Why do you silly folks mic drums?

[Space Monkey]

I just got an Alesis DM10 Electronic Drum Set two 1/4 in. cables going into my joe meek dual ch. strip w/ EQ, COMP. During class we mic'd drums and the cost would be enourmous for all those mics. Furthermore you won't always get it mic'd just right (makes me wonder how Jerry Garcia and company were able to pull it off when they were so chemically enhanced). I just use an electronic drum set. Now let me say I am a beginner drummer I still have trouble with the bass drum/pedal (i think my pedal sucks) but for a beginner the alesis is awesome. I just am curious what is the allure of acoustic drum sets instead of electronic? Also for you expert drummers what can I do to get better at drumming esp. using my feet? At any rate before I got this I had (and don't laugh) a roland spd-20 drum machine. Essentially I have no one to play with in a band so I just tought myself almost every instrument over the past 20 yrs.

[albee1952]

Hey, if it works for you, then its the right thing to do. Personally, I also don't care if I see another acoustic kit in my studio. Since my room is on the small side, I use a Roland TD-10 kit, but instead of using L&R out of the brain, I just take the midi to a stereo instrument track and insert Superior Drummer 2. This gives me about 50 different kits between the expansion packs and the choices within each kit(plus you can grab sounds from different kits to make your own). As great as this works(and it does), it gets a little better when I use a real hihat and 1 mic. Then I sometimes use all real cymbals with 3-4 mics(when real drummers play) and that puts it completely over the top. With a VI drumkit(instead of L&R from a module) you can split the kit out to separate tracks for everything and get as fancy as you would with a real kit(but without most of the hassle) Not to say I don't love a great sounding kit, but its amazing how often the kit is not that good, has tired heads and cracked cymbals, or is poorly tuned(drum tuning is a skill that many drummers just don't have).

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by Space Monkey

I just got an Alesis DM10 Electronic Drum Set two 1/4 in. cables going into my joe meek dual ch. strip w/ EQ, COMP. During class we mic'd drums and the cost would be enourmous for all those mics. Furthermore you won't always get it mic'd just right (makes me wonder how Jerry Garcia and company were able to pull it off when they were so chemically enhanced). I just use an electronic drum set. Now let me say I am a beginner drummer I still have trouble with the bass drum/pedal (i think my pedal sucks) but for a beginner the alesis is awesome. I just am curious what is the allure of acoustic drum sets instead of electronic? Also for you expert drummers what can I do to get better at drumming esp. using my feet? At any rate before I got this I had (and don't laugh) a roland spd-20 drum machine. Essentially I have no one to play with in a band so I just tought myself almost every instrument over the past 20 yrs.

Because real drums, when mic'd right, sound great?
Expensive mics and real drums are a big part of what sells studio time for me. I'm well aware that not everybody has this option, what with limited space, and limited microphone budget.
Electronic drum kits make sense for project studios, and certain types of music, but a good kit in a good room with good mics will generally be preferred by most bands looking to book time.

[BradLyons]

There are times and places for electronic drums.... But when you want the best possible sound, acoustic drums always win hands down. Why? Because the best sound comes from drummers that are playing the way they were meant to play, and real drums allow that. Why mic them? Because you can't mic electronics I sell electronics, I am a consultant working directly with some of the biggest names in the business.... and like I said there is a time and a place for them but you can NOT get the same reaction, nuances, variation of timbres the way you can with the real thing. As an engineer, I absolutely insist on using acoustic drums because I have the ability to create the sound I want--not rely on how someone else sampled them.

[Bill Denton]

God created the Earth, then begat Hephaestus, the Greek God of Fire and Metallurgy, who gave great secrets to the Zildjians...

And I was playing drums back before any of that happened!

While some of the very high-end edrums come close, there are simply some subtleties that I can create on an acoustic drum kit that I can't on an edrum kit.

Back in the day, when we put a new head on a drum, we would place a quarter pm the head and use it to draw a circle in the center of the drumhead. Our goal was to keep all of our "hits" inside the circle.

But that doesn't mean that it's the only place you can hit a drum...coloring outside the lines is okay. Which means you've got a tremendous number of places on even a single drum where y0ou can hit it. And every one of them give a different sound.

Multiply that by the number of drums in the kit (excepting the bass drum(s)) and you've got a huge array of sounds. And even though you can only hit one spot on a bass drum, with good foot technique it, too, can be very versatile.

Then go up on the tin...(old geezer nickname for cymbals). There again, a huge number of places to hit, all of them sounding different.

Throw in the wide range of sticks and brushes and mallets, how hard you hit with them, even which hand you hit with, and you have an instrument with an amazingly versatile range of sounds.

And there is currently simply no way for an edrum kit to give that range of versatility.

I use both kinds of kits, and in some cases it really doesn't make any difference which one I use. But when I want to do some really "expressive" work, my weapon of choice is always an acoustic kit...

[ondruspat]

Originally Posted by Bill Denton

God created the Earth, then begat Hephaestus, the Greek God of Fire and Metallurgy, who gave great secrets to the Zildjians...

And I was playing drums back before any of that happened!

ROFLOL!! Good one!!


Space Monkey, while electronic sets have there place there is simply a whole range of sounds that can't be replicated. Using your aguement there is no reason for an acoustic guitar!!! (...or pianos, pipe organs, flutes, etc., etc.)

...hmm, even electronic versions of most those are sampled so SOMEONE has to really record them!!!

[sunburst79]

One of these days some ones going to invent a usable eVocalist. Bands everywhere will rejoice.

[ericsvizeny]

Lmao...

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[albee1952]

This got me thinking....(always dangerous)...now why would anyone mic a guitar amp when 11rack or a PodHD will do the job nicely? What it really boils down to is; no sound(be it guitar model, amp model, drum sample or whatever) will please everybody

[DonaldM]

I have to agree with Bill...you really can't beat a real drummer (though once in a while they need a good flogging!) I find that every song I write that starts out with a groove created off midi drum loops, no matter how meticulous I am in creating the drum tracks, I can never get what I want vis-a-vis a real drummer. Its all those subtle things Bill mentioned. And, not being a drummer, I don't think like one (I know its assuming a lot that drummers actually think...but there it is ), so I don't really know what all to do to get all those subtleties even with a superb drum VI, like BFD or Strike. (I should add that my baby bro is a pro drummer, so teasing drummers sorta comes naturally to me...so all you real drummers, please know, I'm only joking - and am thinking of my baby bro, and NOT you!!! - you can retaliate with all the acoustic guitar player jokes you wish!)
So, all things being equal (or eq'd), unless I'm writing electronica, dance or trance grooves, I would always opt for the real deal, no matter how good my VI drums might sound.

Of course in certain genre's that electronic, quantized sound is expected, and the VI does the trick.

But, for all you drummers out there...I'd be curious to know who you feel about drum replacement in a mix, you know using something like Drumagog to replace your kick with another one, or snare, or whatever?? I have done that a bit, but always feel like I might make the drummer feel badly, even though that's not my intent. Thoughts?