When I usually record my drums, I put a microphone over everything, plug it into a PA system, output the PA into my computer's line in port, and record. I'm not very certain that this is how you record drums with drum microphones.

Can anybody give me a run-down on everything I would need to mic my set, and how much it would cost?

There's a link for pictures/details of my drumset in my signature.








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Ludwig
Saluda
Remo/Evans
Vic Firth
YouTube
MySpace
William Allen White?

well for starters... If ur running it into a computer the line in is going to be pretty poor quality, also if u record something over the top, like other instruments) it was something like a 0.3 second delay so its going to be a total bitch to get in timing.
So u can either fork out for an individual unit, or analogue unit but they are a bit of a bitch to operate so what u might want to look into is:

Mics-> Equalizer/Mixer (not 100% necessary if you are only using 2 condenser mics)-> Audio interface-> Computer USB/fire wire/whatever else socket-> Recording programs

I'll order the discussion so u can scan through if u are only intrested in 1 aspect of this.

Mic's (what mic's to get?)-
I cant help you here, i know some brands but other than that im out my my league, personally im amassing a conglomerate of crappy mics because i want that shit quality sound, as long as its not too noisy cause i love that sound for drums.

Mic setup/placement- To my knowledge u can do 2 things, have 2 or so condenser mics above the kit that will pick up pretty much everything. But if u want more bass drum or anything u are going to need to add more mics so thats where u could use a mixer. Im planning to use 1 condenser mic (because i have few tightly packed cymbals) and then a seperate mic for each drum. And i've heard others say you want need to mic high hats because they cut through so much, im yet to test that theory though. If you are particularly wondering about placement im sure u wont have to go too far down the "recording drums" area of the forum before u see a post by me asking about that which was quickly and easily directed off site for that.

Equalizer/Mixer- If u are planning to only use 2 condenser u wont need to worry about a mixer, however u could use an equalizer, just experiment with it i guess, find what u like. I think there are a lot of decent mixers, etc out there so as long as its not creating unwanted noise and has enough inputs as u do mics u should be right.

Audio Interface- The "industry standard" audio interface are the digidesign M-box's. Search google and u should find there site with prices, needless to say they are not cheap. But there are alternatives out there its just that they aren't "The box" to get, so chances are u wont have as many resources if u encounter trouble. Its much like buying a cymbal from a no-name brand, it could sound aweful, or it could sound great, but if it sounds good can u trust in it like u could a top name brand? The other option here is to actually replace the sound card within your computer however, if u suddenly want to record on another computer, or that computer dies, ur sound card is useless.

Recording program- There are quite a few good ones out there. You have pro tools, which comes standard with an M-box, you have Cubase which i have just started recording on and seems pretty easy, Then u have Cakewalk which i have never tried but quite a few people use from the impression i get, OR for some free LEGAL options you can download a program called Audacity, although it doesnt have all the inbuilt EQ's and effects some of the other programs do, it is free. OR if u use mac's you have garage band, which im only mentioning cause if i dont some self righteous mac user will.

So there's the very basics of it from a very beginner. Others want to expand/correct and please dont restate cause that can be very discouraging when ur trying to read through a topic, having to read the same thing 4 times.

cheers.








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Zildjian, Wuhan & Istanbul cymbals
Pearl & Mirage kit.
Crappiato Snare
Steve's Back! ..............kinda

It's pretty hard, and expensive to get started with proper recordings.

I use a cheap but very decent drum mic set (kick, snare, 3 toms and 2 overhead condensers), but with a Shure SM57 on my snare. I run this through a MOTU Firewire interface with 8 inputs, so I can record seperate tracks on my computer. To record I use Cubase, but as said, there are endless options when it comes to software.
The mic set cost me around €300, €370 with the SM57. The MOTU interface I bought for €500, it costs around 750 new.

This is just what I do though, it's all about experimenting.

As for mic's.. I think an SM57 is what you'd want to get first off. It can be used on snare, toms, vocals, guitar amps etc. So if you want to get into recording, that's the first buy if you ask me. As for a good bassdrum mic, a D112 is pretty sweet, but it all gets pretty technical like this.

The best thing to do I guess is to buy a mic set (there are very cheap sets, too, that'll do just fine - look up Supralux mic's, I've heard good stuff about those), and just plug those into your PA system. Do a little soundcheck, record, adjust settings, record, adjust settings etc, till you find out what sounds good and what doesn't...

Good luck! it's a lot of fun!








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me: www.myspace.com/dedrummervanrolf
my band: www.myspace.com/rolfdeband

Gretsch, Wooding, Ludwig, Sabian. random hardware.

Here's my setup.

Hardware/Software:
Acer Aspire 5100-3959, 2ghz with 1.5gb ram
Western Digital 250mb 7200rpm external hdd
PreSonus FirePod (now FP10)
Monster Power Pro 2500 power conditioner
Cubase SE3 (recording program)
Tama Road Pro mic' stands
SKB four space rack
Sennheiser HD280Pro headphones

Mics:
Kick = Audix D6
Snare = Shure SM57
Rack Toms (2) = OSP DT-310
Floor Tom = Blue KickBall
Overheads (2) = Audio Technica AE5100

Not cheap, but extremely cheap in comparison to what studios have. You can buy an OSP or CAD drum mic' kit and get a pretty sound as long as you mic' well and have a good preamp/interface. You can usually find FirePods on eBay for around $150-250, Cubse SE3 is under $200 ($150 I think), and that just leaves the computer. For that, check this out: http://www.steinberg.net/547_1.html








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Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

Some pretty good stuff here and it all depends on your budget. For certain, you will need a dedicated kick drum mic such as some of the ones listed. SGarrett uses a blue ball for his floor tom - I use a D112 - potato, potato. The two overhead condenser mics and maybe an SM57 for the snare would get you started as far as mics go. The statement Sgarrett made about costing you way less than a recording studio is pretty much dead on - great studios have ambient mics which can cost as much as a good used car. These pretty much “seal the deal” and add the sparkle to your mix.

Something you may want to try if you know of someone who triggers is to use both the triggering on the drums and use overhead condenser mics to catch all of the nuiances of your drum kit.








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Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

No doubt. Some of those mic's are more than my entire rig. That's one of the things I really like about the AE5100s. Choirs and vocal groups use those instead of Neumann mic's and say they get results so similar a blind folded panel couldn't tell the difference.








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Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

Awesome write up. Thanks guys!








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this damn LEFT PEDAL! i swear im getting another bass drum....
www.myspace.com/enlightenedbythecold

I was about to post a thread asking a similar question, but then I saw this. I don't get it man!!!!! That first reply by "antiunderscores" makes a little bit of sense but, still, I don't know what a lot of that stuff is. Like audio interface, what is that?








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"It's a funky ball of tits from outer space."

Me- www.myspace.com/one8891
My Band- www.myspace.com/arson4tots

PDP drums
Remo/Evans
Zildjian/Agazarian/Wuhan
Vic-Firth/Pro-Mark/Ahead/Silverfox
PDP/DW/Pearl Hardware

metalhead94 wrote:

I was about to post a thread asking a similar question, but then I saw this. I don't get it man!!!!! That first reply by "antiunderscores" makes a little bit of sense but, still, I don't know what a lot of that stuff is. Like audio interface, what is that?

Good example of an audio interface for the computer can be found at:

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer-audio/audio_interfaces/

For my personal recordings I use a MOTU 8PRE to interface with my computer.








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dedrummervanrolf wrote:

It's pretty hard, and expensive to get started with proper recordings.

I use a cheap but very decent drum mic set (kick, snare, 3 toms and 2 overhead condensers), but with a Shure SM57 on my snare. I run this through a MOTU Firewire interface with 8 inputs, so I can record seperate tracks on my computer. To record I use Cubase, but as said, there are endless options when it comes to software.
The mic set cost me around €300, €370 with the SM57. The MOTU interface I bought for €500, it costs around 750 new.

This is just what I do though, it's all about experimenting.

As for mic's.. I think an SM57 is what you'd want to get first off. It can be used on snare, toms, vocals, guitar amps etc. So if you want to get into recording, that's the first buy if you ask me. As for a good bassdrum mic, a D112 is pretty sweet, but it all gets pretty technical like this.

The best thing to do I guess is to buy a mic set (there are very cheap sets, too, that'll do just fine - look up Supralux mic's, I've heard good stuff about those), and just plug those into your PA system. Do a little soundcheck, record, adjust settings, record, adjust settings etc, till you find out what sounds good and what doesn't...

Good luck! it's a lot of fun!

I am also thinking about home recording too - for youtube purposes and maybe with my new band to put a demo on myspace.

So all I need for this is:
Cheap mics
Firewire Interface, and
Software

Do I not need a mixer? Or is that what the firewire interface is?








_________________
Mapex
Sabian AAX
Vic Firth

Vanden wrote:

I am also thinking about home recording too - for youtube purposes and maybe with my new band to put a demo on myspace.

So all I need for this is:
Cheap mics
Firewire Interface, and
Software

Do I not need a mixer? Or is that what the firewire interface is?

You do not need a mixer unless you really want one. I know that a lot of folks (myself included) really enjoy the aesthetic of using faders and pots. That being said, all of your mix down can be done on the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) on your computer.
The interface will give you gain control of your pre-amps, but the DAW will give you mix down control.
A good cheap DAW on the market right now is Reaper. It's free to try and $50 for a single-user (non-commercial) license.








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Okay so what good interfaces are there for as cheap as possible?
thanks








_________________
Mapex
Sabian AAX
Vic Firth

Vanden wrote:

Okay so what good interfaces are there for as cheap as possible?
thanks

As cheap as possible and quality never really equate to the same thing, especially in the recording industry. Don't get me wrong, there are diamonds in the rough, so to speak; but generally speaking, good audio equipment costs money and better audio equipment costs more money. So a better way to approach this might be... how much money do you have to spend?








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http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/computer-audio/audio_interfaces/

Check out some of the stuff here to see what the price ranges can be. Sort by price and you'll get a good idea.








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You can usually find PreSonus FirePods (FP10) on eBay for around $200.








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Dr. Rodney McKay wrote:

Well, I only know one thing and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad.

http://www.MySpace.com/PageFive

I reckon i can max out £150 ($300) on mics and £100 ($200) on an interface and ill probably go with audacity for software because two of my band mates know how to use this - or is that not a good choice?

EDIT - And im not totaly hung up on quality but obviously i dont want it sounding rubbish.








_________________
Mapex
Sabian AAX
Vic Firth

Audacity is a good program, nothing wrong with it. If your friends know how to use it then you can all give each other tips as you learn things. Most of the free or open source DAWs can work with almost any audio file out there. I'm partial to reaper for that but that's just me.
As far as mics are concerned, I saw a three pack of the Sennheiser e835s at sweetwater.com for $230. (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/E835Pack/) That's hard to beat for 3 new mics. The e835 gives the Shure SM58 and SM57 a run for its money. A lot of folks (myself included) prefer it over the SM58. In any event, they're dynamic mic's and you can't go wrong with dynamic mic's in your arsenal when you're starting out.
These two interfaces are $300 new.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Saffire/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireBox/
You can do better if you look used, but for $300 new you're typically going to get a two preamp interface. For about $500 new you can get 8 preamps.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffirePro10/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FireStuProj/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/8pre/
Again, used is a different story, but make sure you're getting a good working product if you're buying used.
Of the three $500 range interfaces I listed - I would have to go with the MOTU 8pre, based on the fact that I've owned a Fire Studio Project before and wasn't completely impressed. That being said, I haven't messed around with the Saffire Pro before, and they typically make pretty nice gear.
Don't forget to include mic stands and cables when you start adding up all the costs.








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Something I thought of after posting.... if you want cheaper mics yet but still good quality, this guy makes great mics and it's worth looking into.
http://www.naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html








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