Ken On Earth - Part III
In the studio today again with NYC rockers Man On Earth cutting drum tracks. We worked really hard and spent alot of time to get some really great drum sounds, and now we're spending some quality time making sure we get some really great drum takes.
For those that care, Here's a rundown of the mics and signal chain
MOE%20-%20Drum%20Setup.png
I built some isolation around the kick so that the outside kick mic didnt pick up much of the cymbals and toms. I'm using several layers of carpet padding for this. The outside kick mic is about 3 inches from the front head, and the inside kick mic is about 6 inches inside. The Oktava ML152 (Ribbon Mic) is about 3 feet from the kick drum, in direct line with it. I'm using this mostly to reinforce the kick but it picks up enough of the rest of the kit to fill it out and give some overall depth. Cymbal mics (Royer R122 Ribbon mics) are about 20 inches above the cymbals except for the spot mic on the ride cymbal which is maybe 4 or 5 inches away.
My EV 635 mic with the blown element makes everything that goes thru it just sound really nasty and gritty, kinda makes everything sound like a drum loop, and sometimes i'll use it by itself and cut all of the other drum mics in the mix. Its a nice effect if used sparsely and properly. And the cheap mic i have set up is going into a little battery powered mini Vox Guitar amp which is in another room for isolation, then i mic the speaker on the Vox amp. Its a little distorted and really grungy, and if you mix it in right with the rest of the drum mics, it adds this solidity and presence to the sound and un-polishes the sound a bit. This is indie rock, i dont want it to be pretty.
The drum kit I'm using is the top of the line Pearl Masters Session Recording kit. I love this kit. The snare is an incredibly heavy copper DW 6X14 i think. Cymbals and hats are all Sabian AA and AAX. I typically like darker fast decaying cymbals and these fit the bill. I find that bright cymbals tend to sound harsh and glassy, even thru the Royer ribbon mics, and I like cymbals for rock to hit and decay and not ring forever. These Sabians sound really good on this record and match the sound of the kit well. I think the toms are 12 and 16 inches, i dont know how deep, and I've got them tuned so they ben down in pitch when you hit them. we spent alot of time tuning the drums before putting up the mics. If you dont get a great sound in the room, you'll never capture a great drum sound no matter what gear your using. Anyway, break time is over, time for another round of takes.
rock.
-Ken Lewis
For those that care, Here's a rundown of the mics and signal chain
MOE%20-%20Drum%20Setup.png
I built some isolation around the kick so that the outside kick mic didnt pick up much of the cymbals and toms. I'm using several layers of carpet padding for this. The outside kick mic is about 3 inches from the front head, and the inside kick mic is about 6 inches inside. The Oktava ML152 (Ribbon Mic) is about 3 feet from the kick drum, in direct line with it. I'm using this mostly to reinforce the kick but it picks up enough of the rest of the kit to fill it out and give some overall depth. Cymbal mics (Royer R122 Ribbon mics) are about 20 inches above the cymbals except for the spot mic on the ride cymbal which is maybe 4 or 5 inches away.
My EV 635 mic with the blown element makes everything that goes thru it just sound really nasty and gritty, kinda makes everything sound like a drum loop, and sometimes i'll use it by itself and cut all of the other drum mics in the mix. Its a nice effect if used sparsely and properly. And the cheap mic i have set up is going into a little battery powered mini Vox Guitar amp which is in another room for isolation, then i mic the speaker on the Vox amp. Its a little distorted and really grungy, and if you mix it in right with the rest of the drum mics, it adds this solidity and presence to the sound and un-polishes the sound a bit. This is indie rock, i dont want it to be pretty.
The drum kit I'm using is the top of the line Pearl Masters Session Recording kit. I love this kit. The snare is an incredibly heavy copper DW 6X14 i think. Cymbals and hats are all Sabian AA and AAX. I typically like darker fast decaying cymbals and these fit the bill. I find that bright cymbals tend to sound harsh and glassy, even thru the Royer ribbon mics, and I like cymbals for rock to hit and decay and not ring forever. These Sabians sound really good on this record and match the sound of the kit well. I think the toms are 12 and 16 inches, i dont know how deep, and I've got them tuned so they ben down in pitch when you hit them. we spent alot of time tuning the drums before putting up the mics. If you dont get a great sound in the room, you'll never capture a great drum sound no matter what gear your using. Anyway, break time is over, time for another round of takes.
rock.
-Ken Lewis
posted by Protools Mixing at 6:15 PM
2 Comments:
That is intense! I had a look at the list... wow. A lot of gear for drums. What kind of system are you recording with.. Logic? What sound card?
marlon
That's intense. A lot of mics and gear for dums. They must sounds amazing! Are you using Logic to record with as well? What sound card do you use?
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