Recording Drums

So, you've been given the job (or volunteered) to record some drums? To get started, let's get one thing straight. Drums are probably the most difficult instrument for any engineer (no matter how experienced) to record successfull, so make sure you leave yourself plenty of time/patience to get a good drum take.

What are the options for recording drums?

The Basic Setup - Total Budget: ~£200

This setup is aimed at people who have a pretty limited budget (~£200) and aren't looking for utter perfection. You'll be able to get a decent sound from this setup, but it's not going to offer a great deal of control on mix down so make sure you get it right while you're at the recording stage.

1 x Dynamic Mic (e.g. Shure SM57) - £65
2 x Overhead Mic (e.g. Red5 RV4, Samson C02 ) - £65
1 x Mixer (Yamaha MG Series, Behringer Xenyx ) - (£80 - £90)

You can quite easily substitute the equipment in the list for other items such as a Red5 RVK7 drum mic set at £150 which offers your 7 mics, but then you need more cables and a better mixer/interface. It's important to remember that a standard XLR cable will usually cost around £7 - £10 and you also need stands for your mics as well.

With the basic setup, you would use the two overheads on either side of your kit approximated 2 feet above your cymbals. The dynamic mic would go in the bass drum (or possibly your snare drum if you choose). We recommend you get the SM57 as that can be used for recording guitar and even vocals, it's one of the most versatile mics on the market and you may as well buy a decent mic to begin with.

You would run a stereo signal into your PC/DAW through your soundcard (99% of souncards have stereo jack microphones these days). It's not going to sound amazing, but will certainly give you a decent result if you take your time and read up on mic'ing techniques.

The Intermediate Setup - Total Budget: ~£450

Once you start increasing your budget to around £450 you have a lot more choices and you will get a significantly better result. With that kind of budget, it's certainly worth trawling eBay and any other classified sections your know about. Something like the Presonus Firepod is available at that price point with a bit of haggling (£330 brand new) and combined with a set of Red5 RVK7 you can get a very respectable result. If you'd like to hear the Red5 mics combined with a MOTU 896HD, check out Position Absolute.

1 x Presonus Firepod (2nd hand) - £250
1 x Red5 RVK7 Drum Mic Set (£150)
7 x XLR cables - ~£50

With this set, you should be able to get some excellent results as each drum has it's own mic (assuming a standard 5 piece setup). If you're just starting out, the chances are that you will be more limited by your lack of knowledge than the equipment.

Alternatives

There are plenty of alternative setups and there isn't any "best" setup as each persons recording environment is different. However, if you'd like to take the hassle out of recording drums, you may wish to consider using a drum synth such as Toontracks DFHS (Drumkit From Hell Superior).

This is a library of samples totalling around 40Gb and if you can pursuade your drummer, it sounds incredible in the right hands. However, there are a number of issues such as speed of your PC/DAW, recording experience to take into account that can make this choice more trouble than it's worth. For ~£150, DFHS represents an excellent alternative if you have the skill/PC to get the most out of it.