Recording - January 2014 - 16

In this age of drum samples, virtual tracks, trigger pads, software that replaces and
re-tunes and re-times drums, you could be excused for asking, "Whatever happened
to the actual miking of an actual drum kit?" You know, real, analog, old-school...
When in doubt, ask the experts! For this issue of Recording we canvassed five:
Four drummers-Pat Bautz, Steve Bowman, David Crigger, Chet McCracken-
who are all set up to record tracks for anybody who hires them, from across the
street or across the globe, and one bassist/studio owner, Dave Martin, who
records plenty of drummers at his studio near Nashville.
We asked just three questions:
~ For acoustic drum kits, what is your favorite drum miking setup?
~ In what music styles do you use this setup?
~ Why are these your favorite mics?
What we received back exceeded our wildest expectations. The enthusiastic
responses, containing much detail and good advice, went way beyond
simple answers to our simple questions. This tells us that these top
professionals still are passionate about what they do, and willing to share their experiences. We thank them all for for their
helpful contributions.

5. Drum keys
6. WD-40
7. Moongel (drum damping materials)
For more in-depth information on preparing a
kit for recording, check out my previous article
"Better Recordings Thorugh Tuning" from June
2006 (http://tinyurl.com/RecMagDrumTuning).

Pat Bautz

I have a Pearl Maple series drum kit with a
20" bass drum with 8", 10", 12", 14" toms,
and a Vintage 1948 WFL drum kit with a 24"
bass drum and 13" and 16" toms. I also have
many different snare drums to choose from.
Let's look at some different styles of music and
the drums, mics, and general recording techniques that work for these styles. Remember that
these are just guides. Try experimenting before
you track, you never know what sounds you
might come across.
Pop/Rock (Audio Sample 1, found at
tinyurl.com/RecMagJan2014DrumMiking)
Since I'm looking for big drum sounds I tend to
use bigger drums for this style of music. I would
either use the Yamaha Recording Series with larger toms or the vintage WFL kit with Zildjian K
dark cymbals and a Hit-maker snare drum.
Kick Drum: AKG D112 through hole in head
pointed at beater about 3/4 of the way back in
the drum from batter head. Speaker sub about
1" from outer head. (Photo 1)
Snare Drum: Shure SM57 top and bottom.
Top mic 2" from rim, 2" from batter head, pointed at the center. The angle will vary depending
on the drummer's setup. Bottom mic 4" from
edge, 45º angle pointed at snares about 2"
from snares. Check polarity on top mic in relation to overheads. Check polarity on bottom mic
in relation to top mic.

Pat Bautz is a recording engineer, producer, and session drummer for hire, whether long-distance or on location. His websites are www.realdrumstudio.com and
www.mixyoursongs.com.
What's the first thing you need to get a great drum
sound? Great-sounding drums! I can't stress this enough.
I say it over and over. Great-sounding recorded drums
start with great-sounding drums!
Tips for tough times
I don't know how many times I've had a band come in to record in my studio where the drummer wanted to use a bad-sounding drum kit, even though
I have drum kits that are perfectly tuned and maintained. I warn them that it
will take extra time to make their drums sound even halfway decent, and
most likely they won't get a really great drum sound. When someone insists
on using their bad-sounding drum kit, here are some things I might have them
do: Change heads, repair rims, missing lugs, cracked cymbals-the list goes
on and on.
As an audio engineer you have to be prepared for situations like this.
Fortunately I have extra drum heads, tuning keys, stand parts, etc., in my studio
because I record drums for a living. You might want to put together a kind of
drum-kit survival bag. Here is a list of items to buy and have on hand.
1. Drum heads of different sizes: 10", 12", 13", 14", 16". I would recommend Remo coated Emperors because they are good general-purpose heads
that work in a lot of musical situations.
2. Cymbal felts
3. Cymbal wing nuts
4. A few pairs of drum sticks
16

RECORDING January 2014

Three drum kits
In my studio I have three different drum kits
that I use. My most versatile drum kit, a
Yamaha Recording Series drum kit with a
24" bass drum, has 10", 12", 13",
14", 15", 16", and 18" toms. I have
so many sizes of toms with this kit
so I can use larger or smaller
tom combinations for different
styles of music.

http://www.tinyurl.com/RecMagDrumTuning http://www.realdrumstudio.com http://www.mixyoursongs.com http://www.tinyurl.com/RecMagJan2014DrumMiking

Recording - January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - January 2014