How To Record Drums With 4 Mics: 360°

How To Record Drums With 4 Mics: 360°

This approach takes the basic Eric Valentine’s Method described in another post, but adds an extra overhead condenser microphone with a cardioid polar pattern pointed at the back of the kit directly over the drummer's head around 5 to 6 feet off the floor, facing the kit. This mic will pick up a sound closer to what you hear when you play, adding a nice balance to the sound of the other 3 front-of-kit microphones. 

This approach, which we’ll call 360° (since it makes a circle marked by the 4 mics), would then look something like this: 

360°

And here’s the outline:

  1. Place the 3 font mics (left, center and right) equidistant from each other. 
  2. Place them around 3 feet off the floor. You don’t want to place them too high, otherwise you’ll lose a lot of low-end. 
  3. Make sure you’re pointing them towards their corresponding section of the drum set.  
  4. Place a 4th mic pointed at the back of the kit directly over the drummer’s head approximately 6 feet above the floor (you can go lower, like right above your head).

 Pros of this technique:

  • A holistic sound of the drums, with great stereo image possibilities with the left & right mics, with a centered mono signal with the center-front and back mic. 
  • This approach will have more snare and more toms than the Eric Valentine Method.
  • If your drums sing, this approach will sing too. 

 Cons:

  • You depend a lot on the room. Dry room, dry sound. 
  • Your bass drum might still sound a bit dry, so be mindful of that when you EQ this mix. 
  • Like the Glyn Johns method, your balance determines the final sound. This approach by itself can be very unforgiving. 
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