Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Live Multichannel Recording techniques

On theme but OT I attended a drum recording master class last night at Soundattak in Colchester UK.
We started with going from a two mic set up to using 9 in stages.

I was invited by Jonathan of Little Rabbit Barn fame along with two of our live sound engineers.

This was very interesting and went along way to show what can be done with correct set up.
We covered the Glyn Johns method where correct mic placement distances are crucial and it was amazing to experiance that when correct in recording, the stereo image just popped out of the PA on playback.
Apparently when recorded like this no post production EQ or compression etc is required.
If you mic it correctly, you record it correctly.

Another section was the importance of choosing the correct snare drum for the style of music and the kit. We had about six differant ones to demonstrate this.
One of the snares was the actual 1957 drum that was used to record the 'Only Fools and Horses' theme.

Mixing the kick drum with three Mic's and using differant placings was a revelation.
The importance of Phase when micing up a snare from top and bottom as well as mic distances. Phase is crucial here. As is direction. Point the mic at the edge of a Cymbal is a very bad idea as the sound fluctuates with the movement. Point it centre.

We also used high quality ambiance Mic's to mix in on playback for great natural reverb. They can cause feedback on live reinforced sound so caution is needed.

The other tip was the ninth mic place in front of the kit which should be the cheapest and nastiest you can find. This is then fed through horrible overdrive deliberately.

Without this we had a perfect clinical drum recording, then as you fed this distortion into the mix the whole recording lifted to a new level with some edginess, grit.
Apparently this technique was developed by U2. Fascinating to experience.

We used Shure Mic's and pro tools to record.

I am no expert here, but this was fascinating.
Chris