How to Mic a Snare Drum - With Demos of Close, Overhead and Room Microphones

Recording snare drum can be one of the most important elements of a great drum sound, and knowing how to mic a snare with a few tips can help save a lot of time.
In this episode, I give a few insights on how I have achieved a great sounding snare drum, using easy to measure methods to place microphones on the drum, and some tips on how to point the microphone.
We cover much more than placing two microphones on the drum, but also give three audio examples of how each of the microphones contribute to the overall sound.
We listen to the top and bottom snare mic individually, and then together. Then we listen to how the overhead microphone contributes to the sound, and then finally the room microphones.
Harmonics and proximity effect is also covered in the episode, and how to best tune the sound so that you can use less corrective EQ during mixing.
It was a lot of fun to record this episode, and I'll be hanging out in the comments below for questions.
Come find me on:
Website: www.creativesou...
Facebook: / creativesoundlab
Instagram: / creative_sound_lab
Twitter: / ryanearnhardt

[@BeatsAndMeats]

I live how Ryan sounds like the nicest hippie guy in your neighborhood

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

David Velez - If being a hippie is actually a compliment when looking back on why the movement was inserted into society at the time ;-) ... Anyway, relaxed, chilled out and non pretentious are the words to describe it for me ;-) Really great teaching material and style Ryan! Tip to the edge of my hat!

[@md4man]

This is one of the few areas I feel comfortable with in my own recording efforts but I watched this video because I always like how you present things. I just wanted to let you know that you did a great job explaining this in a very thorough yet easy to follow way. Nice job!

[@creativesoundlab]

+md4man Thanks man, that was really thoughtful. I really appreciate that.

[@andreeusebio7756]

Flip the polarity, wow, someone actualy gets it. THANKS!

[@guidoguidi2816]

The explanation on proximity effect was beautiful. Thanks for that

[@creativesoundlab]

+Guido Guidi Thanks, it's a trick topic to try to explain.

[@geoffh8077]

The guitar pickup explanation for where to point the mic was great, I never thought of it that way but it makes so much sense. Question: I often use the i5 on top instead of a 57 as well, I have my reasons, and I was wondering what yours are?

[@scordatura5006]

What are your reasons? Never liked the i5 on top.

[@pogchamp7983]

0:12 "ok we're here at the snare drum" idk why that made me laugh so much instant fan 😂

[@niteshademusic5262]

i personally use 3 fingers lol

[@snyshieboo]

niteshade music you lil nasty

[@CSharpBeats]

why not measure it with your whole fist?

[@TrudyDD]

Hi, do you align close and room mics to the overhead mics in the DAW or you only check the polarity between them?

[@creativesoundlab]

+Davide Donvito Yeah, I only flip the polarity of the overheads and room mics in comparison with the close mics. I check everything bascially. For this example, I found that each mic, even the room mics, had a change in the fullness of the sound. I never move the tracks, I just go with the polarity configuration that sounds the fullest.

[@thinkofparis]

Ryan, at 8:25 there is a large black cylinder in the room. What is that? Is that a moonshine still? LOL

[@brinepacer]

This was a great video, thanks for sharing man.

[@creativesoundlab]

Thanks man!

[@brinepacer]

You're welcome! I've been digging into the rest of your videos on the channel. LOVE IT.

[@cyraobatera]

Hey Ryan, first, thank you so much for sharing all these info man, you are a star, that has helping me so much in this crazy corona times!! I don´t even own any mics but I am gathering all these info for when the times get better and I can afford buying stuff again! Just wanted to ask if you use the same miking approach for brushes, and also, in a situation when you go back and forth between brushes and stick in the same song. Hope you are well!!

[@Dettol68]

Really good video!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Just found your channel. Really great stuff. Forgive me if you've already covered it (not looked through all your videos yet), but I'd love to see a video on tuning drums for recording and getting unwanted ringing and resonances out of a kit.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Alex Ball (Composer) Yeah, still have yet to cover that. I will though.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Ace. Will look out for it.

[@ClaudioOderich]

Nice video, Ryan!

[@N617A]

Hmmm... you know what I’d do? I’d switch those mics... because the sure sm57 is actually a brighter mic than the i5. The i5 is... believe it or not from what I’ve found... it’s actually quite dark. So I’d flip those 2 if it were me. Less EQ too.

[@CryptoBlackSheep]

Thanks again Ryan...

[@creativesoundlab]

+Christopher Mason Sure!

[@yahelfelipe]

distance from OH to snare? any rule?

[@jebmcgovern3744]

Good one. This should help folks out.... How tall are your ceilings?

[@creativesoundlab]

+Jeb McGovern 12 Feet

[@Napalm93]

if you were limited to miking one side of the snare, should I go with the top or the bottom? I've heard conflicting opinions on this and even heard some folks say the like to mic the side of the snare.

[@Zarabozo]

Have you ever seen videos of people micking a whole drumset with a single mic? You need to find balance. Get away to get more of the whole image, get close to get specific characteristics, point to different areas to change that balance. The whole point here will be to learn to use your ears and learn how the microphone reacts. You can definitely get a good snare sound with a single microphone with some effort and experimentation. Just not as surgically balanced as when you have top, bottom, overheads and rooms together and independently processable.

[@proutsos]

perfect!

[@Eurodrummer666]

Is it necessary to have the 2 mics positioned the same angle, and equally placed around the snare? (the 2 mics here are positioned near the same snare lug)

[@creativesoundlab]

Nope. I used to think that, but the bottom mic can be at a different distance. Just try stuff and flip polarity to check if it works.

[@beatarcheologzt]

great content bro thx. does the same apply to live. also how should I mic a kits in a small cathedral setting. I mix live house of worship in a steep ceiling cathedral room that has a ton of reflections

[@creativesoundlab]

+No Filler Words Productions Mixing live in a very live room is totally different. You at least have some extra sound besides whats given by the mics. This technique is to replicate a natural sound (Like what you are doing), but do it for the studio. Live sound engineers will often have mics closer to the drums (1 Fingers width) while in the studio I like to do two or three fingers width.

[@beatarcheologzt]

Ah that's perfect. Thx. I've been micing live with a one inch rule. Thx for clearing that up

[@DaveSpinnler]

Hey Ryan Could you turn down your speech a bit? The volume difference between speech and sound examples is often pretty big...as i listen to these vids on headphones i always find myself changing volumes drastically...😉

[@creativesoundlab]

+David Spinnler Yeah, it's all the same, and sometimes the music is louder. The reason it sounds softer is I'm not going to process the demo part with compression and the average volume is less than the speech. I agree with you though, and sometimes I actually ramp up the speech after an example.

[@joelonsdale]

Seems okay to me!

[@ageofprevolution]

Is audio recording no artform anymore? :\

[@creativesoundlab]

+Ageofprevolution Just experimenting with speeding up the videos, but I have a feeling that's not the problem.

[@greagandev]

on your r88, is it in mono or stereo for the room mic application?

[@creativesoundlab]

Stereo!

[@greagandev]

creativesoundlab awesome. thank you.

[@Eurodrummer666]

By the way, is your room mic mono or stereo?

[@creativesoundlab]

It would have been stereo.

[@michaelanewman]

What's the name of the mic holders you are using for the overheads? This would free up one of my stands for other purposes.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Michael Newman www.rode.com/accessories/sb20

[@michaelanewman]

creativesoundlab - thank you! really digging your channel. I'm putting together a little home studio for personal use and your videos are very relevant and filled with great info.

[@creativesoundlab]

+Michael Newman Thanks man, I'm really glad to have you here! Let me know if you have any episode ideas or topics you want covered.

[@michaelanewman]

creativesoundlab - I see you do song critiques on your website. I may be doing that with you for a song I just put together. I would also love to get your feedback on my current workflow/equipment to see if I'm missing a piece of gear that could really help or if there is something I could be doing differently to maximize what I already have in place.

[@texxhexxmm]

GREAT FUCKIN' CHANNEL !! ⚠️👍👍

[@jacksontylervfx]

What is your typical signal chain from these mics to the DAW? I usually plug my mics straight into my interface, which goes to effects plugins in my DAW, but I just got my hands on some rack compressors and EQs. Whats the best way to set these up for drum mics?

[@creativesoundlab]

+Jackson Tyler All of those compressors and EQs will accept line level, so you are going to need the preamp first, and then after that, you can record the signal, or pass it through the compressor and EQ, or record it and use an output of your interface to pass it through your compressors and EQ and then record the line level back in. My signal chain is usually going into the preamp, then a compressor, then the digital interface. I'll have a video on it tomorrow about how the signal flows.

[@jebmcgovern3744]

+Jackson Tyler If you are just starting out I would recommend not eq-ing by yourself, assuming your recording alone. at least not on the way in. maybe a lil high pass. and for compression low ratio. like 2 to 1 med slow attack and a fast release. But that is something you need to dial in and again, if your recording yourself, I would do it post. You are only looking for like 2 db of comp initially. I know it is fun watching that needle jump but, trust me for now. also, once you start recording you will probably be hitting the drum louder than when you set up. Honestly, the best thing it sounds like you could do would get some good mic. pres. something like warm audio, Dizengeoff, GAP CAPI etc. thats your front end and a good place to start

[@creativesoundlab]

+Jeb McGovern Agreed. Slipperman talked about compressing during recording because he wanted to hit the tape hard. I honestly do very little in the front end, as that's it how I got started. All the sound is the mic and pre.

[@RWQMUZK]

no transformers in your 57's???? explain! lol

[@creativesoundlab]

+Myron Cherry Yeah, I took them out. Here's a shoot out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIqtYZ6BpLKfobc