When you’re mixing drums, the biggest way to change the sound of your drum mix after the tracks have been recorded is by changing the balance between the microphones that recorded the drum set. These can be split into three different categories: direct microphones, overhead microphones, and room microphones.
Now by “categories” or microphone types, I don’t mean the physical differences between dynamic, condenser, and ribbon microphones, but rather the placement of the microphones used. The three placements of microphones will affect how the drum sound is perceived, and getting this balance correct can really help the drums sit properly in the genre you’re working in. If you’re looking for punchy drums, you would lean heavily on the direct microphones, but a more natural sound would call for your overhead mics being the most prominent source.
Firstly, lets go over the three types of microphones placed when recording a drum set.
Direct Microphones
Direct microphones, or close microphones, refer to the microphones that are meant to capture a single source, and placed in close proximity to the part of the drum set that you are capturing. This includes things like your snare microphone, kick mic, tom mics, and hi-hat mic. The advantage that direct mics have over any other type of mic is that they allow for individual control over a single element. If you need to turn just the snare up, you can do that. Want to EQ the floor tom without affecting the adjacent drums? You can do that too! Inevitably, you will encounter some bleed from the other sounds around the kit, but when placed correctly, the volume of the source that you are recording will be far louder than the extra drums and cymbals picked up in the background.
Where this can get tricky is when you have a microphone recording a drum with a cymbal nearby. The snare especially has this problem with the hi-hats in such close proximity, so some of the hi-hats may be picked up along with the snare sound. The best way to fight this is by placing the microphone at an angle that lessens the amount of hi-hat picked up, and by knowing where your microphones’ pickup pattern will reject the most bleed. But more on that process later!
Direct microphones have a very punchy sound due to their closeness to the source, and allow for more extreme editing when adding things like EQ and compression. Because of this, genres like rock, pop, and metal rely heavily on direct mics, so that the drums have a chance to cut through the dense instrumentation and make an impact.
Overhead Microphones
Overhead microphones are responsible for picking up the entirety of the drum set, and are able to do so because of their placement above the kit. By sitting a few feet above the drums, the microphones capture a bit of each drum and cymbal, and can be moved around to compensate for elements that may be slightly louder naturally. I personally have the overhead microphone on my right side closer to the ride cymbal than the crash cymbal, as a result of the china cymbal behind my right crash being so loud! In doing this, my ride, crash, and china cymbals are all picked up relatively evenly by that microphone.
For genres that call for a natural sound coming from the drums, the overhead microphones are a great place to start. Assuming the drummer plays evenly, all parts of the drum set should sound roughly level, and you can hear a little bit of the air surrounding the drums. This provides a nice open sound and gives a little bit more decay to each drum without sounding too reverberant.
Room Microphones
The third type of microphones used in recording a drum set are the room microphones. As you can probably guess, this microphone type is placed in the room that the drums are in, and is meant to record more of the ambient sound around the drums. To me, the room microphones sound the most accurate in what most people perceive drums sounding like, since you’re hearing the source and the natural environment that it’s placed in, and not just a single source. These microphones can be a quick way to add size to the drum set, and can be even more exaggerated by compressing the microphones heavily.
Now that we’ve covered the categories of drum microphones placed around the drum set, let’s talk about some different sounds we can piece together by blending the types.
Direct Microphones with some Overheads and Rooms
For heavier songs, and songs with dense instrumentation, using primarily direct microphones with some of the overheads and/or room mics will make each hit of the drums easily heard. Since the natural decay of the drum isn’t head by the direct mics, the overheads and room mics can add a better sense of space, while also bringing more attention to the cymbals. Here’s a sample of a direct mic’ed drum set with the overheads and room microphones tucked underneath:
As you can hear, blending in the non-direct microphones helps the drum set sound more cohesive, and add more definition to the high-end response of the snare and cymbals. It’s not uncommon either to remove a good amount of the low frequencies from the overhead mics, and treat them more as cymbal microphones,
Overhead Microphones with Direct Microphones Blended
If you are using the overhead microphones for the bulk of the drum sound, blending in the direct microphones underneath can add more definition to each drum. Particularly with the kick drum, a direct mic can be used to bring in the lower frequencies that won’t be as apparent in the overheads as a result of the kick drum being furthest away from the overhead microphones. This can help out with the toms and snare, too, by adding a bit more of the low and low-mid frequencies that the overheads don’t capture as much of.
In this clip, the natural sound of the drums are preserved, and more girth and body is added to the kit, creating a fuller sound.
Room Microphones as the Primary Source
For the biggest overall drum sound, starting with the room microphones provides the quickest way to a larger-than-life sounding drum set. Just like starting with the overheads first, blending in the direct microphones to the room microphones will add more definition to the individual drums, and the overheads will provide a tighter “snap.” The ratio of your room mics to the other mics is very important here though, as things can get out of control quickly if the room microphones were placed pretty far from the drum set!
With all of these combinations, it’s important to remember that there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Paying attention to what the song calls for is the most important factor, and after that it’s up to you to choose how best to approach that final sound. Everyone has a slightly different approach to mixing drums, and that’s what makes each mix so unique.
What are some of your favorite drum mixes? Can you hear how they may have approached that sound?
