Lesson Description
Miking up a Drum set
10m 7s
Learn the various components of a drum set and how to properly mic up a drum set for your service.
Video Transcript
Miking up a Drum set
10m 7s
00:15
In this video, we are going to outline the process of miking a full drum kit.
00:20
Now, there are a couple of different techniques to do this utilizing different numbers and types of microphones.
00:27
We’re going to walk through a couple of basic techniques that are commonly used in live sound and recording.
00:32
But first!
00:34
Let’s start by taking a look at a drum kit and identify the different components.
00:39
First, we have the bass drum.
00:41
Also commonly called a kick drum, because the drum is played by striking the drum with a mallet attached to a foot pedal.
00:49
This is the largest drum in the kit and sits directly on the ground on its side.
00:54
It produces a very low punchy sound.
00:57
Next we have the snare drum.
00:59
Its called such because of the band of wires strung across the bottom head of the drum called snares.
01:05
The snares allow the drum to produce its signature tight crack sound.
01:10
The kick and the snare are the core elements of the drum kit and are used to create the main beat in a song.
01:17
Now we have the tom-toms.
01:19
These come in many sizes and just about any number of them can be used to create different drum kit arrangements and setups.
01:27
A traditional drum kit will use either two or three tom-toms.
01:31
These drums are pitched differently, depending on their size and tuning.
01:36
Next we have the cymbals.
01:38
Now these also come in a variety of types and sizes with all different functions.
01:43
First we have the hi-hat.
01:45
The hi-hat consists of two cymbals.
01:48
One is placed upside down with the other on top of it.
01:52
A special stand is used to hold them together and a foot pedal allows the player to open and close them together for a variety of different sounds.
02:00
The hi-hat is most commonly used as a main time keeping element.
02:05
Paired together with the kick and snare, they create the back beat.
02:09
The ride cymbal serves a similar purpose.
02:13
Typically the largest of the cymbal arsenal, the ride cymbal has a ping or glassy sound
02:18
that is often used as an alternative to the hi-hat in keeping time.
02:23
This provides some different textural options.
02:26
And then we have the crash cymbals.
02:29
These come in a variety of sizes and are thinner than the ride cymbal to produce a more explosive and washy sound.
02:36
These are most commonly used to accent musical parts and add some punch and energy on the downbeat of a transition in a song.
02:43
Like when going from a verse to a chorus.
02:47
These are the primary pieces that just about any drum set will include.
02:51
There are a few other types of cymbals such as splashes, china cymbals and gongs that may or may not be included in a set as well.
02:59
Now that we have a basic kit set up let’s begin to mike it.
03:04
In an ideal situation, you want to mike as many parts of the drum set as you can, individually.
03:10
Depending on what equipment you have available, this might not always be possible.
03:15
We’ll start with the simplest way to mike-up the set with the least amount of mics and work our way up to a fully miked kit.
03:23
We’ll run through miking each component in order of importance.
03:27
Obviously, the more mics you have the more of the kit you will be able to mike-up.
03:32
We’re going to begin with a simple stereo overhead miking technique using just two microphones.
03:39
For this video we are only going cover the most common technique used in live sound.
03:44
It’s called a “spaced pair”.
03:47
For overhead microphones, you’ll want to use a pair of condenser microphones with a good high frequency response.
03:55
In this technique both microphones are placed above the drum set, pointing straight down,
04:00
and situated equidistant from the kick drum, keeping the kick and snare as much in the center of the two as possible.
04:08
You want to make sure that the microphones are at least 40 inches, or 1 meter apart from each other.
04:14
This technique will give you a very well balanced stereo image of the complete kit.
04:19
This technique also tends to capture a brighter sound with core focus on the cymbals’ resonances and on the toms.
04:26
Now depending on your equipment or available budget for equipment,
04:31
as well as the amount of reinforcement you need for the drum set, you could stop here and just use overheads
04:37
to capture the whole kit with only two microphones.
04:41
This minimalistic method won’t serve every application,
04:44
but if you are playing in a smaller space or the drums aren’t the driver of the rhythm, this method might be the right option for you.
04:53
If you are creating a secondary mix for broadcasting or recording,
04:57
this method will still allow you to get a nice full drum sound for that secondary mix as well.
05:03
Now let’s keep going and start to add some more mics to the kit.
05:07
Let’s start with the kick drum.
05:10
This is the most important element of the kit to reinforce in the PA.
05:14
The kick drum has a very low sound and is very punchy.
05:19
Because of this it can easily get lost in an ensemble with amplified instruments.
05:23
So, no matter what, you always want to start here.
05:27
Now not just any microphone will work for the kick drum.
05:30
You’ll want to use a dynamic microphone capable of handling low frequencies and reproducing them accurately.
05:37
There are two aspects of the kick drum sound you should be aware of when miking it.
05:42
The attack or snap of the beater striking the drum head
05:46
and the body of the sound provided by the shell.
05:49
You want to find a mic placement that has a good blend of these two elements that best suits your application.
05:56
Placing the microphone closer to the beater head will produce more attack and mid-range.
06:02
This can be a more aggressive sound and won’t capture quite as much of the resonance and body of the drum.
06:07
Positioning the microphone closer to the port hole will give you a warmer slightly softer feel with less attack and mid-range.
06:16
The next drum you want to focus on after the kick is the snare drum.
06:20
The snare typically is not at risk of being lost or washed out by the other instruments in the ensemble like the kick drum
06:27
because of its frequency range and naturally loud volume.
06:31
It is one of the most important pieces of the kit however as it produces the back-beat of the song.
06:37
Being able to add this into the PA gives you more control over the sound and balance between the kick and snare.
06:43
It also allows you to add processing like EQ, compression, and gating, which helps bring clarity to the mix.
06:51
Again, you’ll want to use a dynamic microphone for this.
06:55
Unlike the kick drum though, we aren’t quite as concerned at all with the low end
06:59
because the snare is producing mid- to high frequencies.
07:03
Place the mic in between the hi-hat and the first tom-tom and aim the microphone at the drum.
07:10
The closer you get the mic to the drum head, the more you reduce the bleed from the other pieces of the kit.
07:16
It will also increase the low frequency response of the microphone however,
07:20
and you will get a slightly darker and less open sound from the drum.
07:24
Placing the microphone at different angles will produce different sounds.
07:28
If the mic is placed over the rim, aiming at the center of the head, it will capture more of the attack of the drum.
07:35
Aiming the microphone towards the rim will emphasize the overtones of the drum.
07:40
If the microphone is placed outside of the rim, it will produce a dryer sound with less ring.
07:47
It’s up to you to determine where the mic should sit to produce the sound that best serves your application.
07:52
Now that the kick and snare are miked-up, you might be good to go.
07:56
Depending on the application, the size of the venue and the type of sound you are looking for,
08:02
this could very well get you what you need and so far we’ve only used four microphones.
08:08
If we want to keep adding microphones to achieve a fuller drum mix and more control over the various elements of the set,
08:15
the next component to focus on is the Hi-Hat.
08:19
Similar to the overheads, this should be a small diaphragm condenser microphone with good high end response.
08:25
Place the microphone 2-3 inches / 5-8 cm away from the edge of the Hi-Hat,
08:31
but not pointed directly at the edge.
08:34
Aim the microphone about an inch from the edge.
08:38
That will give you clear and concise sound for the hats.
08:41
If the microphone is aimed directly at the edge you’ll get a chuffing sound when the drummer closes the hats.
08:48
After the Hi-Hat we can start miking up the Toms.
08:51
For toms you’ll want to use a Dynamic microphone, preferably with a Cardioid pick up pattern.
08:57
This is will help cut down on bleed from the cymbals.
09:01
There are many different models of microphones these days that are made specifically for tom drums.
09:07
With toms you’re going to want to place the microphone over the top rim of the drum pointed at the head.
09:13
You’ll want it fairly close to the drum head as well.
09:16
Somewhere between 2-4 inches / 5-10 cm.
09:20
Again, the closer you get, the less cymbal bleed you will have.
09:25
And with that we have successfully miked up an entire drum kit.
09:30
If you want to get really fancy here, we can add a second microphone to the snare.
09:35
For this application, the second microphone is placed underneath the drum pointed at the snare wires on the bottom head.
09:42
This microphone will pick up the sound of the snares specifically
09:45
and will add more clarity and definition to the sound of the drum
09:49
and will capture ghost notes and lighter nuances much more clearly.
09:54
So, there you have it.
09:56
All the ins-and-outs of miking up a drum kit.
09:59
Thanks for watching. And we’ll see you next time.
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Miking up a Drum set
10m 7s