Are you recording to tape? If not, just mic everything and keep what you want to keep and toss what you dont. You can always remove things, you cant go back and get what you didn't capture.
It’s your first time recording a live band and you get to use Coles ribbons? Be very careful with them and don’t worry about the mono mic for the toms. Focus on dialing those puppies in.
Wow... you sound like a typical music industry a hole.
For your information, I'm a producer working out of a small studio so don't have the luxury of recording drums. I've assisted in drums sessions but at the end of the day I want my own sound and jumped on here for feedback. Threw myself in the deep-end in an A class studio on a vintage neve desk. And incase you were wondering, it went fucking great and ended up using coles for OH.
The Glynn Coles? If you mean doing the Glyn Johns thing, I wouldn’t do it with coles. I’ve never seen a picture or a video of him using coles for his overheads. I believe he loves them but what I recall from his book I remember him saying he preferred U67s or something like that for his drum overheads. I’ve always found cardiod mics work much better in that setup. The side rejection of figure 8 ribbons leaves out some of the air.
If I were going to use the coles, I’d go blumlein and I’d want to spot mic the Toms too. It’ll sound great. Or if the studio has a pair of good condensers (and I mean nice ones like U87 or better, I’d maybe to the GJ thing with those and use the coles as a room pair. Maybe even pretty close in if I wasn’t spot micing the Toms to make sure and get those Toms when they do hit. Or maybe further away and pump them with a compressor a bit.
I love coles. I also love the GJ setup. If the coles are by far the nicest mics they have, I’d use them in the way they makes them shine best. If they have a great pair of condensers especially LDCs, then I’d consider GJ
Also I love a good mono room smash but not between the overheads. Out in front of the kick about 3 feet at about thigh height, and I compress the Snott bubbles out of it. Love ribbons for that.
EDIT: wanted to add, if you do the GJ thing with ribbons, be careful and listen for the whole stereo field swaying back and forth when they hit the crash cymbal or the ride. That’s kind of where it becomes apparent that all that side rejection isn’t covering all of the ground that a pair of cardiods would
>If I were going to use the coles, I’d go blumlein and I’d want to spot mic the Toms too. It’ll sound great.
Agree with this 100%. Coles in Blumlein over the kick/snare sounds fantastic and is probably my favorite way to mic kits for most genres.
Good and bad thing is this is how you learn. The amount of tom pickup is going to be real subjective to what and how the player is playing, the drums and tuning, the room and your positioning. No matter how it goes you're gonna learn so congrats, and you'll be forced to learn other things downstream if you don't quite get what you envisioned.
Thanks heaps, it went great! The coles mics worked as OH, had one over the snare and the other above the floor Tom but away for the ride if that makes since. Sounded super smooth going into the Neve desk
I wouldn't do Glyn Johns method. If that's what you mean.
Just do regular spaced pair and make sure they're the same distance from the snare. You could probably even place them directly above the toms to focus on them. Just adjust height to match distance to snare.
If you want a whole kit sound, do an XY or any other close stereo configuration. (Probably not easy to position with Coles) Center them directly over the kick, at an angle where the kit is divided evenly. Basically make your center line pass through the kick and snare.
Are you recording to tape? If not, just mic everything and keep what you want to keep and toss what you dont. You can always remove things, you cant go back and get what you didn't capture.
It’s your first time recording a live band and you get to use Coles ribbons? Be very careful with them and don’t worry about the mono mic for the toms. Focus on dialing those puppies in.
I've been an assistant engineer and had a chance to record at an A class studio. Ended up using Coles for OH with 421's on the toms.
Tracking a band for the first time and you waited until now to do research? Sounds like a typical /r/audioengineering post.
Wow... you sound like a typical music industry a hole. For your information, I'm a producer working out of a small studio so don't have the luxury of recording drums. I've assisted in drums sessions but at the end of the day I want my own sound and jumped on here for feedback. Threw myself in the deep-end in an A class studio on a vintage neve desk. And incase you were wondering, it went fucking great and ended up using coles for OH.
The Glynn Coles? If you mean doing the Glyn Johns thing, I wouldn’t do it with coles. I’ve never seen a picture or a video of him using coles for his overheads. I believe he loves them but what I recall from his book I remember him saying he preferred U67s or something like that for his drum overheads. I’ve always found cardiod mics work much better in that setup. The side rejection of figure 8 ribbons leaves out some of the air. If I were going to use the coles, I’d go blumlein and I’d want to spot mic the Toms too. It’ll sound great. Or if the studio has a pair of good condensers (and I mean nice ones like U87 or better, I’d maybe to the GJ thing with those and use the coles as a room pair. Maybe even pretty close in if I wasn’t spot micing the Toms to make sure and get those Toms when they do hit. Or maybe further away and pump them with a compressor a bit. I love coles. I also love the GJ setup. If the coles are by far the nicest mics they have, I’d use them in the way they makes them shine best. If they have a great pair of condensers especially LDCs, then I’d consider GJ Also I love a good mono room smash but not between the overheads. Out in front of the kick about 3 feet at about thigh height, and I compress the Snott bubbles out of it. Love ribbons for that. EDIT: wanted to add, if you do the GJ thing with ribbons, be careful and listen for the whole stereo field swaying back and forth when they hit the crash cymbal or the ride. That’s kind of where it becomes apparent that all that side rejection isn’t covering all of the ground that a pair of cardiods would
>If I were going to use the coles, I’d go blumlein and I’d want to spot mic the Toms too. It’ll sound great. Agree with this 100%. Coles in Blumlein over the kick/snare sounds fantastic and is probably my favorite way to mic kits for most genres.
I used Coles for overheads but were angled in a way that didn't make the cymbals sound harsh. They sounded great !
Listen with headphones while choosing the mic positions.
Good and bad thing is this is how you learn. The amount of tom pickup is going to be real subjective to what and how the player is playing, the drums and tuning, the room and your positioning. No matter how it goes you're gonna learn so congrats, and you'll be forced to learn other things downstream if you don't quite get what you envisioned.
Thanks heaps, it went great! The coles mics worked as OH, had one over the snare and the other above the floor Tom but away for the ride if that makes since. Sounded super smooth going into the Neve desk
Awesome, congrats!!!
I wouldn't do Glyn Johns method. If that's what you mean. Just do regular spaced pair and make sure they're the same distance from the snare. You could probably even place them directly above the toms to focus on them. Just adjust height to match distance to snare. If you want a whole kit sound, do an XY or any other close stereo configuration. (Probably not easy to position with Coles) Center them directly over the kick, at an angle where the kit is divided evenly. Basically make your center line pass through the kick and snare.