Great Mix Recording – Audio Blog

  • Mic-ing Percussion

    So, for the most part you want to use a small capsule condenser. This will apply to all the hand-held percussion. Tambourine, claves, shakers, cowbell, finger cymbals etc.

    For conga and djembe type drums a condenser will help with the slap.

    Dynamics not so much slap. For some non western drums a 2 mic approach works best. ex. The djembe, put a large diaphragm dynamic at the end of the drum about 6 inches will yield a ton of low frequencies. Mix this with a mic on the head side and you will get a great sound. Mallet keyboard instruments like xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, bells etc. work well with a condenser about 2 feet in front of and 2 feet above the playing surface. With these you need to be carful that you don’t get too much mallet noise.

    What are YOUR favorite percussion recording techniques?

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .
  • Top 5 Favorite Rainy Day Songs

    One of the great things about music is that it can reflect our environment and create moods… for fun… here is some great rainy day music!!! 😉

    Prince & the Revolution

    Garbage – I’m Only Happy When It Rains

    Milli Vanilli – Blame It On The Rain

    Led Zeppelin – The Rain Song

    The Doors – Riders On The Storm

    What are YOUR favorite rainy day songs!?

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  • Drum Recording Workshop

    We found a great Sound on Sound drum recording workshop – be sure to check it out!!

    The drum kit can be one of the most time-consuming and frustrating of instruments to record, so it’s worth taking a structured approach. This workshop talks about the following:

    . Setting up the drums
    . Tuning the kit
    . Enter the microphones
    . Miking the kick drum
    . Snare drum & high hats
    . Adding tom-tom mics
    . Recording & mixing
    . Effects & processing

    Click here to see the full article!

    What are YOUR best tips for recording the drums??

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  • Microphone Selections for Recording Cymbals

    There are several schools of thought here. 1. The standard stereo overhead using either a stereo mic or a x-y configuration. 2. Two mics in cardioid, over the left and right crash cymbals. 3. One mic per cymbal with a no holds barred use as many mics as you want kinda thing. These mics would be small capsule condensers.

    Here are some suggestions – Neumann KM 184, Shure SM 81, KSM 137, KSM 141, KSM 32. A note about the High Hat. Same type of microphone aimed away from the snare drum (if possible) but towards the area between the center and the edge of the cymbal. You may need to play with the orientation depending on cymbals and style of playing.

    What are YOUR favorite microphones to use for recording the cymbals?

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .
  • Mic-ing the Toms

    Micing the tom toms are pretty straight forward provided you have enough room to place them, while keeping out of the drummers way.

    I like to use the Sennheiser MD421 mics. They give you a nice warm mellow sound. And if you tweek the EQ around 4 to 6k you can get the attack of the tom to come thru nicely. SM 57’s work fairly well too. The new special tom mics from Sennheiser (e604 & e904) and Shure (Beta 56) do pretty well also. When micing a floor tom or larger drums try using a large diaphragm mic like the Shure Beta 52 or the AKG D112 or the Sennheiser e602 this will help to capture the lower tones of the drum.

    What are YOUR favorite methods for recording the toms?

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .
  • Snare Drum Recording Tips

    The snare drum is one of the most important elements in contemporary recorded music. It helps anchor the song in so many ways.

    The standard mic for snare is the workhorse of all mics, the Shure SM57. Tune the drum right and put a 57 on the batter head and you’re 80% there. Just like that. 🙂
    Great Mix Recording
    If you have the room, use a 57 and a pencil condenser together and you’ll get a great sound. If you aim the mic at the center of the drum you will get more pop/snap and if you aim it towards the rim you will get more of the tone of the drum. You can also put a mic aimed at the bottom head of the snare drum. This can be either a dynamic or a condenser.

    Two big issues arise with micing a snare. Having enough room to actually place the mic where you want, without getting in the way of the player, and keeping bleed from the high hat from getting into the snare mic. Sometimes you can fashion a piece of cardboard to keep the HH sound from getting into the mic or a piece of foam. All you can do is work with what ya got.

    What are YOUR favorite methods for recording the snare drum?

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  • Overhead Drum Microphones

    Recording engineers pick microphones depending on many different reasons, such as: • what you’re recording • where you’re recording • available mic selection •

    For overhead mic-ing you can’t go wrong with a good pair of pencil condenser mics. A favorite ‘go-to’ mic that I like to use is the Neumann KM 184. You can purchase a pair of these in a great protective case that allows you to keep all your mic assets together in one place, always a good idea.

    A good rule of thumb for mic-ing overhead drums is to place the mic as a spaced pair either approx. 18 inches above the cymbals – or – spaced equal distance away from the snare (use string to measure this to be sure). If you have a hard hitting drummer who favors a certain cymbal you may want to position that mic even a bit further away. 😉 There are many angles to choose from to position the mics, this will depend on which cymbals you are trying to highlight, or if you’re just trying to get a general capture of the whole kit. Don’t be afraid to experiment & play around with positioning your mics to find the places YOU like to record from best!

    *An extra option is putting a ribbon mic up in the middle of your spaced pair, with a little tweak on the upper end of the EQ on the track to add excitement to the mix.

    Always be sure to test all mic levels individually before you start recording. Different mics are more sensitive than others so settings for one may not work the best for another. Keep in mind… any time you spend checking/setting the best levels… will equal time you save in editing & trying to fix tracks that have peaks in them.

    Which are YOUR favorite microphones to use for overhead drum mic-ing, & why…?

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .
  • More Drum Mic-ing Tips

    When tracking drums it’s a good idea to take pics of the kit throughout the process so you’ll have a visual reference later on. Sometimes things can get moved & switched around, & if that happens be sure to list that info on your track sheet. These small details can be easy to forget when you move on to the mixing process however,
    it will help you to pin point any trouble mic’s if issues arise. 😉

    Send in pics of your recording setups & I will post a gallery of them at some point.

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .
  • Mic-ing up the DrumSet

    I thought as long as I was discussing drum sets I would continue with various mic-ing techniques. I will preclude this with indicating that this pretty much pertains to the genre of pop, rock and most country.

    Lets start with the kick drum. There is a plethora of good mics for kick drum. Some of my favorites are the EV RE20, AKG D112, Shure Beta 52, 91, Beyer M88, Neumann U47fet, U87 and the Sennheiser 421. I do want to say that the use of a speaker woofer as a microphone is very cool. You can buy a manufactured one or make one yourself. I’ll tell you how later on. Anyhow, use a dynamic mic inside the shell pretty close to the batter head aimed at the beater for more of a click/snap or halfway between the center and the edge of the head for more tone. I also have found that the Shure 91 placed on the “pillow” works extremely well. If you have a speaker/mic place that as close as possible to the resonance head, like 1 inch. (Hint, you may need to change the phase in mix to match the other mics when mixing.) I also like to put a mic about 2 feet in front of the kick drum. Use a nice large diaphragm condenser for this. Something else I like to do is create a tunnel from the kick drum towards the room. I take a heavy packing blanket or heavy comforter and place it over a couple of mic boom stands. This does a few things. It directs the sound of the drum towards the outside mic and it also helps keep the sound from the toms and cymbals from getting into the kick mics.

    Feel free to comment & let me know if you have any questions or tips of your own.

    Drum Kit Mic-ing

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  • Smart Studios Documentary

    Currently in production is a documentary about Smart Studios – one of the Midwest’s music industry’s best kept secrets. 😉

    This is the story of Smart Studios, Midwest music, bands, old vans, clubs, records stores, shit food, beer, guitars, weather, sound, people, flyers, cassettes, labels, radio stations, VHS footage, trucks crashing into buildings, the guts of Wisconsin, the glory of american rock, New Orleans Take Out, confessions, pizza, analog, cotton mouth, candles, tambourines, razor blades…

    Tons of music… Interviews with members of – Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Killdozer, L7, Die Kreuzen, Tar Babies, Mecht Mensch, Poopshovel, Appliances, Spooner, DCFC, Garbage, Freedy Johnston, Ivory Library, Go Motion, Singing Irishman and more!

    Want to submit something?

    Please send photos, video, stories, etc to Wendy Schneider via email: wendy@smartstudiosfilm.com

    For more info you can check out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smart-Studios-Documentary/160980500601330

    . Record . Mix . Master . Music .