"Small" sound wanted...

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I'm looking foward to record a drumkit and I want to record it "small". I
mean having kick and snare sounding small and stopped on the speakers, like
the old ?60 recordings (beatles?).
The problem is that when I put a microphone in front of a kick it sounds
really big in my speakers... Am I missing something?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

plokmichael wrote:
> I'm looking foward to record a drumkit and I want to record it "small". I
> mean having kick and snare sounding small and stopped on the speakers, like
> the old ?60 recordings (beatles?).
> The problem is that when I put a microphone in front of a kick it sounds
> really big in my speakers... Am I missing something?
>
> Thanks for your suggestions.
>
>

Use only one mic.

Try a good quality omni along side the snare, closer to
the rack tom than the hihat. Move it around until you
find a spot that works. We use an Altec M20 like this
and it's remarkable how much rack tom and bass drum it
picks up. This is how Cosimo Matassa recorded some of
those great 50's - 60's New Orleans hits. Have the
drummer listen to a test recording and adapt his
dynamics to what he's hearing. ie: if the rack tom's too
soft, then hit it harder, etc. Use as few cymbals as
possible.

or... try a LD condenser (U87, etc) about 3-4 feet out
in front of the kit, about 3 feet off the ground, off
center towards the snare side a bit. Again, keep moving
it around until you find the sweet spot.
--
--
John Noll
Retromedia Sound Studios
Red Bank, NJ

jn145_deletethisfirst_@verizon.net

http://www.retromedia.net

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Will this technique help me to get, for example, the earlier Neil Young
albums drum sound too?


"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news721dj$ao5$1@panix2.panix.com...
> plokmichael <plokmichaelNOSPAM@tiscali.it> wrote:
>>I'm looking foward to record a drumkit and I want to record it "small". I
>>mean having kick and snare sounding small and stopped on the speakers,
>>like
>>the old ?60 recordings (beatles?).
>>The problem is that when I put a microphone in front of a kick it sounds
>>really big in my speakers... Am I missing something?
>
> Get a room that is small and boxy-sounding, and pull the mikes back as far
> as possible.
>
> You might be able to fake this sort of thing by close-miking everything,
> and
> then using a reverb with an extremely short decay time. The "small and
> boxy"
> sound comes from short reflections that come right after the main impulse,
> and you can do that with a reverb box.
>
> THEN cut off the low end completely. This will make your kick drum go
> away if you aren't careful, but there are tricks you can use to get more
> harmonics on the kick, like overloading the mike preamps or using an
> intercom speaker as a kick drum mike, so you'll still be able to hear
> the kick even with the low end eliminated.
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

My thought was to try putting the mic in something like a shoebox or a
fedex mailer tube... ?!?! :-)