The Daily Insight
updates /

How Many Mics do you need for drums?

If you only want to record the drums, it depends on what's kind of your drums. If you have standard drums with: snare, 2 toms, 1 floor toms, bass-kick, hi-hat, ride, and a crash, maybe you need 8 mics for drums.

.

In this manner, how Many Mics do you need for live drums?

It is often suggested that you add at least one dedicated hi-hat mic and that, if you can, you have two overhead mics. This means five mics total in an ideal environment. Here we see two overhead mics above the drums.

Likewise, how many channels does it take to record drums? 4 to 8 channel max for a jazz kit.. The most channels of drums I've recorded was about 10, and then a few more for percussion. But during mixing I didn't end up using all of them.. I'm just waiting for someone to say "I've never used more than ONE mic for drums!"

Thereof, do I need to mic my drums?

Mics aren't always necessary to make the drums loud enough, but more often than not are necessary to keep the drums 'in the mix'. This is especially true for the subtle dynamics many of us apply. You could mic you snare, kick every tom and throw in some overheads.

How do you record drums with 2 mics?

by John Emerich

  1. Position 1: Far Front. To begin, place your two microphones (or your stereo mic) 4.5′ off the ground and 10′ in front of the kit, and aim them at the center of the kit.
  2. Position 2: Near Front.
  3. Position 3: Overhead and Centered Over Bass Drum Batter Head.
  4. Position 4: Mono Overhead and Bass Drum.
Related Question Answers

How do you mic a bass drum?

Place the mic 2 to 3 inches away from the inside head and a couple of inches off center. This is the standard way to mic a kick drum if you have the outside head off or if a hole is cut in it. This placement gives you a sharp attack from the beater hitting the head.

Where do overhead drum mics go?

Position them at a higher elevation for a more balanced sound. The farther apart you position the microphones, the wider your stereo image will become. Wherever you place them, make sure the overhead mics are equidistant from the snare drum. The second technique is the X-Y configuration.

Where do drum mics go?

For the mounted toms (the ones above the kick drum), you can use one or two mics. If you use one mic, place it between the two drums about 4 to 6 inches away from the heads (Figure 3 shows this placement option). If you use two mics, place one above each drum about 1 to 3 inches above the head.

What are the best overhead mics for drums?

6 Best Overhead Drum Mics (Reviews) in 2020
  • AKG Pro Audio C414 XLII Stereoset Vocal Condenser Microphone. ×
  • Rode NT1KIT Cardioid Condenser Microphone. ×
  • Shure KSM137/SL Stereo Pair. ×
  • Rode M5 Matched Pair Condenser Microphone. ×
  • Neumann KM 184 MT Stereo Set Condenser Microphone. ×
  • Shure KSM141/SL Studio Microphone. ×

What are drum overheads?

"Overheads" are the mics that usually stand on top of the drum kit. The most common setup is a pair of condenserslarge diaphragm usually

How do you record drums at home?

6 Steps for Recording Drums
  1. Tune your drum kit. Any recording engineer will tell you that the most important element to a great-sounding recording is a great-sounding instrument.
  2. Mic the kick drum.
  3. Mic the snare drum.
  4. Set up overhead microphones.
  5. Mic more individual drums (optional).
  6. Set a preamp and compression sound.

What is the best bass drum microphone?

Our Reviews of the Best Bass Drum Mics
  • Shure BETA 52A Supercardioid Dynamic Kick Drum Microphone.
  • AKG D112 MkII Professional Dynamic Bass Drum Microphone.
  • Electro Voice RE-20 Cardioid Microphone.
  • Sennheiser e602 II Evolution Series Dynamic Bass-drum Microphone.
  • CAD Audio D12 Dynamic Microphone.

Do drum mics need phantom power?

The most common types of microphones you'll come across are dynamics, condensers, and ribbons. There are no coils involved, making condensers more lightweight than other microphones, but these mics generally require an outside power source (referred to as phantom power) to charge the plates and boost the output signal.

How do you record electronic drums?

Step by step instructions for recording audio from your drum module
  1. Turn on your computer!
  2. Use the audio cable(s) to connect the audio outputs from your electronic drum kit module to the inputs of your audio interface.
  3. Connect the USB output from your audio interface to the USB input on your computer.

How do you record guitar and drums at the same time?

Do a separate scratch guitar track using line out or something, put it into the headphone mix so the drummer and the guitarist hear it plus the drums, but doesn't come out in the drum mics. After you get a good drum track, redo the guitar with miced amps. Add bass and vox, etc.

How many inputs do I need on my audio interface?

1: You'll need more than eight inputs Many musicians consider an eight-input interface to be sufficient. But this is actually the minimum number of channels needed for recording a live rock band: four mics for your drum kit plus guitar, bass, vocals and a mono keyboard.