In this, the third part of this new series (you can find Part 1 here and part 2 here) James Ivey of Production Expert and Dax Liniere of Puzzle Factory Sound Studios talk about the next stage of getting ready to record, choosing the microphones and mic preamps.
Dax and James start out by showing you the mics that Dax would normally pull out of the locker for a drum recording session. There are some familiar brands and models in the selection but some of the usual suspects are missing and have been replaced with some interesting alternatives.
Starting with an AKG D12VR in the kick and an Audio Technica AT4047 outside Dax explains the reasons for his choices and explains some of the characteristics of the mics that he likes and why he for example uses an Audix i5 on the snare top in place of the much more common Shure SM57.
Dax then moves on to his mic preamp choices. Puzzle Factory has a large selection of mic pres all with different character and tone and some are from brands you may not have heard of. James and Dax talk about some of the attributes they look for in a great mic pre and how matching the right pre to the right mic to the right drum and give the entire recording a glued together cohesion, making it sound like one drum kit not a selection of different part thrown together.