AP TOUR- Special Edition!
04/15/08 | by harfordsound
And the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the speical, behind the scenes edition. Today will be part one of the special. Ill be covering the different mics that I use and how I position them on the drums.
First up, the drums:
From far away it doesnt look like much, but lets take a closer look.
First up, the kick:
Pretty simple here. I just use a Shure SM91 sitting on a pillow inside the drum. It gives me the sound I want and keeps the front of the drum looking clean. I started the tour using an Audix D6 with the 91, but later ditched the D6 for just the SM91. The SM91 gets the job done just fine by itself and saves me a channel on the console.
Next up is snare. On top I have a Shure Beta 57:
It’s 2″ above the rim and pointed at the center of the drum. This avoids picking up the ring of the drum and gives me a nice tone from the drum. I only compress top snare, never gate it.
But wait, theres more:
Ive also got a Shure SM57 on a D-claw for bottom snare. This is what gives me the snap of the snare. Its about 2″ from the bottom head and normally right below the snares(someone turned the snare before I took the pic…) The combination of the 2 mics gives me a great tone needing almost no EQ all of the time.
Next up on drums is the hi hat. I forgot to get a picture of it, but all I do is take a Shure SM81 4″ above the hat pointed 3″ in on the hat. Sounds great.
Next is the rack tom:
I use an Audix D2 pointed toward the center. It sounds good on its own and requires no gating and little EQ.
Finally on drums, the floor tom:
I love a huge floor tom sound, so this is when the Audix D6 comes into play. It sounds massive on its own and only requires a little EQ to sound good. But, you have to gate this beast or it will get out of control. I have perfected a position that gives me a deep solid tone. The mic is almost parallel to the head and only a quarter of an inch from the head. It creates a winning sound that you have to hear to believe.
And that wraps it up for today’s edition. Next time will be the rest of the band, and some other goodies.
Back to the world of Rock and Roll…
