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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Recording Corner »

Permalink Drum miking techniques for surf

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So I'm gearing up to record some songs, doing it at my place. I have done a lot of stuff there. But so far the drums have always been close mic'ed. A mic on every drum, a mic on the high hat, and two overheads. I am wondering if there's another way I should mic to more of a surfy, room sound. I am currently maxed out on mic channels, so I can't just add a couple more room Mics. I would have to sacrifice a current mic position. Also, the room is very small, and partially treated. So not a big room sound to begin with. Should I just record as I'm currently positioned and add reverb to drums later?

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

Check this thread for a good conversation about micing for surf drums:
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/1481/

One suggestion with regards to your small room situation-- can you leave a door open and put a mic down the hall or far away in the room next door?

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Last edited: Jul 23, 2017 13:39:49

You might want to reference the "Glyn Johns Technique" for mic placement.
You can find excellent examples of this placement on youtube and other internet resources.
You can do it with four mics. It captures the kit as an instrument instead of individual drums.
You'll want to experiment with your own variations to capture your particular kit in your room but it works easily and is a much more "old school" sound.

Cheers,
Jeff

Cheers,
Jeff

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I got one overhead and one on the kick. And during solos I have the guitarist stand on an orange crate. Big Grin

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

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Syndicateofsurf wrote:

I got one overhead and one on the kick. And during solos I have the guitarist stand on an orange crate. Big Grin

The tone is in the orange crate, right?

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I particularly enjoy surf/instro stuff where there is a bit more room in the mics. Obviously, close miking reduces the importance of how good the room is and it is better for mixing individual pieces of the kit, less bleed from other instruments being tracked at the same time.

Lorne
The Surf Shakers: https://www.facebook.com/TheSurfShakers
Vancouver BC Canada

CrazyAces wrote:

Syndicateofsurf wrote:

I got one overhead and one on the kick. And during solos I have the guitarist stand on an orange crate. Big Grin

The tone is in the orange crate, right?

No but that's what I tell the guitarist!
Rimshot

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

It's worth it to examine some old pictures to see how it was done.
In the fifties drums were lucky to be miked at all. If they did get miked, usually one overhead would do the job. Here's Elvis' drummer DJ Fontana being miked by a single Electro Voice 666 microphone hung over the kit.

image

Hal Blaine played on a lot of surf records in the early sixties, here's a pic of him being miked by again, an EV 666. No idea if the kick drum is being miked or not.

image

Here's DJ Fontana again at the Jailhouse Rock sessions, only this time he's miked by an RCA 77 ribbon mic.

image

Back to Hal Blaine at the Be My Baby sessions, again miked by the 666 over the kit pointed more or less at his crotch. Can't see the kick mic.

image

Here's a pic of Earl Palmer's kit. Earl played on some Dick Dale stuff. Notice his kit is miked by a Sony condenser overhead (an 800c I think?), and a Neumann U87 on the kick drum. Tommy Tedesco and Maestro Fuzz tone in the foreground!

image

Hal Blaine again at a Beach Boys session with two Sony 800's overhead. The kick isn't visible unfortunately.

image

Lastly here's Ringo miked by an AKG D19 suspended over the snare, and an AKG D20 on the kick. The D20 is a fancier version of the D12 that they used more commonly.

image

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Last edited: Jul 25, 2017 13:39:57

PolloGuitar wrote:

Check this thread for a good conversation about micing for surf drums:
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/1481/

Ferenc, that was a wonderful thread. Unfortunately the .mp3 samples you did working with Dusty & the work describing are unplayable when downloaded (at least at this end). It's a great post with the pics of your setup; if you still have those files is it possible you could upload them to the site?
Yes, I realize it's over 9 years down the road... Laughing

Edit to add: And Welcome cynthiamyra to SG101! Cool

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Last edited: Sep 27, 2017 07:28:04

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