Record Drums - A Beginner's Guide

On a lot of very polished commercial recordings, you might be very surprised to find out that the best drum sound sometimes comes from a very simple source: the overhead microphones, combined with a kick drum microphone. Getting the right cymbal recording can make or break your drum recording.

How fancy you want to go is totally up to you, your drummer's kit, and how many microphones and input channels you can spare. Most sessions will mic the high-hat, the ride cymbal, and then a pair of overheads panned in stereo. I find that on most recordings, even if I do run seperate mics for the ride and high-hat, I don't use them because the overheads usually do a great job of picking them up naturally. It's up to you; remember that every situation is different. I chose to set the microphones about 6 feet apart, about 3 feet vertically above the hat and ride cymbal, respectively.

For this recording, I chose to use a pair of AKG C414 condenser microphones ($799). While expensive, these are a great, accurate microphone that give a good picture of the overall tone of the kit. You can use whatever microphones you want; the Oktava MC012 ($100) and the Marshal MXL series ($70) also work very well for this purpose. Again, it's up to you and your situation what you use.

So let's take a listen. Here's the overheads, panned in stereo. Notice the bleed coming through - you're hearing the snare, kick, and the overall sound of the drums in the room.

Now, let's mix!