Drums are such rhythmic instruments to play. Over the years, drums have proven to be the one of the most challenging sets of instruments to play and actually record in the studio. Talk of the dozen microphones that they require, their high frequency requirements, the tone; these great drum dynamics can either enhance or break your recording. Bearing all drumming dynamics in mind, below is a bunch of incredible tips for good sound recording when it comes to recording your drums:
Room
When recording drums, it is priceless to consider the acoustics of the room in which you intend to record in. Nowadays, a personal computer interface and a few microphones, as well as access to various rooms create a unique feel into the sounds of your drum set. To be on the safe route, go for an acoustically treated room. Sound live rooms are an inherent aspect of drum sound. Remember that poor room reflections can kill your drum recording.
Pre production
Recording using worn heads with an out of tune drum can only get you bogus results that do no justice to your drumming skills. Be sure to replace your drumheads consistently and tune them regularly to enhance the drum sound quality during your recording.
Microphone selection
Great microphones are a vital part of drum recording. You can compare between condenser microphones and dynamic microphones depending on your needs. While condenser microphones can be used as overhead microphones to get a grip of the overall sound from the drum kit at a close distance, they also capture nuance that come from your drum kit right from the cymbals to the lower end of your kick drum. Dynamic microphones on the other hand take more volume. Nonetheless, they lack frequency response as well as accuracy that the condenser offers. They capture the pounding noise that emerges from the kick drum and can handle the incredibly loud smack that comes from the snare. Ribbon microphones are also available; they highlight smoother sound as compared to other microphones.
Collection of instruments
Every drum is an essential sound producer. Attach microphones to every kit in order to capture total sound. Mix and match your overall volume of all your tracks during the mixing phase to gain maximum control of all the sound emanating from your drum sets. Overall sound suffers when the kick drum has insufficient definition together with power. Microphone placement plays an important role when it comes to kick drum sound. The best microphone to use for recording kick drum sound is the dynamic microphone. They possess the best frequency to acquire the thick low as well as the beater snap. Placing your microphone too close to your inner head limits your drum’s ability to capture resonance. You should gain more knowledge using online sources that offer tutorials on how best to place microphones on your snare drum, hit hat cymbals and the toms, as this remains to be one of the major things that determines the overall sound of the recording.