Recording drums well is always a challenge. But to be honest, you don’t need a ton of mics and preamps to capture a kit well. In fact you really only need one mic to do it justice! Today, though, I want to show you one of my favorite techniques, the Recorderman method.
Using only two mics to capture the kit you can get a full, punchy, and drum focused sound (as opposed to room focused). In this video I show you how to set up the mics for the best phase accuracy and then you can listen to some raw sounds from the mics. Enjoy!
Comments
Much quicker than getting out the tape measure. Thanks, Graham!
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I love the recorderman technique!
Graham, that was awesome!
I’m surprised with the amount of kick drum you’ve got with this method. Gotta use this in my next recording… Your jumpstart series already helped me so much, I’ll be purchasing your Drums bootcamp really soon.
Are those, in fact a matched pair of overheads?
Yes sir. Kel HM-1s
Is there any problem using different mics with this technique?
Pardon my ignorance, but is there anything special about a ‘matched pair’ of microphones beyond them being the same brand and model?
Nice to have this explained with a visual, awesome! QQ: the comment about adjusting for more or less cymbals, what’s the method there, higher up = more cymbals?
Usually yeah. Lower to the drums you’ll get less cymbals. But experiment.
Thank you for posting yet another excellent and informative video.
The only difference I could tell between the two on the video is the close mics seemed to make everything louder. Wonder how much closer they would be if the two mixes were volume matched.
The low-end on the kick will still be apparent, but otherwise I think they sound pretty similar with and without the close mics. I only have 2 inputs on my interface, so when we record drums, we do strictly Recorderman and then in mixing I boost 60Hz a little bit to try and bring out the low end of the kick.
Hey Graham! Gotta say this but I hate drummer’s perspective panning, lol, Matter of taste but I would have panned everything the other way around, that’s how I see it and how I hope to hear it, probably you were using drummers perspective panning for a specific reason? I do it for the drummer’s cue mix, but after tracking that (and after auditioning in audience perspective), I’ll go back to what “I hope to hear”. What do you think about this?
hi everyone,
great technique, I think I got the best sounding drums of my career using this. Just one thing: it comes tricky when using metronome in hearphones, because the mics are very close to the drummer’s head.
how do you avoid this leeking? Any advice on that? Thanks for sharing the knowledge. Keep up the good work.
bF
i’m dealing with this issue too. i think i’ll try ipod phones soon, they seem to block bleed pretty well. the plug by koss may also be a good alternative…
[...] The Recorderman Drum Mic Technique [Video] [...]
[...] Either small or large diaphragm, just get a pair and start there. You can use these for the great two mic recorderman technique right away and then down the road they can be your go-to overhead mics. But get this: now you have [...]
Hi Graham,
I just recorded drums with this technique this morning with a friend. It only was a test session, and drums sounds great. We also recorded a song with a previous guide track. But, when we listen to the complete song, with bass and guitar, the kick drum feels so quiet. Obviously, there’s no mix, but I feel that the kick drum stills quiet even when mixing a little.
Thanks for this tips and for all this awesome website. It helps a lot!
Best regards from Colombia,
Jesús
[...] Of course this can be avoided with careful placement and measurement. A great way to start is the recorderman method or the Glyn Johns [...]