Best way to mic a drumset

[Seten]

Okay, so I have:

1 shure sm58
1 technical pro CMC 500 (bass drum mic)
1 lightsnake STS-40
2 audio technica ATM29HE
1 Audio Spectrum AS-420

What would be the best way to use these to mic a drumset for recording? Obviously none of this is ideal, but I want to do the best I can with what I have.

I currently only have a Lexicon Alpha (one 1/4 input and one xlr input) but I will be buying a focusrite 18i8 in the future, which I'm assuming would give me 4 mic pres and then for the rest of the mics I could run each one through my analog mixer and then use the individual line outs on each channel on the mixer to go back to the line inputs on the 18i8 (please tell me if this is wrong because if it is I need to rethink my strategy.

[fever606]

CMC500 on the foot, SM58 on the snare, and the pair of ATs left and right for the room...

[sonidero]

CMC500 on the foot, SM58 on the snare, and the pair of ATs left and right for the room...

This and maybe try to find a SM57 for snare and hi-hat usage... The 58 is more of a vocal mic but works in a pinch for drums...

[fever606]

Yeah the 58 isn't ideal, but it's better than the $20 SM58 knockoff "Audio Spectrum" mic...

But yeah, borrow a 57 for the snare...

And yes, running the line outs on your mixer to the line ins on your interface should work fine...

[Seten]

So just one 57 for both the snare and the hi-hat, or should I try to get 2?

[sonidero]

If you get two the usual setup is one underneath real close and one on top backed up enough to catch both snare and hi hat... One on top works fine...

[sonidero]

Here is an all 57 generic set up for it that will give you some ideas... The thing is to get them set up in a general position then listen on monitors or headphones while someone moves them an inch this way or an inch that way so you can hear the results, same with micing cabs... A little one way or the other really makes a huge difference when close micing... They used to take a week or so in studios just getting the drums miced properly for the room...

[Seten]

So if I got another sm57 should I still use the sm58 for something or just use the 57, the at's, and the bass drum mic?

[Derelict78]

I have had good results with the Glyn Johns method.
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2011/ ... ng-method/

[Invisible Man]

All of these seem like cool ideas.

I use one kick mic and one 57 for everything. I mean...everything (guitars, bass, noise, drums, &c). I set the 57 up as an overhead, and close-mic the kick. I know this isn't particularly helpful, but you've gotta consider getting your levels right as a player. So many drummers just try to crush their cymbals, and they get all compressed- and terrible sounding. Same for drums.

I used to work in a drum shop, and we had clinics with some pretty well-known players--guys who were just fantastic. Usher's drummer (forget his name) just obliterated the room. And the thing that always set them apart from the excellent amateur players (people with tons of skill) was the way that they got their kits to sound. They knew how to "master" their sound; everything sounded like it was a mixed and mastered recording. It's tough to figure out how to do it, because it requires a ton of finesse and practice, but it transforms the sound of recorded drums from a horrifying project--a game of catch-up, and a project where you're using mixers, tons of mics, and a lot of mouse-clicking--to apologize for the things that a good drummer should already have done for you.

Perhaps the best way that I've found to do this is to live-monitor myself through headphones. Like, set up for recording, and then just listen to my own playing through isolation headphones. It taught me a ton about when/where I tend to clip, how much of the room I should be thinking about, where the dead spots are on the kit/room/mic, the best angles and positions for placement...you're listening as the recording interface is, rather than with your own inaccurate drummer's/musician's ear. It's really just psychoacoustics...we hear things inaccurately (like how our voices always sound more annoying on recordings than we think they actually are).

Anyway, that's no answer to your question. I just mean to say that a good sound source captured simply and accurately saves you a hell of a lot of headache and squinting at your screen.