La Bête Blooms Drum Microphone Techniques (Snare)

According to Tingen (2005) Steve Albini's favourite snare microphones are listed as;

• Altec 175 (top)
• Sony C37p (top) 
• Shure SM98 (bottom)
• Altec 165/175 (bottom) 

It also states that he only occasionally mikes the bottom of the snare, so my main focus will be on my microphone choices and placement for the top. Neither the Altec 175 or Sony C37p are available choices to me, so I felt it was necessary to review the choices that are available, as well as informing choices based on the choices of the aforementioned producers Tony Visconti and Glen Kolotkin. 

I found the following source http://www.coutant.org/sonyc37p/ (Coutant, 2000) with information regarding the Sony C-37P with useful specs such as the frequency response and polar pattern information. Based on appearance alone, I decided to compare this microphone to the AKG C3000 AKG C3000, a large diaphragm condenser microphone available to me at the college by reviewing the following source http://www.akg.com/pro/p/c3000-b (AKG, 2016) . Below are images of the two microphones frequency responses.

Sony C37P 

AKG C3000B

The Sony C37P has a relatively flat frequency response which tails off towards the high end at around 4kHz when placed at 90 degrees. The AKG C3000b however has a slight dip around 2kHz but promotes high end frequencies around 5kHz. This may be an issue as a lot of important frequencies given off by the snare occupy the high-mid range where there is a slight dip.

I recall in Stackpole (2013) that Steve Albini sometimes uses two microphones when recording the tops of the snare drum, one dynamic and one condenser. After taking this into consideration I wondered If I could perhaps use a dynamic microphone to make up for what is lost in the frequency spectrum when recording with the AKG C3000B.

Referring back to Senior (2008) and Buskin (2003) as well as my own empirical knowledge I have decided that I will use the Shure SM57 to record the top of the snare as well as the AKG C3000B. Below I have included the frequency response chart for the SM57, which has a flat frequency response around 1kHz-2kHz, much like the Sony C37P, making up for the frequencies lost by using the AKG C3000B.   

  

     

   

La Bête Blooms Drum Microphone Techniques (Kick)

As for recording drums, I have based my techniques on the practices of Steve Albini. In order to do this, I have decided that it will be beneficial to research what microphones he uses, as well as any specific techniques and try to faithfully recreate the techniques using microphones available to me at Hull College.

In the aforementioned Sound on Sound  article (Tingen, 2005) is a brief run-down of his favourite drum microphones. I have also found the following article (Stackpole, 2013) which briefly discusses some of the approaches he takes to drum recording; http://www.drummagazine.com/plugged-in/post/studio-tip-drum-miking-top-to-bottom/ 

In the Sound on Sound microphone breakdown, his favourite kick drum microphones are listed as the AKG D112, EV RE20 and the Beyer M380. Out of these three choices I have either the AKG D112 or the EV RE20 available to me. I have used the D112 numerous times on a kick drum so I decided to research the EV RE20s applications when recording the kick drum, which lead me to another useful Sound on Sound article (Senior, 2008) on Kick and Snare drum recording http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/kickandsnare.htm.

After reading the article, it is evident the EV RE20 has been used by several producers such as Glen Kolotkin according to Buskin (2000) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun00/articles/glen.htm  (section 'Mic Matters' paragraph two), and Jim Scott, according to Tingen (1999) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/articles/jim.htm (section 'Get it Whilst it's Hot' paragraph two) as a kick drum microphone. Senior (2008) also suggests that some producers opt for using a combination of the EV RE20 and AKG D112 when recording kick drums as the RE-20. Tony Visconti used this technique on the recording of David Bowie's 'Reality' according to Buskin (2003) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct03/articles/reality.htm. He states;

There was a D12 on the kick, together with an RE20 placed just inside the skin near the beater for more attack, and I routed both of these to one channel and mixed them together... I hate microphone stands because they just get in the way and reflect sound, and so I try to avoid them as much as possible. In fact, I even put the D12 inside the kick, resting on a pillow, whereas I did have to put the RE20 on a stand so that I could aim it directly at the beater. Visconti Cited in Buskin (2003)

Based on this research, I will mike up the kick drum using both the D112 and the RE20. As both the microphones are favoured by Steve Albini and have been used together by producers such as Tony Visconti to capture both the low end and the attack of the beater of the bass drum.