be over-powered at that position.
You'll find positions where the drums seems more powerful, or weaker as a result of standing waves inside the space, however, you are only able to identify the best spot by simply being attentive as the drums move around the room.
The Intention of Overhead Mics.
Close mics do not demonstrate the complete picture of the kit.
They actually account for a limited picture from the top heads of different drums.
They don't represent many of the expanding parts of the whole drum sound from far away.
In addition, we don't have a real reference for this type of tone simply because we hardly ever put our ears anywhere near a drum kit while it's being used.
Overheads can provide a bigger picture of a normal audience position, and they shouldn't be looked at as simply a means of capturing cymbals.
The purpose of overheads is to connect the drum kit to the room.
Close up mics should be employed to fortify the drum sound, so that as you bring them in, your drum sound should get larger and better.
To ensure this, you need to locate the best place for your drums and overhead mics together, known as the sweet spot".
Locating the Sweet Spot.
The simplest way to find the ideal spot for your drums in a given space, is generally to use the drum with the biggest resonance: the floor tom.
Because of its deep resonance, you can get a good idea of how the rest of the drum kit will sound in your space.
In addition to this, phase problems are actually easier to diagnose with the help of bassier instruments.
Experiment with the placement of the tom by having an assistant wander around your recording space while banging on the floor tom with a stick.
Try placing a stool in different locations within the space, and stand on top of it, listening to how the floor tom sounds.
Your ears are pretending to be overhead mics.
Route a microphone (a cardioid condenser, if possible) to a set of earphones and wear them while you sweep the area to locate the sweet spot, holding the mic.
The earphones are going to boost the microphone in your hand, but will place you directly in the viewpoint of the microphone.
The greater in volume the sound source, the more chance that the background level will overpower the volume in your headphones, so watch out.
As well, the phase difference concerning the live sound and the headphone feed might distort the way you hear it even more.
In essence, the louder the drum kit, the less effective the headphone method will be.
Once you locate the deepest, most resonant position for the floor tom and overhead mics, ask your assistant to stop, and place the floor tom down.
The initial overhead mic should be placed at the fullest, most resonant position that you find in relation to the drum.
Continually seek out the place where this deep resonance expands the farthest, and put the microphone precisely where your head (or the test mic) is.
Get the drummer to arrange the kit around the floor tom, but make sure the floor tom doesn't move.
Your second overhead mic needs to be in the symmetrically opposite position to the drum kit's centre point: the snare.
According to the 3:1 rule, the overhead microphones should be 3 times farther from each other than their height above the drums.
In reality, the majority of recording engineers are more focused on the space between the snare and the overhead microphones as opposed to space between the mics.
You can still use a tape-measure in order to make certain the gap conforms with the 3 to 1 rule, but the best option is to listen.
Get your stool and do the identical technique just like the initial overhead mic: listen closely from several points around the kit and place the mic where it resonates best.
Most people put a drums where it looks pretty, but they forget about the fact that a good stereo image doesn't necessarily come from the location immediately in front of the drum kit; it often comes at an angle.
Many others will agonize over precise measurements between the overheads to the drum kit to try to ensure that the sound of each drum reaches the overheads at the same time, creating a peak drum strike which punches you in the face.
Nevertheless, peak power shouldn't be the objective.
The human ear is much more fond of differences in new textures, rather than plain volume, and so your target needs to be the overall picture and composition of the drums, instead of the peak energy.