Drum Recording Methods for Studio Engineers

As the proverbial saying goes, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”. There’s more than one way to record a drum set too! It all comes down to what you want to hear. When envisioning a drummer playing with the band, how do you see it? Is it close, far, big, small, loud, soft? All of these descriptions can play a role in how you approach recording and ultimately mixing the drums. The following is a brief description of my humble approach.

Good Sounding Drums = Good Sounding Recording

If you have a great sounding drum, you can mic it with a tin can and it will still sound good. Start by making the drums sound like you want them to in the room and everything will be easier from that point on. When starting a new session, and if budget allows, I typically change all of the heads on the drum set. Top and bottom for snares and toms, and batter and resonant (if used) for the kick drums. This is a clean slate for tone!!! You don’t want to use heads that 20 other drummers have beat to death. Change the heads and tune them.

Though I’m no master drum tuner, I’ve had the good fortune of working with some excellent drummers and drum techs who are, so I’ve learned a few things over the years. I always start by seating the head and making sure that it’s an even fit. Apply the hoop and turn all of the lugs until they start to resist with normal pressure. I go in a criss cross fashion, but my drummer friends tell me that with the quality of modern heads this isn’t really necessary. With the lugs at average tension, you are 90% there. Place the drum on the floor and, with both hands, apply heavy and even pressure to the head until you hear a crack. I’ve known many a drummer and tech to stand on the head instead of using their hands, don’t worry, you won’t hurt the drum. Now re-tighten each lug to even tension just like before. Sometimes the drum sounds excellent at this stage, if not, I tap the head near each lug and compare the frequencies all while muting the opposite head with my knee. I try to match the tones of each lug as much as possible by either tightening or loosening them. After some play, you will have a crystal clear tone for each head. I generally prefer the top head lower in frequency than the bottom head by a whole tone though I have had good results with both being the same frequency and sometimes with the top head being higher in pitch. Let your ears, and the song, be the judge. Save any dampening treatment as a last resort. They are often necessary, but get the pitch right without any gels or tape, then apply them as you see fit in the context of the song.

Drum Placement

Now that the drums are tuned, pick up the snare drum and walk around the room hitting it with a stick. You are listening to the room and figuring out where the snare drum sounds best. Once you think you have it, put it on a stand and have the drummer play while you walk around the room. If you are satisfied with the sound, finish setting the rest of the drums, if not, rinse and repeat until you are satisfied. If no spot sounds good, you may need to add or remove gobos or bring in some other methods of room treatment. While placing the kick drum, I like to point it in the direction of maximal dispersion, so at an outside corner in the room. An inside corner would be second best, and pointed straight at a wall would not be a good option.

Mic Placement

Thinking back to the questions posed in the opening section of this article, you decided on different characteristics of the drum sound. These characteristics help guide you in your approach to micing the drum set. I’m usually tracking multiple songs a day, as few as 3 or as many as 12, so I don’t always have the luxury of changing mic placement and drums after each song is recorded. In these cases, I like to be battle ready, and have all of my options available during mixdown. On a typical rock set with kick, snare, hat, rack, floor, ride, and 2 crashes, I will have up to 15 microphones on the kit and in the room. This gives me many options for mixing and usually sounds killer with all faders at zero. Here’s my breakdown:

Kick Drum

Inside Mic - I prefer the Shure Beta 52, but choose a dynamic that you like with enough thud, thwack, and tick (if desired) that can handle the SPL of a rock drummer. Placed just a couple of inches inside the resonant head and pointed directly at the beater. I prefer to have a little dampening around the mic itself to cut down on reflections inside the drum shell. Use more or less dampening on the beater and resonant heads as you fit. I typically flip the phase of my kick mics when I’m on the resonant head pointing at the beater.

Outside Mic - My go to mic is a fet condenser by Charter Oak called an E700. It has a very dynamic response to the low end and can handle high SPL. It adds the thump and body of the drum to the attack of the dynamic inside the shell. I make sure that both mics are the same distance from the resonant head, so if the inside mic is 2 inches from the head, so is the outside mic. If there is no resonant head, I still use two mics but place them even with each other.

Snare Drum

Top Mic - I usually use a single Shure SM57 on the top head, placed a couple of inches over the rim pointing at wherever the drummer most consistently hits the snare (usually the center of the head). I’ve used other mics, and even multiple mics, but I always go back to the sound and simplicity of a single 57 on the top. As always, use your ears, and don’t be afraid to experiment if time and budget allows.

Bottom Mic - Again, the sound and simplicity of a 57 always wins here. Try to match the distance and angle of the bottom mic to the top mic. You will need to flip the phase of the bottom mic on your preamp input, since the bottom mic will be pointing up and the top mic pointing down.

Rack Tom

Top Mic - Typically I will use a Sennheiser MD421 on the top head of all the toms. Again a couple of inches above the rim and pointing at the center of the head. On the top mic I’m generally looking for attack and presence.

Bottom Mic (Optional) - Here I use a Beta98 condenser microphone. These come with clips, and I mount them directly to the shell. They are highly directional, handle high SPL, and have great clarity and detail. I place them equal distance and angle with the top mic. With this source, I’m going for tone, resonance, and sustain. I flip the phase at the mic preamp input and buss this down to a single track along with the top mic. Use your ears and decide how much of each mic you would like to hear in context.

Floor Tom

The same rules generally apply with floor toms as they do to rack toms. Occasionally I choose to place a larger diaphragm dynamic mic on either top or bottom head to pick up more of the lower frequency content. Again, use your ears and don’t be afraid to experiment. I’ve also had great luck recently with using both an MD421 and a kick drum style mic such as an AKG D112 blended together. You can EQ both mics to bring out as much attack and as much girth as you like.

Hi Hat/ Ride

I prefer to use the same type mic for both hat and ride when possible. My favorite results have come from Neumann U87’s in figure-8 pattern. I place them around 6” above the cymbal and tilt the mic until I get maximum rejection of surrounding drums and cymbals. The result is super clean, and super present hi hat and ride.

Overheads

Here’s where things start to get interesting. Mics being out of phase with each other is the death of a great drum sound. Fortunately some great person in history invented the tape measure. I always carry a tape measure with me when engineering to ensure that my microphones are exactly where I want them in relation to the sound source. For drum overheads I go with a spaced pair approach and have discovered a sweet spot in my live room that is anywhere from 4 ft to 5 ft from the center of the snare drum. I generally use a spaced pair of large diaphragm condensers, typically Neumann TLM103’s at my studio, one over the hihat side and one over the ride side of the drum set equal distance from the snare drum. Depending on the sound I’m going for, I will either point the mic towards the snare or down towards the cymbals. You will need to experiment with the positions that you prefer best. I have also had good results with coincident placement such as x-y and blumlein.

Room Mics

Again, spend time focusing on the proper distance from the snare drum so that all your mics are as close to in phase as possible. I typically double the distance of my overhead mics if I can. If I can’t, I place them the same distance. Usually they are around shoulder height or lower and angled towards the snare drum. I like to place them behind the kit, rather than in front of the kit. I feel like it adds extra attack that isn’t there in front of the kit, but as always, use your ears! If you like the sound, it’s the right sound.

Wrapping Up

This was just a quick rundown of how I do things most of the time. Things like microphone choice and mic placement (height/angle/distance) may change minutely from session to session and as my personal preferences and taste evolves and as the needs of my clients dictate. If these ideas work for you, great, let me know in the comments section. If not or if you have some ideas of your own, feel free to post them here.