JA: Thinking about drum tone, I think there are two important elements. One is “what does the drum actually sound like?” I was at a show a while back and a friend said “Wow, that floor tom sounds amazing, and I have that same mic! So I can get that sound, right?” I replied, “Well, you need the drum.” So again, we’re first and foremost reinforcing what’s there. As a drummer, you’re setting up and tuning your kit to get the sound the way you want it, and we’re just amplifying that.
The other important element is “what should the drum sound like?” If you mix the kick drum the same way at a rock concert and a jazz concert and a funk concert, you’re doing something wrong. What are the sonic expectations of the genre? What is the drummer doing to achieve a sound? And what are we doing as engineers to assist with that?
TF: Being a drummer myself, and having been on both sides of the kit, I take the responsibility of making sure that my drums sound great for the genre, and take pride in the fact that I know how to help the engineer and make his job a bit easier. A good drum helps, but I’ve played several budget-line kits that can sound great in the house with the right mics, a little extra effort tuning, and maybe some help on the mixing end of things, and some good heads, top and bottom.
Let’s talk about a rock kit in a live setting. Sonically, I’m going for the biggest and most chest-pounding sound that I can possibly get. Let’s break it down to each piece of the kit.
If I’m playing a rock gig, I like to tune my kick big and deep, but still punchy. In order to reinforce it accurately through the system, I prefer to see two mics. If I have to narrow it down to personal preference, I love a (Shure) BETA 91a inside the kick to pick up some attack from the beater, and a BETA 52a for the outside to get that “kick you in the chest” low end through the subs.
Two mics aren’t a necessity, but it’s a big personal preference for me. Especially when I’m playing. I’m almost always on an in-ear monitor (IEM) mix. Having the 91 inside the kick helps me to hear the top end attack of the beater hitting the drum head, and helps my mix not seem so muddy and distracting. Again, I believe our number one job as sound engineers is to make sure our performers are comfortable, and that’s a big one for me when I’m on IEMs.
For snare, I like a deeper drum, tuned medium-high with plenty of snap. The deep drum gives it some body, and the snap gives it the pop I desire. For mics, I love a top and bottom combination. A simple SM57 on top, and a small diaphragm condenser mic, like the SM81 on bottom, seem to do the trick for me. Take some of the “boxiness” away from both mics, say 300 to 450 Hz, pair it with a high-pass filter, and you’re off to a good start.
For toms, I don’t have a preference on the drum, or the sizes, really. When tuning, I like them low and punchy with plenty of tone. Side note: I’m really glad the days of open-sounding toms in rock music seem to be over!
I’m less picky about the mic, too, as long as it’s out of the way. I love an MD421 on rack toms but it’s so big and bulky that often times it’s in the way of the drummer. I find a BETA 98 to be just about perfect. It’s small, the clip and mic will never be in the way, and it picks up a great and accurate sound from the drum. It also rejects a lot of cymbal bleed when placed in the right spot. This is huge when you start mixing and gating, especially sending the signal to IEM mixes.
Again, slap on an EQ to take out some boxiness and throw a high-pass on it, and you’re in a good starting spot. A well-tuned drum shouldn’t need too much more work.
The same rules apply for a floor tom. A BETA 98 will certainly do the job, but if I had my choice, I’d throw an Audix D6 on it any day of the week. It’s a lot bigger than the 98, but on the floor tom I rarely, if ever, find it to be in the way. It seems to really pick up some awesome low end from the drum, especially a 14-inch tom that sometimes needs a little extra work to bring the boom.
For overheads and hi-hat, I’m not very picky either. But it will always depend on the room. In a smaller room, I love small-diaphragm condensers like the SM81 for overheads and hi-hats, but placed underneath the cymbals. I dig this sound because overheads are often glorified room mics that pick up a lot of the overall kit sound. In a smaller room, we’re hearing the acoustic sound of the kit in the room anyways, so why amplify and compete with that? Thinking in terms of reinforcement and amplification, underheads make sense because the microphone is pointing directly at the cymbals instead of directly down at the drum kit as a whole.
In a larger room or outdoor venue, I’m cool with a couple of large diaphragm condenser microphones like the Shure KSM44a. We’re not so much competing with the sound of the acoustic drums in the room, so a simple high-pass and some low-mid scoops should clean up the sound enough to put their focus on picking up the cymbals.
All of this is void if the drums sound bad. If you’re not a drummer, I’d strongly suggest learning the anatomy of drums. I’m never angry if an engineer asks me to do something about the sound of a drum, and I rarely hesitate to politely mention or suggest something if I’m mixing a show.
Of course, those are just my preferences as far as microphone choice goes. Everybody has theirs, and there’s no right or wrong answer in this category if it the drum sounds good and the performer is happy!
Editor’s note: This article is part of a collection of drum-related articles from the June 2018 issue of Live Sound International. Read the rest of the stories here.
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