How to Get a Great Drum Recording - 3 Classic Decca inspired methods

This is a more in-depth video of 3 different GREAT mic setups for recording drums - this version goes in to a little more detail with more supporting footage from the drum recording day to hopefully give a little more insight in to how we record our features :-)
To get the original audio files to play with visit the page: www.recordproduction.com/drum-...
Special thanks to Clint Murphy and Mike Exeter for their effort and to Mike Thorne of Rimshot Studios for the use of his studio and awesome mic and equipment selection - including the Tube Decca Desk!
Click here to subscribe
kzbin.info_c...
Visit www.RecordProduction.com for 500 more producer and studio features.

[@billygaru]

this is one of the most realistic "tutorial videos" I've seen, the chaos in the middle is exactly what happens in reality when you are trying things out... kudos for not removing that part.

[@rockboy360]

Great drums + great drummer + amazing room + Holy grail console + holy grail mics What could go wrong? Amazing sound :)

[@NoahPageReviews]

use what you've got laying around "points to vintage u47"

[@antigen4]

well it IS a pretty standard studio mic ... just saying

[@TheZguitarboy67]

well it IS a $10,000 mic

[@JacksonTaylorandTheSinners]

Ya I love the two AEA 44’s just laying about. Lol. Beautiful mics.

-If only it was just a bit more stereo. -Have you tried panning it!? *turns to desk in excitement* 😂😂 3:02

[@steveg219]

This is great- most striking part is how vastly different they sound with same drums, drummer and room!

[@RecordProduction]

Thanks for your comment Steve. Give us a week and the audio files will be embedded in to the page on RecordProduction.com so that you can have a play around with them, the mixes and the individual mics will be there :)

[@losingitrush]

I just got onto KZbin to look for a video just like this and what you said around the 1:08 is exactly what I had been wondering about! Thank you very much. Gonna try condenser and sm57 combos.

[@TimGreenGuitar]

That's a great video! lots of people showing lots of love in getting drums to sound their best. Out of the three methods I think I prefer the Decca Tree with tom mics.

[@AllenLind]

Really cool watching all you guys enjoying doing what you're doing! great sounds too

[@yonatanpandelaki]

Very cool. It's actually my favorite miking method. It's basically Recorderman plus a mono room mic. I record drums in a tiny booth. But with this method i can make it sound huge. I also like to turn the mono room mike to the wall of the booth to make it even sound bigger.

[@DrumTeacherManila]

this video is so raw, I love it ... nice sound btw

[@DannyJamesGuitar]

Great vid, thanks. My personal favourite was the first method in mono.

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

So what you guys might not realize (and I’m going to point it out so that you are very clear and aware) is that you are a great group of friends and colleagues working together! I say that because I am in my own studio, I am the musician, the mix engineer, the producer, cheerleader, coffee maker, you get the point. I’m not complaining at all because I love making music and producing songs, but if I had three or four guys working on projects OMG! Cheers, thanks for the tips, and keep rocking with your buds.

[@jhardycarroll]

I favor a close mic on the bass drum and snare (top and bottom on the snare) and then a mid/side configuration of a condenser and ribbon overhead. It gives you a nice balance.

[@kennyRumbles]

After procrastinating on a new pair of tom mics I've just bought two D112's on the back of this vid...I already have one on the kick ...never occurred to me to take this route ...fingers crossed they deliver !

[@RecordProduction]

Good luck! Please get back with an update. We could always come over and do a mini feature :-)

[@dkazantsev]

I pretty like the first mono mix. It sounds old schoolish to me.

[@paulbangash4317]

Liking this 👍

[@End-Putler4eva]

The first drum sounds were best in my opinion. I've been a drummer since 1981 and love a more snappier ring to my snare. The other snare sounds were dulled down and sounded more like a cardboard box.

[@MrDaveFerrier]

great drummer, the ol Purdie shuffle!!

[@garrykingmusic]

I know its a little old now but great little session guys

[@TheAlexHJrShow]

audio files havent been uploaded :(

[@TiqueO6]

seems like maybe the 1st set up (mono mix) would have had fuller tom sound if the kick mic was lower to the ground (the upper mic should have been able to catch the toms well - 44's are quite rich in the lows. Maybe the kick and overhead were fighting each other phase wise in the mid ranges?

[@TiqueO6]

combining condenser mics with ribbons is tricky, best stay with one or the other type, condensers exaggerated high end will mask out the more delicate (natural) high end of ribbons and then there's shapleyness of the ribbon sound which is so desirable if you know how to get it.

[@jermainelong1843]

Nice Purdie / Bonham type shuffle there.

[@davethompson1352]

when he starts doing the four on the floor straight bit, its obvious it was rosanna. basically bonham purdie, as you said.

[@henrikpetersson3463]

The first one sounds better on its own, but depending on the mix the second one might be a better pick. Didn't like the last one to be honest, would rather go with a three mic setup for the money.

[@auditivoec3411]

cool!!

[@jamesadams7131]

What Mapex kit is that?

[@samuelwittke511]

Is he related to legendary Shawn Murphy? Wow...that would be great!

[@hufstetermedina8023]

I'm just using a U47.... (so casual like we all have one sitting around in case we run out of 50 yr old RCA ribbon mics)

[@RecordProduction]

If only! But, we then went on to mic the kit using super cheap mic's to show how pretty much the same setup with different mic's compares.

[@ricksalt6860]

the horizontal hung ribbon mic , does that not change the character of it as the ribbon hangs slightly out of it's magnetic focus .

[@peterbull3955]

Rick Salt interesting!

[@niekdriesschen3376]

jep

[@shawntaylor9509]

How do you guys use compression to "pull sound out of the room"?

[@samuelfleisher]

compression lowers the dynamic range. so quieter sounds (in this case the room resonances) become louder with compression.

[@inset09]

There is a low frequency going on when you are talking circa 2 minutes and it really bothers when using headphones. Also great video.

[@drumstudio2000]

It is just me or is it somrthing weird with bass drum in last seconds on the video? Nice tutorial tough

[@youthmanrecords965]

The good ol Purdy shuffle.

[@deetgeluid]

This has nothing to do with a Decca tree. More like Glyn Johns. I'd place the front mic a little further away. What pre's did U use?

[@ZacharyRedFulton]

deetgeluid The Decca Tree and Glyn Johns methods are actually both very similar -- the only slight difference is that the Glyn Johns method uses only the top and side mics, and the Decca Tree method adds the front mic to this same setup as seen in this video. And typically, the Decca Tree mics all stay placed in mono in the mix and were not typically panned as opposed to the Glyn Johns method, but this is not really written in stone. Personally, I would pan the side and top mics left and right and just leave the front mic in mono.

[@ericchristensen2389]

This is not decca tree at all

[@NovelMeetsEvilPodcast]

“Inspired by the Decca tree” would work.

[@monoplectronic2010]

First setup had a vibe, a bit sleepy maybe but whatever, vibe is king. Second setup shot straight into the 90's and got real stock real fast. Third setup was about as generic as it gets. If you want vibe on drums, less is generally more to my ears. Disclaimer: I am no one, and I know nothing.

[@billyhughes9776]

I watched this to get some inspiration,...then saw all the amazing high end gear -- now I'm just bummed. Lol.....

[@andycrystal]

8:20 I could recognize that lousy Kickport rattling from a 100-mile distance. Worst add-on ever for kicks.

[@NickHolum]

Wish I had u47s lying around lol

[@waynebaker2452]

Wow. We really got away from that 3 mic setup.

[@cherrycasino9923]

Actually the drums sounded quite cool up until the bearded guy broke in. Still, the Decca-Tree arrangement is not about "surrounding" a sound source, it´s about placing three microphones "in front" of something in order to create a somewhat binaural sound picture with center, left and right. The glory of the Decca tree is ambience, and ambience is sound.

[@conorm2524]

Yeah, that was a bit like "who put this guy in charge?"

[@cherrycasino9923]

@@conorm2524 Oh yeah! The beard gone crazy, I mean really... This cat is a blizzard, tornado and flood rolled into one.

[@mikeexeter]

@@cherrycasino9923 there’s a difference between drums sounding “good” on their own and needing to fit in with other instruments in a mix. This is why I have a particular distaste for flooding youtube with Drum recording videos. You approach things totally differently when you take the entire band into account and this should always be demonstrated with audio examples in context

[@silvercrowflysilver1662]

Верх какой приятный! Даже через все Мр3 и хреновые компьютерные колонки слышно!

[@davecurle7193]

Mainly the D12s then...

[@danield2000]

Not even close to a Decca Tree. No.1 is Glyn Johns' mic technique. Decca Tree is 3 x Omnis spaced on the same plane. Great sound though.

[@divanola]

did they lose Andy Johns' number or something?

[@HR2635]

"pretty normal large diaphragm mics"... D12!!... yeah right.. lol ;-)

[@moritzschiekel2272]

thats not Decca tree

[@davecurle7193]

Yeah that's not a Decca tree ffs . It's recorderman/ glyn John's