Great Drum Micing Technique

Now this might not work for everyone, and certainly won't work in every situation; but I have begun using a 3 mic technique for a drum kit that I find absolutely stunning. It won't give you the "Toms of Doom" or anything unusual. It will give you a great natural sounding drum kit. This technique was first described to me by Gary Baldassari (who works for or quite closely with DPA Microphones) a number of years ago. You can find his description at http://www.dpamicrophones.com. Click the Applications Guide and select Drums-Jazz for his description.

My take on this utilized 2 AKG C451s with omni capsules and -10dB pads inline.  On the kick I was checking it with both an AKG D112 in the kick and an ElectroVoice RE20 outside and on axis a couple of inchs from the front head.  Placement of the 451s was a bit tricky.  On the hat side of the kit, the mic is placed in the middle of the snare, rack tom, and hat "triangle".  I found myself pulling it more towards the rack tom (away from the hat) and away from the snare a bit as well. The second mic comes in under the ride cymbal, between mid and floor toms.

In usage, the omni condenser tracks should be panned hard right and left (which one is which depends on going for player or audience perspective.  The kick is panned straight up the center. You will need to adjust positioning to get good blends of toms and cymbals and I highly recommend using a tape measure to make certain the condenser are equal distances from the snare.

Reactions? I was floored as was everyone else on the session. We had a great sounding drum kit with three mics! Less phase issues (and NO bleed issues!) to deal with than with multi-micing and smooth, even toms and cymbals! The snare had plenty of snap and body, with natural ring. The omni patterned mics gave a wonderfully realistic panorama as well!

Of course, there are drawbacks. You have to decide how you want the drums to sound while recording. Any processing you do to the hat side mic needs to be done to the ride side mic as well to maintain a good stereo perspective. And (of course) you need a good, consistant drummer. And, of course, a good room is really going to help the sound as well!

Give it a try and check Gary's DPA post as well for more info.

Thanks, Gary! I will use this!