I've been drumming for 36 years, Professional Sound Engineer for 30 years. I still watched this video for a refresher. I'm glad to know my gut instincts about these things are spot on, and "in phase"!
I think I actually went insane for a while back in the late 90's when struggling with phasing on my 10-piece kit (now retired that kit because i don't play symphonic prog metal anymore).
I started to think about what I had said and realized the snare was the most important part of the drums. So I also notice that on Steve Smith kit it was not three over heads it was four. I will have to play with it. now that I can record to eight channels. Thanks again
Loving this tutorial so far ! Thank you very much. Just one thing I'm not completely clear on: you talked about the close mics for the snare, I suppose your advice applies also for the toms ? Or do they not get any mics ? What about the cymbals ? Any few words would be appreciated ! Thank you very much again.
Thank you so much for the information that you are passing along Your videos are clear and concise, no bs. I find this information personally helpful as I have been working at building a home studio for years and I'm almost there. I can't wait til the next in this series. Thanks again
Hi I personally tried another kickdrum mic on the right side of the batter head almost close to the right side of the beater and it gives me a good attack when combining it with the one of the kickport side. Thanks for sharing your work. Best regards.
Hi, great job on the video, more of these please. Few questions, if the distance from the snare centre to overhead mic capsules is 40inch, what will the distance from capsule to capsule be? Is is better to adjust mic placement to correct phase before recording, or to get the best position possible first, and figure out phase during the mix? Also, any chance of a video on room mics?
+William Hickey I never really measure the distance from capsule to capsule. I have read multiple times that the distance between the overheads in a spaced pair should be 3x the distance each mic is from the kit, if that makes sense. I've never really done that yet but I should probably check that to see if my setup falls within that range. As for the phase, I like to get that squared away before I record but if you don't have an interface that allows you to flip polarity on each channel then you may have to do it with a plugin in your DAW after the fact. As for room mics, I actually don't really use room mics much anymore. I've tried in the past but the room I'm in is so small and dead that I don't feel like the room sounds I get really add anything to the mix. I would always end up not using them in the mix so I just stopped trying. I may revisit that again in the future though, hope that helps!
Really professional attitude! I love this kind of introduction. Please keep posting this kind of video! I want to know your speaker system on beside the computer. Sorry for the poor english. Thanks.
The main speakers I use are the Yamaha HS50m's, they're the ones on the inside. The ones on the outside are Event ALP5's. I've had those forever but I really just use them as a 2nd reference when mixing now.
Thank you for the video. Just one question, when have I to check the phase polarity, before or after the recording? What can i do if I have all ready recorded?
If I'm doing an important one-off mix I will time align all the tracks precisely. For daily content like RUclips/IG though, I just keep the tracks in their recorded positions and check phase with a polarity switch on each channel.
You had talk about phasing from the snare. but the other drums would be out of phase right as well the cymbals. also polarity what is it exactly, I am thing electric like plus and neg. I was able to get the Saffire pro 40 $319.00 new next will be the overhead mics. audio-tec are at a reasonable price. Thanks for your time.
+Shawnee845 Since the snare is the main focal point of the drum kit, I think it makes sense to make sure it is in phase with the overheads more than any other part of the kit. Once the snare is good, then you can experiment with the toms and the kick by flipping their polarity to see which option yields the best sound and low frequency information. I just think of polarity as the direction the audio waves flow up and down. That can be flipped and change the phase relationships between different sound sources. Hope that helps!
So to avoid phase problems you put the overheads at equal distance from the snare, but I don't get why you don't have a phase problem with other instruments, for example the crash on your far right in much closer to one overhead than to the other.
+iopklmification The cymbals will claim their own spaces across the stereo image when the overheads are panned left and right, which is good and that's what you want with a spaced pair. But, the snare is in the middle of all that and its your most important sound source so you want to try and keep it centered and producing the fullest sound you can in the overheads. That's why you want to make sure the overheads are in phase for it specifically. Hope that makes sense a little, haha. Hard to explain in a comment.
I only have four mics I can use, and I'm having trouble with my hihat and snare mixing, any ideas on where to position them to get the a good individual sound? thanks
+1MannedJams With 4 mics, I would definitely do 2 overheads, 1 snare mic, and 1 kick mic... Just mix it so the kick and snare mics blend into the overheads and sound natural.
I am trying to mic each drum on my set for recording, and I want to be as cost efficient as possible. I currently have a mixer and 2 mics (Sennheiser e602 & Audi Technical AT2035), but I am not sure if I should stick with my AT2035 as an overhead and just beta second one for a second overhead or if I should sell it and buy pencil condensers. I also am going to have to sell my mixer because it doesn't individually record each track, so whenever I record in Adobe audition, the mics join together into one track making it impossible to EQ properly. If anyone has any suggestions what I should do, it would be much appreciated. Oh and I currently have a 5 piece set, so I am going to have 7 mics in total once I buy individual mics for each drum.
You'll have to experiment I suppose. My room is really small and dead so I don't really see the need to put a room mic in because it's not going to have much of a "room" sound. I add some drum room style reverb in my mix to make it sound like it's in a nicer space but I just never really go into using room mics. I may consider trying to incorporate them more in the future though.
+Manuel My room is really small and dead so I haven't really been using any room mics but I think they can be cool if used correctly. I may start experimenting with them again to see if I can incorporate them into my mixes more in the future.
I'd also like to know about this, I've switched my overheads and it sounds more full but I don't actually know why that is. Does it makes the waveforms look different and cancel things out less?
+Richard Pine When you switch the polarity, the audio on that channel flips 180 degrees. The reason to why you would want to do that is because if your two OH mics are placed so that the sound you're recording hits them at different times, it can cause phase problems between the two mics. What happens when you get phase problems (or phase-cancellation is another word), is that different frequencies cancel each other out between the mics and you lose a lot of low end in your final audio recording. So the polarity switch lets you switch and listen to the phase relationship between the mics. Then you just choose for yourself what you think sounds the best. :)
+Ronalds Svarups Yea, in hindsight I probably should have done that. I do have a video on different overhead mic placements if you want to check that out. Also, all my other videos are examples of how my mic placements end up sounding but yea, I think it would have been better to include some sound examples in this one. Noted for the future!
I had talk about a tri overhead system idea and then I was watching Steve Smith and had notice he had a third overhead mic setup in the back by the floor tom. ruclips.net/video/YzvSwrRl5Js/видео.html Austin do you think you can try this out on your own or online but just to see how it sounds.
+Shawnee845 Maybe if I get more mics in the future I'll experiment with more overhead techniques but for the small, dead room I'm in, I think 2 is good to get me a decent enough sound... maybe one day though!
I've been drumming for 36 years, Professional Sound Engineer for 30 years. I still watched this video for a refresher. I'm glad to know my gut instincts about these things are spot on, and "in phase"!
Thanks for the phase explanation. Easily the most understandable I've heard yet. Also great information and video, you got a sub.
Yep! That phase explanation was perfect.Ive spent ages trying to get a decent, simple explanation.Thamks Austin
So much helpful advice in such a short video. Thank you!
I think I actually went insane for a while back in the late 90's when struggling with phasing on my 10-piece kit (now retired that kit because i don't play symphonic prog metal anymore).
Great job! Just the right amount of tech talk and common sense talk. Not a lot of meaningless chatter like so many other channels.
Straight to the point with great insight. Thanks a lot man!
Austin! Great vid man! I hadn't heard as much info before especially regarding OH mics. Well done!
Thank you so much for the Phase Explanation!! So So helpful!
Thank you for these videos Austin! Keep up the hard work, man!
I started to think about what I had said and realized the snare was the most important part of the drums. So I also notice that on Steve Smith kit it was not three over heads it was four. I will have to play with it. now that I can record to eight channels. Thanks again
Thanks for the information. Very detailed and straight to the point, thumbs up.
Austin Burcham, Wilfred Ho and Alex Rudinger have the best drumming channels on RUclips.
Great video. I’ve come to a lot of the same conclusions on simply 🎤-ing drums for a great sound. Thanks
Such an informative channel, what a nice guy! So much appreciated Austin x
very simple sweet and to the point
awesome job explaining everything. I have the same drum mics- got them as a package of 7 on eBay. Really helpful tips, thanks!
awesome videos. quality wise and info wise. doing my first 8 mic recording tomorrow and feeling pumped!
Loving this tutorial so far ! Thank you very much. Just one thing I'm not completely clear on: you talked about the close mics for the snare, I suppose your advice applies also for the toms ? Or do they not get any mics ? What about the cymbals ?
Any few words would be appreciated ! Thank you very much again.
Thank you so much for the information that you are passing along Your videos are clear and concise, no bs. I find this information personally helpful as I have been working at building a home studio for years and I'm almost there. I can't wait til the next in this series. Thanks again
Awesome and suuuuper helpful videos!!!! Thanks a lot!!!
Very informative, and enjoyed the lesson. I'll be sure to try this in my next session for school. Great work!
My brain is imploding right now. Cheers for the tips!
@Malisa Tenuta shut the fuck up
@Ines Convery Shut the fuck up
Really good description of everything , cleared some stuff up for me , thanks!
Hi I personally tried another kickdrum mic on the right side of the batter head almost close to the right side of the beater and it gives me a good attack when combining it with the one of the kickport side. Thanks for sharing your work. Best regards.
Same kind of mic on the outside of the kick or something different? I like the balanced approach with that. Thanks for this!
I just use my old AKG condenser mic on the outside and the D6 on the inside. It works pretty well so far.
Hey Austin, great video. What about mic placement on the bottom head of the snare? any suggestions there?
Hi, great job on the video, more of these please. Few questions, if the distance from the snare centre to overhead mic capsules is 40inch, what will the distance from capsule to capsule be? Is is better to adjust mic placement to correct phase before recording, or to get the best position possible first, and figure out phase during the mix? Also, any chance of a video on room mics?
+William Hickey I never really measure the distance from capsule to capsule. I have read multiple times that the distance between the overheads in a spaced pair should be 3x the distance each mic is from the kit, if that makes sense. I've never really done that yet but I should probably check that to see if my setup falls within that range. As for the phase, I like to get that squared away before I record but if you don't have an interface that allows you to flip polarity on each channel then you may have to do it with a plugin in your DAW after the fact. As for room mics, I actually don't really use room mics much anymore. I've tried in the past but the room I'm in is so small and dead that I don't feel like the room sounds I get really add anything to the mix. I would always end up not using them in the mix so I just stopped trying. I may revisit that again in the future though, hope that helps!
+Austin Burcham Sure does. Thanks for the reply :)
This is a really great, informative video! Thank you for this!
Great video! Now I just need a place to set up my drum set...
Really professional attitude! I love this kind of introduction. Please keep posting this kind of video! I want to know your speaker system on beside the computer.
Sorry for the poor english. Thanks.
The main speakers I use are the Yamaha HS50m's, they're the ones on the inside. The ones on the outside are Event ALP5's. I've had those forever but I really just use them as a 2nd reference when mixing now.
+Austin Burcham Thank you!
hello austin, i really like your videos..very informative.. are u gonna do a video on drum tuning? that would be very helpful. thanks keep it up :)
+Can Saraç I'll eventually do a series on drum tuning I think. Not really sure when but I will get around to it one of these days!
Why do you not use a bottom snare mic? I would have a 57 on the snare bottom. Really helps the snare cut in a mix.
Thank you for the video. Just one question, when have I to check the phase polarity, before or after the recording? What can i do if I have all ready recorded?
Thanks Austin! question: do you ever nudge in your DAW to correct for phase?
If I'm doing an important one-off mix I will time align all the tracks precisely. For daily content like RUclips/IG though, I just keep the tracks in their recorded positions and check phase with a polarity switch on each channel.
A perfect example of how sometimes less is more.
finally a good video
You had talk about phasing from the snare. but the other drums would be out of phase right as well the cymbals. also polarity what is it exactly, I am thing electric like plus and neg.
I was able to get the Saffire pro 40 $319.00 new next will be the overhead mics. audio-tec are at a reasonable price. Thanks for your time.
+Shawnee845 Since the snare is the main focal point of the drum kit, I think it makes sense to make sure it is in phase with the overheads more than any other part of the kit. Once the snare is good, then you can experiment with the toms and the kick by flipping their polarity to see which option yields the best sound and low frequency information. I just think of polarity as the direction the audio waves flow up and down. That can be flipped and change the phase relationships between different sound sources. Hope that helps!
great info, thank you!
You got a great kit
Great man! congrats
Great! As always!
do you not mic the toms or do you let the overheads take that job?
You sound exactly like rdavidr drums
Good stuff. thank you,
I think you mentioned phantom power used for overheads , is that so or is it used for all the other mics as well ?
It's only used on the condenser microphones, so for me that is the OH L, OH R, and Front Kick mic.
Hi. Which clam do you use for this tom mic? Thxs
Thank you!!
So to avoid phase problems you put the overheads at equal distance from the snare, but I don't get why you don't have a phase problem with other instruments, for example the crash on your far right in much closer to one overhead than to the other.
+iopklmification The cymbals will claim their own spaces across the stereo image when the overheads are panned left and right, which is good and that's what you want with a spaced pair. But, the snare is in the middle of all that and its your most important sound source so you want to try and keep it centered and producing the fullest sound you can in the overheads. That's why you want to make sure the overheads are in phase for it specifically. Hope that makes sense a little, haha. Hard to explain in a comment.
Now we’re talking 👍
Freat video man, thanx
Great serie!
What would you recommend as a room mic?
Just one thing: it's phase correlation, not cancellation. Lovely video! Cheers
How far from the bass drum do you place your mic? 1 ft.?
Would a couple of Neumann U87i work as overheads?
Good Stuff!
What stand do you use for the kick?
great video
I only have four mics I can use, and I'm having trouble with my hihat and snare mixing, any ideas on where to position them to get the a good individual sound? thanks
+1MannedJams With 4 mics, I would definitely do 2 overheads, 1 snare mic, and 1 kick mic... Just mix it so the kick and snare mics blend into the overheads and sound natural.
Thank you, I hope I don't need condenser mics for the overheads though... I only have one
I didn't quite get the part about overheads & switching polarity?
I am trying to mic each drum on my set for recording, and I want to be as cost efficient as possible. I currently have a mixer and 2 mics (Sennheiser e602 & Audi Technical AT2035), but I am not sure if I should stick with my AT2035 as an overhead and just beta second one for a second overhead or if I should sell it and buy pencil condensers. I also am going to have to sell my mixer because it doesn't individually record each track, so whenever I record in Adobe audition, the mics join together into one track making it impossible to EQ properly. If anyone has any suggestions what I should do, it would be much appreciated. Oh and I currently have a 5 piece set, so I am going to have 7 mics in total once I buy individual mics for each drum.
I would suggest Presonus 8 channel interface. It comes with free software
Are go pro recommended for video recording for the covers?
Yes. A gopro would work although it wouldn't be the highest quality but good enough for a non-professional setup.
maaaaaaaan thanks!
I noticed u don't use a room mic if I used a convulstion reverb do u think its not necessary
You'll have to experiment I suppose. My room is really small and dead so I don't really see the need to put a room mic in because it's not going to have much of a "room" sound. I add some drum room style reverb in my mix to make it sound like it's in a nicer space but I just never really go into using room mics. I may consider trying to incorporate them more in the future though.
ok gotcha thx
Tom mic placement similar to snare with the rim/middle of drum angle?
Yea, all my close mics just follow that same formula
What are your thoughts on room mics?
+Manuel My room is really small and dead so I haven't really been using any room mics but I think they can be cool if used correctly. I may start experimenting with them again to see if I can incorporate them into my mixes more in the future.
What does it do when i switch the polarity of the overheads? I don't get that part, what happens?
I'd also like to know about this, I've switched my overheads and it sounds more full but I don't actually know why that is. Does it makes the waveforms look different and cancel things out less?
+Richard Pine When you switch the polarity, the audio on that channel flips 180 degrees. The reason to why you would want to do that is because if your two OH mics are placed so that the sound you're recording hits them at different times, it can cause phase problems between the two mics. What happens when you get phase problems (or phase-cancellation is another word), is that different frequencies cancel each other out between the mics and you lose a lot of low end in your final audio recording. So the polarity switch lets you switch and listen to the phase relationship between the mics. Then you just choose for yourself what you think sounds the best. :)
hi, do you switch polarity before recording or is it enough to flip phase when everything is recorded? thanks!
You can do both, I just like to go ahead and do it on the way in so I don’t have to worry about it.
what about toms?
Gonzalo Pérez López he explained in the video so I'm guessing you do the same for the floor tom and snare
Too bad there weren't any sound samples. :/
+Ronalds Svarups Yea, in hindsight I probably should have done that. I do have a video on different overhead mic placements if you want to check that out. Also, all my other videos are examples of how my mic placements end up sounding but yea, I think it would have been better to include some sound examples in this one. Noted for the future!
Thank you, Austin! I really appreciate these videos!
I had talk about a tri overhead system idea and then I was watching Steve Smith and had notice he had a third overhead mic setup in the back by the floor tom. ruclips.net/video/YzvSwrRl5Js/видео.html Austin do you think you can try this out on your own or online but just to see how it sounds.
+Shawnee845 Maybe if I get more mics in the future I'll experiment with more overhead techniques but for the small, dead room I'm in, I think 2 is good to get me a decent enough sound... maybe one day though!
Never trust someone who doesn't use a sm57 for a snare mic
ohh maan, clean your plates (((
R u a billionaire?
You forget so much things ... With snare, with bass drum etc ... So incomplete ! Zero!