1
Microphones
Several microphones were set up for many mic positions, with the most appropriate sets being used for each kit.
Some snares were mic’d using a slightly different technique involving the top snare mics pointing at the side of the snare shell
instead of at the top skin.
BFD2’s snares offer two mics for the top snare position, allowing even more flexibility than before when mixing.
Microphone delay was edited out from the direct channels so all kick and snare mic channels are time-aligned with reference to
themselves.
Bottom snare and outside kick mic channels have been phase-flipped to ensure they are already in phase.
No time-aligning of ambience channels was performed, as this would affect the natural stereo image provided by their timing
discrepancies.
Directs
Kick In
The most appropriate inside mic from the following was chosen for each
kick:
• AKG D112 on the beater side
• ElectroVoice RE20 inside the kick
Kick Out
The most appropriate outside mic from the following was chosen for each
kick:
• Neumann FET 47
• CAD VX2
Snare Top
Snare Top1:
Shure SM57
Snare Top2:
Neumann KM84
Snare Bottom
Neumann KM84
Hi Hats
Neumann KM84
Toms
Sennheiser MD421 on top skin only
Cymbals
Neumann KM84
Overheads
The most appropriate set from the following was chosen for each kit-piece:
• Coles 4038
• Manley Gold reference
Both sets were arranged as stereo spaced pairs, with the Coles in a Blumlein array as they have a ‘figure of 8’ response.
Room
For the first Room mic set, original AKG C12s were used in M/S configuration. They were placed in front of the kit, approx. 8 ft.
away and aligned just above the kick drum.
The use of the M/S configuration is intended to facilitate a good true mono room sound, something which is heard in many classic
drum sounds.
It also has the benefit of being used for widening the stereo image.
The BFD2 mixing engine handles the M/S decoding in real-time on the voice level to take advantage of this type of recording.
Amb3 (Room2)
For the Room2 mic set on the Amb3 mic bus, a stereo spaced pair of Sony C800’s was used, placed diagonally 23 ft away from
the kit and very high up in the room – around 20-25 ft.
Compared to the Room set, this mic set has a more obvious room ‘slap back’ reverb effect. Because of the height of placement, it
captures the size of the room well. It has a brighter, more dense sound.
AKG D11
ElectroVoice RE0
Neumann FET
CAD VX
Shure SM
Neumann KM
Sennheiser MD1
Coles 0
Manley Gold
AKG C1
Sony C00
