Hitting things is fun, man, why do you think so many drummers are the chill and/or happy-go-lucky ones in the band? No aggression. They get it out on the kit. 'S been my experience, anyway.
Is the studio dead enough for you to multi-mic that thing? Seems like it would benefit tremendously from a near/far combo, and give you more balancing control, esp. if you mix-n-matched mic types, but I don't know how much rattle, etc. your bookshelves and things put out as a result of Dhol hits.
But of course you're already considering these options. :-)
The studio is plenty dead...I don't know if it's plenty big enough. I far-mic'ed it from across the room and it still sounded like I was inside the drum. That treble head has some crazy-sharp transients. It's like trying to properly mic a machine gun, I swear.
I tried close micing with a 57 but I kept knocking over the mic stand with the dagga. :P I think I need to refine my playing technique a bit first.
I suppose like any drum, miking both heads would help, even if just with a 57 on each end, and then use a room mic for the lower transients, let those bass waveforms develop. Question is, how many analog ins on your MOTU? :-) SUBMIX MY DHOL BITCH!
I've got two mic pres on the 828, which'd be acceptable for 57's and then the SPDIF'ed external pre (good for the omni room mic). So I can run 3 mics simultaneously, or if I've got more preamp channels from somewhere else, I can add 6 more.
(I want a good multichannel pre with ADAT out so I can bridge in 8 channels of preamplification. That'd be dope. I wouldn't ever use all of it, but still.)
Tri-micing is basically what I was trying. Although I was a 57 short so I had a 58 on the bass side. Until I knocked it over.
It sounded surprisingly good with just a single cardioid condenser on the other side of the room, too. Sure, I didn't get much in the way of stereo imaging, but given that this is going to be mixed pretty tight to the center anyway for most purposes that'll work fine (and I won't have to worry about phase too much).
Dhol Foundation does some whack micing stuff in the studio and live. I need to read up on it.
See, I've always found that the pattern on a 58 doesn't lend itself to good drum recording due to bleed, etc., plus they sound brittle. I love 'em live, can't get too much out of 'em in the studio. Granted in this case you didn't have much choice in the matter.
And yeah, a Blumlein pair was gonna be my next suggestion. :-)
I'm actively considering building an actual mic locker. Like, a real big wooden box with dessicants and velvet for holding all the microphones I intend to own someday. I've got this big ol' WWII wooden artillery box that'd work perfectly, with some minor modifications.
I also really like the drum response on the Sennheiser e604 I've got, but that's currently affixed to Elizabeth's dumbek. That'd be my ideal treble head mic, I think. A kick or tom mic would be good for the bass head. But then it raises the question of just how much proximity sound do I really need for this thing?
I did some reading and a lot of folks mount a 57 actually inside the dhol. That seems kind of extreme.
Is the studio dead enough for you to multi-mic that thing? Seems like it would benefit tremendously from a near/far combo, and give you more balancing control, esp. if you mix-n-matched mic types, but I don't know how much rattle, etc. your bookshelves and things put out as a result of Dhol hits.
But of course you're already considering these options. :-)
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I tried close micing with a 57 but I kept knocking over the mic stand with the dagga. :P I think I need to refine my playing technique a bit first.
Reply
I suppose like any drum, miking both heads would help, even if just with a 57 on each end, and then use a room mic for the lower transients, let those bass waveforms develop. Question is, how many analog ins on your MOTU? :-) SUBMIX MY DHOL BITCH!
Reply
(I want a good multichannel pre with ADAT out so I can bridge in 8 channels of preamplification. That'd be dope. I wouldn't ever use all of it, but still.)
Tri-micing is basically what I was trying. Although I was a 57 short so I had a 58 on the bass side. Until I knocked it over.
It sounded surprisingly good with just a single cardioid condenser on the other side of the room, too. Sure, I didn't get much in the way of stereo imaging, but given that this is going to be mixed pretty tight to the center anyway for most purposes that'll work fine (and I won't have to worry about phase too much).
Dhol Foundation does some whack micing stuff in the studio and live. I need to read up on it.
I'd love to try it with a blumlein configuration.
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And yeah, a Blumlein pair was gonna be my next suggestion. :-)
Reply
Someday...someday...
I'm actively considering building an actual mic locker. Like, a real big wooden box with dessicants and velvet for holding all the microphones I intend to own someday. I've got this big ol' WWII wooden artillery box that'd work perfectly, with some minor modifications.
Reply
I did some reading and a lot of folks mount a 57 actually inside the dhol. That seems kind of extreme.
Reply
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