A few months ago, I found myself in a somewhat unusual situation; I just couldn't get the toms sounding good. I say it's unusual because most weeks they dial right up and sound really good. We have a house kit that we use every week and while our drummers change, for the most part, the tone remains the same. But not that weekend. They didn't have the snap they usually do, and were not sitting right in the mix. I tried EQ; I tried compression and gating. I even tried changing the plug-ins. Nothing.
Then it hit me—I hadn't set the drum mics up, a less experienced volunteer had. I ran down to stage and sure enough, they were all out of position. Not by a lot, but by enough. I quickly repositioned them (they probably moved a total of an inch and a half) and returned to FOH. Finally, I had my toms back. I reset my EQ, and compression to my usual starting points and went on with the rehearsal.
I share the story at the beginning of this article to demonstrate that quite often very small changes in mic position can yield large changes in sound. Sometimes, we will rely too heavily on “fixing it in the mix,” when what we really should do is head down to the stage and move the mic. Other times, the problem is having the wrong mic on the instrument. I'll illustrate that point in a moment. But first let's consider the instrument that probably has the most mics on it: the drum kit.
Drum Kit Mic'ing
How you mic your drums will depend on the room, the size of the kit, your mic inventory, and the style of music you're dealing with (not necessarily in that order). Generally speaking, most of us will have at least a mic in the kick, on the snare and high hat. Which mic you use for each will depend on taste and/or budget and inventory. There are plenty of mics to choose from for the kick (the Shure Beta 52, Audix D6, AKG D112, EV RE320, and Heil PR-48 are popular choices), and each has a different sound.
Placement is just as critical as mic choice. First, listen to the kick drum by itself. Get right up on it, and listen to what it sounds like. If the front head has a hole in it, I typically start with the mic sticking in the hole about half way, and give it a listen in the PA. If I like what I hear, I'll leave it. If not, I may move it inside to get more of the snap of the beater on the front head, or outside to get more boom. There aren't necessarily wrong positions; it all depends on your set up. By the way, I start this exercise with the EQ flat and leave my compressors bypassed. I want to hear what the drum really sounds like. After it sounds good with no effects, then you can work with those tools.
For snare and tom mics, your life will be much easier if you are using rim-clip mic mounts. These give you the ability to put the mics right close to the drums without having stands all over the place. Positioning, again, starts with listening. If the drums don't sound good up close, tune them (or have someone tune them).
There are a lot of ways to get your positioning dialed in, but here's one way to get it in the ballpark. Turn one hand over and place it near the rim of the drum. Use your other hand to flick the drum head (or use a stick). As you hit the drum head, move your other hand around and you'll feel the hair on the back of your hand vibrate. The place where the “tickling” sensation is the strongest is a good starting point for the mic.
Sometimes you'll want the mic low and near the heads. Other times, it will sound better with them off the heads just a bit. Always listen first, then adjust. Once you get it sounding good with no EQ, compression or gating, you have a good starting point for great sound. This takes a while if you're doing it yourself, so it's good to have someone else help.
There are plenty of ways to position a high-hat mic, but lately I've found myself swinging a boom mic stand over the center of the cymbal and pointing the mic toward the outside rim, away from the snare. This takes advantage of the natural null in the cardioid pattern of the mic to reduce the snare spill into the high-hat mic. I prefer the sound of this position, but many people like to come in from the outside and get more of the open/close action of the hat. Use what works well for you. Or try something different.
Many times, you don't really need overhead mics. If you have a smaller (or really live) room, you may have too much cymbals already. But if not, there are two basic approaches here. One is to take one or two condenser mics and position them a few feet above the kit, on the left and right sides. These act as “whole kit” mics and will pick up all the drums as well as the cymbals. This technique can add some overall sparkle to the whole kit, although you may have to delay your close mics to keep phasing issues to a minimum.
Another approach is to use dynamic mics with a tighter pattern and use them more as cymbal mics. I've been doing this lately and really liking the results. By minimizing interaction between the drums (mainly the snare) and the cymbal mics, phasing is reduced—and I find the whole kit sounds tighter. But this is not a right/wrong thing; take the approach that works best for you in your room.
Don't Get Stuck in a Rut
Sometimes, we get so used to using the same mics on something we never consider what would happen if we change them out. Or we just use whatever the last guy was using on a given instrument, without questioning if that's the best approach or not. A great example of this is our Hammond Organ. We have a B3 connected to a Leslie 112 cabinet (the classic combination). We had been using two very expensive, variable-pattern condenser mics on the top speaker, and another mic usually for toms on the bottom rotor. It was what we had and it worked OK.
Then I got to talking with a B3 playing legend and he suggested changing it up a bit. So I packed up almost $2,000 worth of condenser mics and replaced them with about $500 worth of dynamic mics, and swapped the bottom mic out with one normally used on a kick. He suggested positioning the top mics 90 degrees to each other and flipping one of them out of polarity.
The first weekend we tried that, without telling our B3 player what I had done (and it's his B3, so he knows what it should sound like), he started playing and almost immediately pulled out his ears and asked, “What did you do to the B3; it sounds so much better!” He suggested we move the lower mic back a few inches to smooth it out—which we did—and it now sounds fantastic.
I've had similar experiences with electric guitar cabinets. Simply trying a different mic, or moving either closer or further from the center of the speaker will dramatically change the sound. Don't be afraid to put two different mics on a guitar cabinet and mix the two (or use one or the other depending on the song). Our job as sound techs is to find the combination that sounds the best. That often takes experimentation and the willingness to try something new.
What I've found is that getting the right mic—properly matched to the source—in the right position will dramatically improve your sound. You'll know you're on the right track when you are using less EQ and fewer plug-ins to get the sound you want.
Finding the Right Mic
Finding the right mic is often a matter of trial and error. However, it's helpful to ask what other engineers are using, and find out how they are using them. Talk with your dealer and see what options are out there for a given instrument. And if you buy a mic that doesn't end up working for the purpose you intended, try it on something else. A friend of mine is using a mic marketed as a tom mic on his guitar cabinets with great results.
Ultimately, we have to remember we are in the sound reinforcement business. We take what's on the stage and make it louder. Getting great sound starts with a great sounding source. Work with your band to get that part right first. Then choose the right mic, get it in the right spot, and listen to your mix improve.
