Have you ever noticed how engineers all seem to start with the drums when recording a band or mixing a PA. This is probably because the drums are one of the hardest instruments to record, yet the drum sound can dictate the whole sound of the band or the PA Mix. If you are learning, recording drums can be a real challenge as they are the most complicated instrument - or I should say - group of instruments.
Every engineer has his or her system of recording drums and they are all probably as similar as they are different. What I intend to do here is to establish a method for recording drums because without a starting method you can spend hours mucking around not really getting anywhere. I started recording drums in the mid sixties here in Australia and I really had no teachers (as opposed to you in the US who had a rich tradition of recording engineers). I think I was one of the first to record drums in stereo onto 2 tracks of an eight track with the bass mixed in. Therefore I had to develop a technique of my own, I used to spend hours in the studio late at night with drummer friends and play around trying every mic placement possible until I developed a system that we could apply in all circumstances. At the time we were recording commercials and television show bands (Brass, strings saxes etc all in) continually day in day out.- I hope that this method assists your recording techniques.
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