Mic the Drums, first real project on my own

[PATofNAVAR]

So I am in the middle of construction for my new drum room. Building a room within a room, with insulation, drywall and then acoustic foam/ bass traps. I am going to use this as an all purpose room...big enough for drums but small enough for amps and even vocals. Here are my mics:

U87
KSM 141 (pair)
sm57 (4 of em)
beta 58a
d112

I figure I will use my octopre, avalon 737 and then one of the 002r pre-amps. It is a big drum kit, and if you go to navar.net you can check out the rock sound I currently have.

I am going from recording with Robby from the goo goo dolls (at his studio) to giving this a shot on my own (because my demos are turning out fantastic). Up until now, all my gear has been used for pre-production demo work...and now its for a full fledged release.

Im nervous about the drums...and that is about it. I figure I will use the d112 for the kick (obviously), 57s on the snare and the toms and then the 141s for the overhead cymbal mics. I wanted to use the U87 for the room mic. Am I on the right track? It is a small room, so i figure that the acoustical treatment will help..along with true verb.

I am not a newbie, but never want to act like I know it all. your help is truly appreciated!

[Seeee]

you know those are the right mic's for the job. maybe some tom mic's but that isnt always neccesary.

good luck. the mics are good.

[Naagzh]

I would try the Beta58 on the floor tom, and see what happens. You could use another 57 for the snare bottom, but it's probably not necessary.

If it's a small room, I'm not sure a room mic would sound that good. No harm in trying, though. You'll have to be careful about the placement, and about how much of the cymbals go into it, and how that interacts with the overheads. The U87 should make an excellent room mic, though.

If the room mic doesn't work out, then try the U87 in front of the kick.

By the by, PSP vintage warmer can do wonders to fatten out a snare drum.

[rgriff]

I would suggest a second mic for the bass drum,it really improved the sound for me. I have it a couple of feet from the front of the drum. My D112 sits right in front.
Ray

[Icabod]

As I looked at your mic selection and started to think about what I would do, I scrolled down and saw that you had already come up with what I was thinking.

I like 57s for toms. I mount them so that the diaphrams are as close to parallel to the drum heads as possible. That gives me a fatter sound than the normal 30º-45º angle that most people use. If it isn't a crisp enough sound, I just tilt them until it is to my liking.

Actually, this is probably a wasted reply. You obviously already know what to do, so have fun!!!

[PATofNAVAR]

Ok, a question I have is....is the KSM141 a better mic than the SM81s? Like, the KSM is a new mic with more features...but my main use would be for overheads (cymbals and kit), and all other uses secondary. Are the 141s as good as the 81s for this?

I guess i am just concerned that the fifty bucks a piece more is just for these extra features...and that the versatility that is built into the 141 takes away from the "legendary" characteristics of the 81.

Thanks for the help, you guys rock as always!


ALSO!!!

I have built a room within a room, insulated and dry walled (5/8") and will be treating it with acoustical foam and bass traps. my room isn’t very tall (7.5-8 feet)...what is the best way to treat the ceiling? I was thinking about putting some sheet blok up and then dry walling over that...but is the extra 350 bucks necessary?

[Ben Jenssen]

Here´s how I usually do it:

I always work with only the overheads first.
I like to have them spaced (not X/Y), it gives me a good wide stereo.
I usually end up with them as close to the set as I can. On each side of the drummers head, pointing towards the drums.
I try different distances, spacing and direction until I get a good image of the whole set.
(I also try to have exactly the same distance from the center of the snare to each of the mics to get a tight phase-accurate snare.)

Then I treat the rest of the mics as complementary to the overheads.
Often I only need to mic the kick and snare, and maybe the floor tom.

I think it works pretty well.

I´m shure your mics are very suitable.

[PATofNAVAR]

But am I better off with the SM81's if I am primarily using those mics for overhead cymbal mics??

As in, should I return the KSM141s for a pair of SM81s?