The DijonStock Digital Home Recording Support Forum

Hi folks new to the site, looks great, also new to recording, I've recorded guitar, bass, keys and all vocals, having trouble getting a good drum recording, everything else, I'm pleased with, I was recording with an AW16G and using 5 tracks for drums, a AKG D112 mic for the kick and Shure PG 56's for the rest, I have each mic very close and set up each track seperate to just below 0 db, but during playback sounds awful, especially the kick, a little distorted and also during recording can barely hear the drums through the headphones compared to everything else, am I allowing too much input level and would the mics be too close, just looking for some experienced suggestions, the drums just don't sound as good as everything else even after EQ and dyn settings. Thanks any help appreciated and remember I'm new at this so simple explanation would be a plus. Thanks

Hi Harv, welcome to the forum. Make yourself at home!

If the sound is distorted, try and turn the mics a little so the sound isn't pushed in the mics directly. Having the sound pass the mic more sideways might help. Also, increasing the distance may do a good job.

There is no standard or definition for micing drums. It is what you have, what you want to do with it, what you want it to sound like, and what you expect. Experimenting is the way to go. Can be very time consuming. On the other hand, it can be fun - especially when in the end you have the sound you're looking for.

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

Thanks for you're advice, I guess I'll have to spend a little time experimenting, I was trying to take everything in and come out with a CD quality demo in a weeks time of purchasing the recorder, I'll ease up and take my time. Thanks

Welcome to the forum, Harv. Glad you took my advice and checked it out. You can wait for days on the other one without an answer.

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Ralph (aka The Head Hog)
"What's Time to a Hog?"
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And there's no cheese either.

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

OK, I'm going to commit a cardinal sin and disagree with our forum's godfather.

Turning the mics will change the sound and probably not in a good way. It might get rid of the distortion but he will also lose clarity. Point the mic at the spot of the source you want to capture and set the input gain conservatively.

Incorrect gain staging is the most likely problem. Set the individual drum tracks to PEAK at -6. You can get greedier if you want (ie: set to peak at -3) but most drummers will strike harder when they get in a groove and you will experience clipping.

Make sure all of the track settings are at default and not carried over from a prior song (ie: no effects, no eq, no compression).

I DO agree with Robbie's distance comment but that decision should be more for tonal choice than clipping/distortion issues.

Keep a close eye on the meters while your drummer plays as hard as possible, get the input levels set safely and enjoy your session!

Gary

That's gonna cost ya three hail gouda's tonight young man.

Experimenting is the way to go - that is where we always agree.

Whether or not turning the mics a bit helps, depends on what causes the distortion. If you're simply overloading the mics (physically), it is a good idea to try. On a side note it may not have to be necessary when you're making the distance bigger anyway.

If it's the gain stage, get rid of that problem first. So, before you solve a problem, make sure you can put your finger on it.

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

not that I really know about this stuff, but if you're using a lot of mics there could be phase problems as well. Did you try switching the phase of the mics to see if it helped? It could be compounding a gain problem.

Now see, if David were here, he'd tell you to use electronic drums.

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GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

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