Recording drums

[patswope]

I've been using superior drummer inside pro tools to do a demo for my bands music. The other guys in the band want to record live drums in a living room. With an 8 channel console how can I route this into pro tools, I've never touched this subject before (I've only used virtual instruments)...

[Meads]

What exactly do you want to know? How to setup the console's inputs in PT, or how to split up the drums into 8 channels?

[albee1952]

What interface do you have? With an Mbox, recording a full drumkit is going to be iffy at best(a great sounding kit, in a great sounding room with 2 great microphones......maybe). My favorite method is to use a Roland electronic drum kit with real cymbals(2 mics would work okay here) and let SD2 provide all the "shell" drum sounds. Pre-mixing 8 mics into 2 channels(to feed an Mbox) requires you to get the kit really good BEFORE it hits the Mbox.

[patswope]

I'm working with only a Mbox mini so I'm really limited I'm sure. I just wanted to figure out all my options. Probably wishful thinking, but is there a way to go direct out from a mixer and go into the line in on the Mbox? This is basically what I'm trying to achieve.

[albee1952]

Yeah, with the Mini, all you can do is create a stereo mix with any outboard mixer, and feed that into the line inputs(quarter inch) of the Mini(and probably record to a single stereo track). To get good results here, the kit needs to be in great tune and condition(because you can't fix much after the recording). I would hope that the drums are in a room that is separated from your recording area, and you may need to use headphones to dial in the kit mix(put the mixer by the Mbox and use a snake going to the drum kit).

[barters81]

To be honest...some of the best recordings I've ever done of a drumkit has been on two channels only. I've had to run the mics through a 8 channel desk, then out as stereo into say a stereo tape recorder.

This forced me to make decisions at the time of recording and not leave myself with too many options at a later date. It forces you to be more critical with your mic selection and placement at the time of tracking which is where its most important.

I did use the onboard eq carve out spaces for each drum to sit nicely, and I had to be mindful of how I was intending on recording the bass later. As in, is the bas going to sit below or above the kick? What is going to drive this tune?

I sometimes used some compression on the snare and kick on the way in just to get them to be a little more present than the rest.

From there you take the time to get the mix right. Lets be honest...this is what live engineers do everyday, and I'm sure everyone has heard an awesome concerts in their day.

Also, I generally use a bit of multiband compression once the stereo track is on PT to emphasise different things.

Also, some interfaces have 2 x stereo channels. This may give you the opportunity to get some cable splits to turn 2 stereo channels into 4 mono channels. You can do the same thing with a mixer as well.

Good luck...and remember...there is no substitue to real drums in a real room.

[albee1952]

Have to agree with barters81, except to remind you that SD2 actually IS real drums in a real room. They just got recorded by somebody else in another room

[barters81]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Have to agree with barters81, except to remind you that SD2 actually IS real drums in a real room. They just got recorded by somebody else in another room

Lol... Yeah yeah, fair enough.

On a different note......did a session on the weekend with a new band, and I got the most awesome snare sound. Supposedly some million dollar awesome snare drum. Just goes to show how much good instruments effect what were doing as well.

[albee1952]

Amen to that. A great instrument is always a good choice(too bad we don't always get that choice)

[HD2]

Originally Posted by patswope

I'm working with only a Mbox mini so I'm really limited I'm sure. I just wanted to figure out all my options. Probably wishful thinking, but is there a way to go direct out from a mixer and go into the line in on the Mbox? This is basically what I'm trying to achieve.

If your band members really want a live drum track (which I can't blame them) but you're limited to a cheap 8 ch, console, cheap mics and a 2 ch. interface in a living room, my suggestion would be to rent a Roland TD5 kit or something along those lines with dual zone pads and record your drummer that way using the sounds from superior drummer. You would be very hard pressed to get better sounding drums or anywhere even close, with your limited resources, to the ones in superior drummer.
BTW, Yes you can go line out of a mixer into the Mbox.