Miking Drums
There are many ways to mic drums and it seems that most every recording or live
sound engineer has their own way of miking drums. Our objective is not to indicate
which drum miking approach is better, but to look at advantages and disadvantages
of each. Every engineer or producer uses their own methods to obtain the results
they desire and that is what matters. Let us look at some of the common practices
in miking drums.
Multi-microphone Method
The objective here is to place a separate microphone on either most or all the ele-
ments of a drum set. Typically, separate mics are used on snare, toms, sock cymbal
and kick drum with one or two overhead microphones. The overhead mics pick up
the overall sound of the drums including cymbals, which are not miked separately.
With this method, the mixing engineer can control the level, and signal processing
(limiting, EQ, etc.) for each element of the drum set. This provides a great deal of
control over the entire drum set and allows bringing out certain patterns on sock
cymbal, snare, etc. Multi-miked drums may be desirable when you are recording in
a large room with high ambient sound. Close miking will reduce the amount of
unwanted room sound.
The disadvantages in this approach are interactive phasing problems often result-
ing in cancellations of certain frequencies, especially when using multiple cardioid
microphones. Multi-miked drums typically have a more present and detailed sound
due to the closeness of the microphones to each element of the drum set. In con-
trast, this approach looses the “air” and “openness” that one would hear in a natural
setting. As one engineer put it, “close miking drums makes the drum set sound like
a bunch of pieces instead of a drum set.”
Minimum-microphone Method
There are two old sayings: (1) more is better and (2) less is better. Each is true in
its own right, but which is right for you? In the earlier days of recording, fewer
microphones were used. When a drum set was miked, it would usually be done with
one overhead microphone and sometimes another microphone on the kick drum.
When stereo came along, a second overhead microphone was added to achieve a
stereo effect. Miking drums in this manner provides a more natural sounding set
of drums with more “air” and “openness” in the sound. It also greatly reduces the
potential for any phasing problems resulting in frequency cancellations inherent in
multi-miked drums. This approach also works best in a good-sounding room with-
out overabundant ambients, reverb or reflections. This method is ideal for use in a
studio drum booth or drum room that has been specifically designed for recording
drums. Today, more and more engineers are moving toward using fewer microphones
on drums. This is especially applicable as newer technologies in microphones can
provide startling results with fewer microphones. Earthworks incorporates these new
advanced technologies in their High Definition Microphones
TM
.
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Version 2, July 7, 2011