When asked, “What’s the best mic for recording a [fill in the blank]?” I usually reply with, “What mic do you have? Because that’s the best mic...the one you have now, and can get the job done with.” I tend to avoid dogma in my philosophy of recording.

Sure, some things won’t work, but I believe we learn a lot more through what didn’t work than we do from what did work. So, with that in mind, I decided to try an experiment: How many ways can I record drums at home with only what I have here?

Now, I absolutely love recording drums, and I’m used to recording drums in my studio with 18 foot ceilings, and a collection of mics and preamps that allow for a lot of choices. So, from the start, I knew this would be a little bit of a stretch.

Just losing that extra 10 feet of ceiling height alone was going to be a challenge, not to mention using only what mics I had here. But I also know that many people don’t have the luxury of recording in a commercial space, so this is a good “real world” test. Even more so in these isolated times.

I also wanted to try to cover as many mic techniques as I could with what I had; everything from 1 mic, to as many as I could plug in, so that there was an option for those with even the most modest of setups.

So, for this experiment I rounded up my small collection of home studio mics, and enlisted my 13 year old son as the drummer. We set up his 5-piece Tama kit in a corner of the basement, right next to my vintage Star Wars toys, and proceeded to see what we could get recorded.

My instructions to my son were, “Play a short groove. Hit all the drums and cymbals. Only play a few bars, and then end.”

We did not record to a click, and we were moving fast, not worried about discrepancies in tempo or tiny flubs. That wasn’t what this was about. We were looking to hear the whole kit, and how each mic technique presented the overall drum sound, and what control we had during mixing.

For each technique I document the setup, and provide 2 recordings. One of just the raw tracks, and then a second where I added some basic sculpting to see how usable the recording technique would be in a real production. For the processing, I decided to only use the Brainworx bx_console SSL 9000 J by Plugin Alliance. Partly because it’s my latest toy and I absolutely love what it does for drums, but also because it’s quick to use, and I am a fan of tools that allow me to move quickly.

The Gear

Speaking of the gear, here’s a list of what I have available to me at home right now.

The recording system is Pro Tools (2020.3), running on a 15” MacBook Pro i7 (I still miss my old 17”, but that’s another story). My interface is a Metric Halo MIO 2882 3d, and I’m going to rely solely on the internal preamps in the Metric Halo, which are more than adequate.

For mics, I grabbed what I had lying around, and this is what I ended up with:

• 1 Shure SM7b (top left)

• 3 Shure SM57s (on the left, under the SM7b)

• 3 Audio-Technica AT4050s

• 3 CAD drum mics (top right), one with a broken clip

• 1 Neumann KM184

• 2 Audio-Technica AT4041s

• 1 Tascam PE-125 (the first condenser mic I ever bought, it’s electret, and I don’t know that I have a battery for it)

Rather than deciding ahead of time how and where I want to use each mic, I thought I’d just figure it out as I went along. So let’s get started.

1 Mic: Front Close

For a 1 mic approach I went with a single Audio-Technica AT4050 (cardioid mode, no roll-off, and no pad) placed in front of the kit with the mic positioned where I heard the best balance.

Here’s what that looked like:

And here’s what it sounds like:

Not bad for a single mic capturing a whole kit. It was definitely a little “roomy”. I wondered what I could do to help balance it, so I slapped the SSL 9000J on the track, and began dialing in the sounds. I landed with these settings:

A quick note: The way the routing is set on this plugin has the signal path going:

• Filters (HPF & LPF) → Dynamics (compressor & gate/expander) → EQ → Out

That will be consistent with all the instances on all the tracks.

I didn’t do a lot, as you can see, but it really helped tighten things up. A HPF around 40Hz going into a little 3:1 compression that was topping out at 3-4dB of reduction. That fed into the EQ, a little LF 60Hz boost (with the filter set to bell & not shelf), and a LMF cut somewhere in the 450Hz area to get rid of some mud.

2 Mics: Stereo Overheads

The 2 mic approach required little thought. I went right for the traditional spaced stereo overheads. Again using my AT4050s (cardioid mode, no roll-off, and no pad).

When I place overheads I like to line them up equal-distant with the center of the snare. I do this because the snare is centered in the mix, and this keeps the phase as close to dead-on 0º as possible.

I should mention that I arrange my overheads from the drummer’s perspective. So the overhead left is the hi-hat side, and overhead right is the floor tom side.

Here’s what that looks like:

It may not be super clear from the photo, but the mics are angled to be on axis with the snare.

And here’s what that sounds like:

You instantly get more definition and width by going to 2 mics. They also feel less distant than the single front mic. A little bright, but the Hi-Hat is a Zildjian ZBT, which can be a little on the bright side, anyway.

Once again, I decided to see what kind of sculpting I can achieve and landed on these settings:

Similar to the single mic settings, with a touch more compression. And here’s what it sounded like:

Definitely usable, if not a little bright for my tastes. If I were going to use this setup, I think I would also add a de-esser or active EQ to help tame the cymbals just a bit more.

3 Mics: Not Glyn Johns

Yes, the Glyn Johns technique was the first thing to pop into my mind for a 3 mic setup, too. The problem is, I’ve never had great results with that setup. I attribute that mainly to that fact that I am not Glyn Johns.

I decided, instead, to keep the stereo overheads, and add the front mic from the 1 mic setup. Only this time I set the front mic lower to catch more of the “boom” of the kit, since the overheads were covering the top end nicely. Still using the AT4050s.

The overheads stay the same from the last photo, and the front mic was set up like this:

And that sounded like this:

Again, usable, but a little bright for my tastes. Most of the “boom” is coming from the front mic. So I suspect it would be easier to tame the high end with this setup, than with just the overheads.

Overhead settings:

Here I took the HPF up to around 150-160Hz, since I was letting the front mic handle the low end. I upped the compressor ratio to 4:1, but it’s just barely hitting the meter. I’m not a fan of a lot of compression on overheads, but this little bit helped in this case. And, again, a LMF scoop around 450Hz, which is pretty typical for me on my drum channels.

Front mic settings:

Here I disable the HPF, I liked the extended low end, and kept the compression at 4:1, but nudged the threshold a little to get a little more gain reduction. I was topping out at 6dB of reduction or so. Then I boosted (low shelf) around 60Hz, did a LMF cut around 450Hz, and used the high shelf to cut 2-3dB around 4k.

This feels pretty good to me.

4 Mics: Getting Closer

This is a technique I’ve used on a lot of smaller recordings. I also used this a lot when I was starting out, and didn’t have enough inputs to individually mic a whole kit. What I do is keep the overheads, but close mic the kick and snare top.

I don’t have a D6 (my preferred kick “in” mic) at home, so I grabbed my Shure SM7b for the kick, and the CAD SN210 for the snare (which is, as luck would have it, what the mic was made for).

The benefit now is that I can sculpt the kick and snare better, and get better control of them. Since so much of the drums is kick and snare, this is a great way to get control with minimal input and mic needs.

So, the overheads are the same as before. The snare and kick positioning looks like this:

And it sounds like this:

This is starting to feel closer to what I’d hope for. So I have high hopes for what I can get with a little EQ and compression.

Kick Settings:

• Pretty typical for me in a kick drum is the HPF around 50Hz, and getting a good 5-6dB of gain reduction on the compressor. Then using the low shelf to boost around 60Hz for the thump of the kick. The LMF cut at 450Hz is just to clean up the mush, and the HMF is boosting around 4.5k for the beater attack, giving it some articulation.

Snare (top) settings:

• HPF:around 110Hz

• Compressor: (3:1) for a good 4-6dB of compression.

• LF: set to “Bell” and boost about 2dB around 220Hz for some body/shell tone.

• LMF: 2-3dB cut at 450Hz

• HMF: about a 2dB boost around 3.2k for some snap

• HF: roll-off starting around 10k to leave room for the overheads.

Overheads:

• This one is pretty simple, HPF around 160Hz, no compression, and just a little scoop in the HMF around 2.5k to push the cymbals back just a bit.

And that sounds like this:

5 Mics: Top & Bottom

To get good body and a nice tight snap on the snare, you really need to mic it from above and below. The top mic provides the girth and body, while the under mic gets that snap and all the snare rattle.

My favorite bottom snare mic is the Neumann KM184. Just remember to invert the polarity on your preamp, otherwise it will cause cancellation of the top mic. I always check the bottom mic’s polarity in my session before I start mixing to make sure it’s the inverse of the top. The good news? I did remember to invert the polarity on the preamp.

Here’s what the KM184 setup looks like:

And here’s my complicated scientific method of spacing my snare bottom mic, using a precision tool I carry with me at all times:

Yep, my index finger.

And here’s what this all sounds like:

So let’s do some quick sculpting, and see what we can do with this.

Kick settings:

• HPF: around 50Hz

• Compression: 3:1 ratio, aiming for a max of around 6dB of reduction

• LF: Shelving boost at 60Hz for some thump

• LMF: scooping about maybe -4dB at 450Hz

• HMF: 2-3dB boost around 4.4k for some beater articulation

Snare Top settings:

• HPF: around 110Hz

• Compression: 3:1 ratio, then I brought the threshold down until it “held” the attack, but didn’t bring out anything undesirable. It was around 5-6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: set to “Bell”, and scooping about -2dB at around 230Hz to clear room for the “under” mic.

• LMF: scooping about maybe -4dB at 450Hz.

• HMF: 2-3dB boost around 3.2k or so.

Snare Bottom settings:

• HPF: around 110Hz

• Compressor: 3:1 ratio, again, going for 5-6dB of gain reduction.

• LMF: scoop around 450Hz.

• HMF: around 2dB of boost around 2.4k

• Overheads settings:

• This one is pretty simple:

• HPF: around 160Hz

• LMF: scoop around 450Hz

And here’s what that all sounds like:

8 Mics: Let’s Not Forget Tom(s)

In the studio I like AKG C414s or Sennheiser MD421s on toms. The difference being how “wet” or “dry” I want the toms to be. I have neither of those mic choices at home, but I do have 3 Shure SM57s. So, I think to myself, “They’ll do.”

I position them towards the far end (from the drummer’s perspective) of the rims, angled toward the center of the drum head.

Here’s what that looks like on the rack (high and mid) toms:

And here’s the floor tom:

And, remember that super precise measurement tool I used for spacing my snare bottom mic? They work in pairs for spacing tom mics:

And here’s that this sounds like: [006.wav]

And here are the settings I used to sculpt these tracks:

Kick:

• HPF: around 50Hz.

• Compressor: 3:1, going for 5-6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: shelving boost around 60Hz.

• LMF: scoop around 450Hz

• HMF: +2dB at 4.5k for some beater articulation

Snare Top:

• HPF: around 110Hz

• Compression: 3:1 ratio, around 5-6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: set to “Bell”, and scooping about -2dB at around 230Hz to clear room for the “under” mic.

• LMF: scooping about maybe -4dB at 450Hz.

• HMF: 2-3dB boost around 3.2k or so.

Snare Bottom:

• HPF: around 110Hz

• Compression: 3:1 ratio, and a good 5-6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: set to “Bell”, and scooping about -2dB at around 160Hz.

• LMF: scooping about maybe -4dB at 450Hz.

• HMF: 2-3dB boost around 2.4k or so.

• HF: use the shelving EQ for a 2dB roll-off at around 12k

Floor Tom:

• HPF: at 60Hz

• Compressor: 3:1, with the threshold set to get a good 6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: I found the resonant tone of the floor tom around 83Hz, and boosted it almost 5dB to bring it out.

• LMF: scoop at 450-460Hz.

• HMF: about +2db around 2k for some articulation

• HF: Then a roll-off starting at 7.5k or so.

Mid (medium) Tom:

• HPF: at 110Hz

• Compressor: 3:1, with the threshold set to get a good 6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: I found the resonant tone of the mid tom around 117Hz, and boosted it around 4dB to bring it out.

• LMF: scoop at 450-460Hz.

• HMF: about +2-3db around 2.5k for some articulation

• HF: Then a roll-off starting at 10k or so.

High Tom:

• HPF: at 110Hz

• Compressor: 3:1, with the threshold set to get a good 6dB of gain reduction.

• LF: I found the resonant tone of the high tom around 230Hz, and boosted it around 4dB to bring it out.

• LMF: scoop at 450-460Hz.

• HMF: about -3db around 2.2k, to get rid of some unpleasantness.

• HF: Then a roll-off starting at 10k or so.

Overheads:

• Again, this one is simple:

• HPF: at 160Hz

• HMF: scoop around 450Hz

And here’s what that sounds like:

The Wrap Up

The first thing I will admit is that this exercise made me miss my studio more than ever! Drums in a big room is really just the best way to get a big, tight and articulate drum sound. That said, I was surprised at how well some of these setups worked.

And then, even with minimal processing, I think it proved that these tracks could be finessed, and with some more time (and a sense of direction), could yield some very usable tracks.

I hope you gleaned a few ideas, and feel empowered to go off and conquer recording drums in your home studio.