drums - its the source !

i57dwun4yb1pt8

its the source i tells you!

I have not been to happy with recording my kick , ( no front head )
always use a d112 as i just like that tone and it seems to mix well .

the clear emporor heads just kill the drum
and the ps3 heads are ok but a bit boingy ,

so i went back to clear ambassador with a small towel and weight
and it sounds great now - focussed - punchy and full .

funny though - it now sounds like a nicer version of the tone I got with the ev868 on the clear emporor

I wonder - why get so anal about kick mics - when a simple head change transforms the sound

could we say that in general - for close miking of drums at least - and taking the drummer out of the equation
any decent mic will do and the rest is source choice ? ( heads tuning , sticks etc )

i can understand overhead choice being more picky - but kick , toms , maybe even snare
( though i do like the snap of the transient on the 57 - its a bit choked that mic , but the snap is nice )

danjokill

DaDumTish wrote: »

its the source i tells you!

I have not been to happy with recording my kick , ( no front head )
always use a d112 as i just like that tone and it seems to mix well .

the clear emporor heads just kill the drum
and the ps3 heads are ok but a bit boingy ,

so i went back to clear ambassador with a small towel and weight
and it sounds great now - focussed - punchy and full .

funny though - it now sounds like a nicer version of the tone I got with the ev868 on the clear emporor

I wonder - why get so anal about kick mics - when a simple head change transforms the sound

could we say that in general - for close miking of drums at least - and taking the drummer out of the equation
any decent mic will do and the rest is source choice ? ( heads tuning , sticks etc )

i can understand overhead choice being more picky - but kick , toms , maybe even snare
( though i do like the snap of the transient on the 57 - its a bit choked that mic , but the snap is nice )

1. Could not agree more - Heads, sticks, tuning are really important.
2. Big fan of the 57 i prefer this over the D112 and the Audix D6. Don't have and RE20 but have used one once and loved it (although it was on a lovely old "fresh skined" kick) RE20 is on my santa list.

studiorat

Never use a D-112. I'd rather go for a sennheiser 421 or a Bayer dynamic M-88 on the big dog.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

ok, but what im saying is , you could in theory create the tone of your fav mic , by head , tuning choice and using a flattish reponse mic , instead of buying it ?

make sense ?

the drum variables are so large that , the head , tuning is more important than the mic choice ?

i57dwun4yb1pt8

sorry i meant to be clear - im talking about in or close to the drum - not out side the drum with air .

tweeky

The main prob is that most drummers think that tuning a kit means damping a kit. Tune the kit to achieve tone, pitch and a small amount of resonance. Use new or newish skins (according to budget) and play the goddam thing in time!

We have been down this road before re;mikes, 58,57,421,414,87,20,88 etc.etc

PaulBrewer

tweeky wrote: »

play the goddam thing in time!

That's an outrageous suggestion Tweeky ... akin to asking the singer to turn up, or even start singing, in time.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

play it in time ?

have you heard guitarists lately ?

i have met very very few who can play in time .

PaulBrewer

DaDumTish wrote: »

play it in time ?

have you heard guitarists lately ?

i have met very very few who can play in time .

How could they? When the drummer isn't?;)

i57dwun4yb1pt8

your just chicken and egging now

ZV Yoda

True story...

A while back, I was recording some original stuff with a band. I played to a click (as usual). While I'm no pro drummer, I always record to a click.

Enter the guitarist (who is very good I might add... no taking it away from him... he can play anything). Anyway, he records his guitar & is happy with the result. I point out that his solo is out of time. Initially he argues that it's in time (claiming it's the drums). It's played back with no drums (only click). The solo is still out of time... so now he can't deny it. He tried to nail it a few times to the click, but just couldn't do it (he'd never played to a click before).

His parting comment?... "Yeah, well playing guitar is not like drums. It's not all about playing in time you know... you need to play with feeling"

The moral: if a drummer can't play to a click, he's crap. If a guitarist can't play to a click, he's playing with "feeling".

i57dwun4yb1pt8

hah !

you should also see their faces when the drummer picks up the guitar and plays the guitar part in time and with better feeling ;-)


I dunno why drummers get all the stick - its the guitarists who appear to be the retarded ones .


whats it called ??

oh yeah "guitarded "

its mainly rock / indie ones who suffer from this ego mania / crap ability syndrom

the blues and jazz guys have to be able to play well.

RealEstateKing

The moral: if a drummer can't play to a click, he's crap. If a guitarist can't play to a click, he's playing with "feeling".

Its kinda true though. If a drummer cant play in time, he's not a good drummer, doesnt matter how many fancy fills he can do.

Wheareas a guitarist that drifts off the beat every once in a while can still be a great guitarist - see Jimmy Page for details.