Miking The Drums In The Recording Studio

It goes without saying but the first step is to have a great sounding drum set. You'd be amazed at the number of musicians don't think that's very important. The heads should never be oil filled or drums will sound much like plastic wash-bins. In general it's better to use lighter heads with a textured surface. The cymbals should be lighter than what you would normally use for live playing. The hi-hat is especially of concern because it often too loud and has "bleed" problems with the snare.

It's best to tune each drum and, if possible, in the key of the song you're planning on playing. This will prove itself in getting a nicely resonating sound with the other instruments and vocals.

The position of the drums in the recording environment is important. More preferable in a sizable space that has a bit of a live sound but not overly so. The room should not have any standing waves which are created by parallel surfaces. Standing waves will accentuate particular frequencies and by and large are not wanted. There shouldn't be flutter sounds or echos. That's fairly easy to test by clapping your hands and listening to the result. If this is the case then it's time to deaden the space or try other places to find less problematic locations.

Microphone position is one of the primary considerations when recording the drums.

1. The Kick Drum

There are different methods for miking the Kick Drum. The technique that I use most often leans toward muffling the inside of the shell (kick-side) and close to the head itself. There are other methods if you want to get a more resonant sound. This concept is to create a kind of funnel with plywood in a v-shape in front of the kick and putting the microphone inside at somewhat of a distance. The tunnel can be desirable because it isolates the mic from the rest of the drums and also projects the sound much like the bell of a horn. The microphone for the kick drum should be one that can withstand a high SPL (sound pressure level) and is almost always a dynamic mic.

There are a lot of different mic makes and models employed, but as an individual preference, more often than not, I'll choose the EV RE20.

2. The Snare Drum

Snare drums can be a bit tricky. If any of the individual drums have an unpleasant ring to them, you can solve that with a dampening 0-ring that fits around the perimeter of the head. The irritation of this probably happens because the mic can't be positioned too near to the center of the head without being in the way of the drummer's sticks. Since the mic has to be placed near the rim, without the dampening the mic would catch more of the ring the of the snare.

Following is the next intricate step, notwithstanding that the mic is near the rim it should still be aimed as much as can be toward the middle of the drum-head and not too close to the often overbearing hi-hat.

The classic and most used snare mic is the Shure SM57.

3. The Toms

Again, these can be a bit tricky. You'll have a little more freedom with positioning the tom-tom mics, but again there is the problem e of bleed from the cymbals especially the ride. Hence you should position the microphones as close as you can to the heads without compromising the sound by being too close. (a too close microphone will capture only part of the sound). It's necessary to allow the drummer some accommodation so he/she can hit the head and not the mic.

A popular and often used mic for the toms is the Sennheiser 421s and an RE20 for the floor tom.

4. Overheads for Cymbals

Although the overhead mics are primarily for the cymbals they also serve to pick up the overall drum set, unifying the sounds. Overheads are most times stereo, either in an XY placement or far from one another and critically placed for the cymbals. It's certainly a trial and error process. With an XY pattern you'll likely have less of a phasing problem as the mics are virtually detecting sound simultaneously even though they're at an angle. If you position them considerably far apart you'll want to listen for problems with a test playback.

The overheads are most often condenser mics because they are more discerning and generally more brilliant than dynamics - good for cymbals. A matched pair of AKG 414s works well or a pair of small diaphragm pencil mics such as the AKG 460.

5. Room Microphone

If you have a great sounding room and want to record it, place a really good mic (if you can afford it) such as a U87, at a distance from the front of the kit.

If you have a track for each of the microphones use them. This will be beneficial in the global process of "imaging" the drums. I'd stay away from equalization or compression when laying down the tracks as well - using particular mics and with good positioning the eq will have a head start on the sound. You might want to compress the overhead mics with a compressor which will help a bit with the overbearing and loud crashing of the crashes.

Finally, "Do nothing by rote - use your ears!"


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The author of this article is an experienced music producer and engineer at his studio in Brooklyn, NY. He has recorded many sessions using his "tried and true" techniques for his second to none drum recordings.