RECORDING LIVE DRUMS! What Do I Track First??

[Big Tyme]

I have my first session involving a drum set on Sunday so i need as much tips as i can get. Here are my questions:

1)What do you track first?? Drums or Keyboard/Guitar? I was thinking that i would lay down a click track, then the keyboard, then the drums, then the bass guitar,etc...

2) Are overheads necessary? Im recording a R&B Soul/Funk Band. Here are my mics: 4-SM57's, 1-Beta 52, 1 AKG C4000b.

Drum Kit: Bass Drum, Snare, 1 Floor Tom, 2 Regular Toms, Crash, Ride, High Hat.

3) I have a Digi 001 and a mackie 1604vlz pro with 8 direct outs. Any tips on EQ & Compression??

Thanx Guys!!!

[LOH]

You also need to *learn* what good drums sound like. If the drummer's kit sounds like a bunch of trash can lids it won't matter how you mic it. He should have new heads and a spare set of heads and all the cymbals should be polished. The snare seems to be a lot of drummer's weak link. Most studios that I've been in usually have a snare that sounds good. Being mostly in to heavy music the kick usually gets replaced so I can't say what the secret is to a great kick drum.

Hope that helps.

Luck.

[where02190]

Originally posted by Big Tyme:
1)What do you track first?? Drums or Keyboard/Guitar? I was thinking that i would lay down a click track, then the keyboard, then the drums, then the bass guitar,etc...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Track them all together. If you track the keys midi, that leaves 8 inputs for drums(2 oh, kick snare, room), bass(direct) and gtr(direct or mic), leaving one input to use for talkback or to track keys audio.

2) Are overheads necessary? Im recording a R&B Soul/Funk Band. Here are my mics: 4-SM57's, 1-Beta 52, 1 AKG C4000b.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely, the most essential.

3) I have a Digi 001 and a mackie 1604vlz pro with 8 direct outs. Any tips on EQ & Compression??[/QUOTE]
Don't. leave that for mixing.

Hope this is helpful.

[IntelDoc]

This is what I did when I tracked drums the last time and it seemed to work pretty well. With what you have you will have to mess with it some, but it will work. If you can get a pair of Oktava MK-012's, I would get those for overheads. A lot of guys use them, they are cheap and you should be able to get the pair for 200 bucks if not less. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for overheads. This is where you will be lacking in the drum world.

If you cannot get then, then take the SM-57's and mic the top of the snare about 2 inches above it and two inches from the rim. More meat, move it in.... Take the others to close mic your toms. Look and see where the drummer is hitting and place the mic accordingly. If he is all over, save your mic and put it to the top of drum, two inches away from the head. If not, move it until it sounds best. Put the Beta 52 right outside the sound hole. Listen to it and move/add a blanket to tighten up the drum. Now for the tricky part. You really need to have 2 Overheads to get a good stereo panning capability. I really recommend getting another AKG or those Oktava's if you can. They are great mics. My first time was not long ago and I did it with 2 overheads, 5 sm-57's and a D112. Still working it out now but it turned out pretty good. Shoot me an e-mail and I will send you the song. If you cannot get that other one, or the oktava's, I would try to put the AKG up as high as you can get it, over the cymbals CENTERED to catch the ambient sounds. It will be hard though to get any panning at all this way.

It would be better if you had another one, then you can just throw one left and the other right no more than 3 feet apart. That worked best for my last setup.


Good luck, get the sounds, then worry about the effects.

[QuikDraw]

I won't offer any advice on the mics since I'm no expert on the subject, except to say that I have used a pair of Oktava MK-012 mics for overheads, and they do sound good.

As for what to track first, ask the drummer. I have one drummer that wants a click track, usually with different sounds for whole, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 notes, and a bass track. That's all he wants. No guitar, no vocals, no keys, no nuthin' except the click and bass. Then I have another guy that prefers to have guitar, bass, and vocals. I give the drummer whatever he/she wants.

I start with a click (always recorded to audio... Too much timing ambiguity with MIDI), and then add the other elements the drummer requests. These other elements are usually scratch tracks, as I like to replace them with recordings done listening to the live drums instead of a dull click track. Gives it a more "live" feel when the other instruments are recorded to drums rather than click.

Mike