Tuesday, September 15, 2009






Just got home from a great day in the studio. Today we really dug deep into the first song. The drums are sounding stellar and Mark and Billy are playing as soul brothers... I have decided to go technical for tonight's blog. This one is for sound geeks out there and for the people who are curious about how the "magic" is captured.. I am thinking about making every Tuesday "Tech Tuesday" lets kick it off with a list and description of the microphones that we are using to record the drums.. and away we go...

1. Inside the kick drum and about 3" from the beater we
are using an AKG D112 (this mic is used for capturing the beater attack as it hits the drum head. We will use this sound as needed to cut through the mix once the guitars and bass
have been tracked.

2. On the outside of the kick and about 4" from drum head
we are using 2 microphones a Beyer M88 TG (this is nice for that super tight low end punch) and an AKG D30 (This is the microphone that was used to get that huge kick drum sound used on many Led Zeppelin recordings. We call it of course the "Zep Mic".)

3. On the top of the Snare we are using 2 microphones a Shure Sm57( this microphone has been used on almost every rock record ever recorded but we have found that with an AKG 414 EB placed by its side the snare has a bigger sound then usual and yet stays very true to the sound we hear in the room.

4. On the Snare bottom we are using an AKG 414 EB (we use this mic as needed to grab more of the "snare" sound from the drum)

5. The high hats called for a Neuman KM184 ( this microphone gives the hats a warm sound and it doesn't capture that splashy washy sound that drives me crazy)

6. On the floor tom we placed an U47 Fet i (This mic really digs out the super low end of the tom and I love low end :)

7 In front of the drum kit and about 4 feet away is a Telefunken Elam 251 (this particular microphone is very famous it was used by Steely Dan to record a lot of vocal tracks and it also works really great to capture the mid range and low end elements of the drums in the room.)

8. For the high overheads microphones (left and right ) we are using Neuman's KM84 (again they do not capture all that "splashy washy" they are very warm and yet they grab enough of the bite when Mike really attacks the cymbals.)

9. For the tight overhead microphone sitting very close to the kit we are using a stereo Telefunken SM2 (It is just great for the overall drum sound, my guess is that this microphone sounds a lot like what Mike hears from his perspective.)

10. To round things out we are also using a mono overhead microphone an AKG C28 (it captures the hi end of the room and adds a little sparkle magic to the drum sound.

Mike taking a break after a smoking drum take.
Producer, engineer Bjorn Thorsrud enjoying the toys.
Picks for Billy and Mark, this should be enough to get through the song.

Tomorrow I am going to try and post a little video of the studio action. Have a great night and I'll see ya tomorrow. Love, K.B.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had no idea that so many microphones were utilized! That's impressive, and sensible!

It looks like you guys are having a good time.

shay said...

music nerd alert!! :) looks like yall are doing some awesome stuff over there KB! cant wait to hear it.

stumblingthroughlife said...

hey KB, loving the updates. The video idea sounds really really interesting!

merveilleuse said...

drum sounds can cut without being cold or too bright. wish more people realized this. <3

@iammerveilleuse

the goat's head said...

That post was like porn for me.

JOY said...

liking all the techie talk. :) keep it coming. just barely getting into recording techniques in one of my classes so fun to read about!

Jonathan K said...

hey man thanks so much for these updates, its really awesome to peak inside what goes on during recording as it is a little too mysterious when bands record! You'd think they were electing a new Pope or something!

Unknown said...

Thanx! Looking forward to next tuesday!

MonteLDS said...

Nice post KB! so who got the new ATT blackberry? Man i hope it is Billy's. His other blackberry he has been using (the 8300 curve) has seen is no match for the speed and sleekness of that new BB (which i think is a BlackBerry Curve 8900)

ANAT0DIGI said...

why not use a fet 47 with a 10 db pad on the kick?

elizabethmarie said...

Little video?!?! Yes, please!
xo

studiodog said...

In replay to ANAT0DIGI- We started with a D30 and a fet 47 on the kick. Its a big kick drum, 26"... It seemed that with those 2 mics the drum sounded a bit floppy so we went with the D30 and the 88. The D30 wins hands down as far a "Big" goes so we the added the 88 to find thast tight bottom kick action we were missing and put the fet 47 on the floor tom.

Allison Claire said...

Tech Tuesday! Lots of cool stuff that I have no idea what it is but it's totally necessary. :) It's great to know what is involved and how much work it takes to record. I like being a cyber fly on the wall! xo

Soltmen said...

Thanks for the updates but I have to admit that I have no idea what your talking about. I do understand that you are working toward recording what you hear in the studio. I'm excited about the analog recordings, years ago someone interviewed Neil Young and they inquired about his disdain for digital. He said digital was like looking into the forest and seeing only one tone of green.
It sounds like everyone is enjoying the project. I can't wait to hear the new tunes.

Thanks Again
Soltmen

Zage said...

Ok please don't get bored with the blog. It's awesome!

Unknown said...

No Schoeps? :-(

Joseph A. Salinas said...

links don't work on your pics man, can't expand them at all

B. said...

We did a setup real similar to that on my kit for my band's new album (with a few secrets, mind you..) The decision to take the analog route will most certainly lead this project in an exciting direction. here's hoping that the metronomes are left at home, the guitar tones are wild, and the mixes are DIRTY. Baker mixed Zeitgeist cleaner and shinier than Billy's head... i'll be interested in seeing how this one turns out.

Sorrowclouds said...

I don't understand all the technical stuff but I still like reading your updates! Thanks for keeping us posted. I can feel the excitement in the air! :)

Mister X said...

excellent!!!

Unknown said...

KB, next Tuesday can we hear about the mic-pre selection and any rare effects BC is using?

see about using Laughing Tiger Studios in San Rafael, CA if you like WARM rooms. He's got an SSL G there, also.

the goat's head said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
the goat's head said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
the goat's head said...

Kerry-

What kind of mics do you like to use on a bass amp...or do you prefer to go direct with the bass?

monkeyxx said...

great post! do you find you have phase issues with that many mics on a drum set and how do you deal with these?

Anonymous said...

Wow!

The information about the musical instruments is very interesting.

The application of Wall microphones are huge.The wall microphones are also used in the recording studios in order to record all the neccesary
tunes which is generated by the musical instrument.