Advice on mic'ing things? (singer, drum, bass, house, cd)

Halfa · 07-09-2008, 11:58 PM

How would u mic a drumkit and/or a grand piano without specialized mics?

SATCHMO · 07-10-2008, 09:20 AM

The same way you would with specialized mics.
Optimally for a drum kit you would have a mic for every piece - including cymbals- in the kit. For the average kit that's 8 mics. It is always good to use application specific microphones whenever possible, especially when you have good equipment/software to support it. However I've worked in live situations with national acts that insist on throwing SM-57s on every piece in the drum kit. The result is a less dynamic, but tighter and more uniform sound.
A grand piano is considerably easier. Usually 2 mics taped to the inside of the sound box lid, one in the general area of an octave below the area of the middle C string and one two octaves above it usually works quite well.

Whatsitoosit · 07-10-2008, 09:38 AM

For drums I would do as Satchmo said, a mic on every piece... also try mic'ing underneath the snare drum (a clip on mic does the trick) as well as mic'ing the top of the snare drum. This allows for that crack hit sound which you can't get from just mic'ing the top... just remember to reverse the phase of that mic underneath the snare. Two overhead mics (panned apart far enough to give a nice stereo effect) is a good idea as well as a room mic, placed 10-15 feet (maybe more depending) away from the drum set just to give the overall sound some realistic dynamics.

For Piano, I've seen professionals always place two mics in an X pattern in the middle of inside the piano. I've even seen people mic underneath the piano but never heard the result... I would stick to mic'ing inside the piano.

Halfa · 07-10-2008, 03:55 PM

ah....ok...so what would you do if you were limited to 8 mics for the entire group, including 2 guitars, vocal, piano, bass, and drums?

(yea the situation sucks...but we gotta make due with what we got....)

SATCHMO · 07-10-2008, 06:41 PM

Well for the bass you are going to probably go direct out of the bass head into the sound board, so that eliminates the need for a mic. one mic for each guitar rig pointed directly at the speaker usually a half inch away from the grill. one vocal mic. a single mic for the piano, but i would experiment heavily with placement and EQ. a mic each for the kick and snare a mike shared between two rack toms, and a mic on the floor tom,and just hope that the mics on the kit catch enough indirect sound from the cymbals and hi-hat to make it sound good. Is this live or studio?

Halfa · 07-10-2008, 06:49 PM

studio i would say. we're just doing it in my music room at my house.

SATCHMO · 07-10-2008, 06:53 PM

are you recording seriously or just to capture the inspiration

Halfa · 07-10-2008, 06:56 PM

probably capturing the inspiration....we're gonna try to make a demo cd with our material....we just want the best quality sound possible.

SATCHMO · 07-10-2008, 07:09 PM

Get together for a session and put one mic dead center of the musicians general area with the mic boom fully extended , but with the mic pointing directly at the floor- like a overhead cymbal set up. Give one mic to the singer and just go to town. Go back and listen to your recording and make an inventory of the overall tonal balance of the recording, minus the singer of course cuz' they have a mic. Take the instruments that sound weak in the recording and place mics on them while still keeping the "room mic" in place. keep experimenting with this process until your sound is refined as you can get it. I will tell you right now that the bass drum will probably be the one piece that you will without a doubt want to have a mic on, everything else will be up to the room acoustics and the acoustic dynamics between the instruments. Try what I suggest and you will be surprised at just how well it works

Halfa · 07-10-2008, 07:15 PM

alright. thanks a lot man

07-09-2008, 11:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Halfa Allman Brothers Obsessor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Whipping Post Posts: 260	Advice on mic'ing things? How would u mic a drumkit and/or a grand piano without specialized mics? __________________ Check it out: www.myspace.com/sdotldotidotpdot Watch your step.

07-10-2008, 09:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
Whatsitoosit Bringer of Carrots Join Date: May 2008 Location: New York, NY Posts: 648	For drums I would do as Satchmo said, a mic on every piece... also try mic'ing underneath the snare drum (a clip on mic does the trick) as well as mic'ing the top of the snare drum. This allows for that crack hit sound which you can't get from just mic'ing the top... just remember to reverse the phase of that mic underneath the snare. Two overhead mics (panned apart far enough to give a nice stereo effect) is a good idea as well as a room mic, placed 10-15 feet (maybe more depending) away from the drum set just to give the overall sound some realistic dynamics. For Piano, I've seen professionals always place two mics in an X pattern in the middle of inside the piano. I've even seen people mic underneath the piano but never heard the result... I would stick to mic'ing inside the piano. __________________ "It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face."

07-10-2008, 03:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Halfa Allman Brothers Obsessor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Whipping Post Posts: 260	ah....ok...so what would you do if you were limited to 8 mics for the entire group, including 2 guitars, vocal, piano, bass, and drums? (yea the situation sucks...but we gotta make due with what we got....) __________________ Check it out: www.myspace.com/sdotldotidotpdot Watch your step.

07-10-2008, 06:49 PM	#6 (permalink)
Halfa Allman Brothers Obsessor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Whipping Post Posts: 260	studio i would say. we're just doing it in my music room at my house. __________________ Check it out: www.myspace.com/sdotldotidotpdot Watch your step.

07-10-2008, 06:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
Halfa Allman Brothers Obsessor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Whipping Post Posts: 260	probably capturing the inspiration....we're gonna try to make a demo cd with our material....we just want the best quality sound possible. __________________ Check it out: www.myspace.com/sdotldotidotpdot Watch your step.

07-10-2008, 09:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	The same way you would with specialized mics. Optimally for a drum kit you would have a mic for every piece - including cymbals- in the kit. For the average kit that's 8 mics. It is always good to use application specific microphones whenever possible, especially when you have good equipment/software to support it. However I've worked in live situations with national acts that insist on throwing SM-57s on every piece in the drum kit. The result is a less dynamic, but tighter and more uniform sound. A grand piano is considerably easier. Usually 2 mics taped to the inside of the sound box lid, one in the general area of an octave below the area of the middle C string and one two octaves above it usually works quite well.

07-10-2008, 06:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Well for the bass you are going to probably go direct out of the bass head into the sound board, so that eliminates the need for a mic. one mic for each guitar rig pointed directly at the speaker usually a half inch away from the grill. one vocal mic. a single mic for the piano, but i would experiment heavily with placement and EQ. a mic each for the kick and snare a mike shared between two rack toms, and a mic on the floor tom,and just hope that the mics on the kit catch enough indirect sound from the cymbals and hi-hat to make it sound good. Is this live or studio?

07-10-2008, 06:53 PM	#7 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	are you recording seriously or just to capture the inspiration

07-10-2008, 07:09 PM	#9 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Get together for a session and put one mic dead center of the musicians general area with the mic boom fully extended , but with the mic pointing directly at the floor- like a overhead cymbal set up. Give one mic to the singer and just go to town. Go back and listen to your recording and make an inventory of the overall tonal balance of the recording, minus the singer of course cuz' they have a mic. Take the instruments that sound weak in the recording and place mics on them while still keeping the "room mic" in place. keep experimenting with this process until your sound is refined as you can get it. I will tell you right now that the bass drum will probably be the one piece that you will without a doubt want to have a mic on, everything else will be up to the room acoustics and the acoustic dynamics between the instruments. Try what I suggest and you will be surprised at just how well it works

07-10-2008, 07:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
Halfa Allman Brothers Obsessor Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The Whipping Post Posts: 260	alright. thanks a lot man __________________ Check it out: www.myspace.com/sdotldotidotpdot Watch your step.