How to Record Drums (and not just cymbals)

You've seen the T-shirt, right? Duct tape is like the Force: it has a light side, and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

So, yeah, duct tape is great if you happen to work in the HVAC industry and you're trying to patch a leak. But it's a lousy way to control cymbal overload in the studio. Just because your drummer hits the cymbals too hard (and probably hits the drums too quietly!) doesn't mean you should reach for a roll of tape. Instead, use a microphone that pre-mixes the drums for you.

That's not just marketing hype. We're all about the science (not fiction). Specifically:

• The Mini K47 has a narrower polar pattern at high frequencies. Position the mics so they're pointing at the drums, not the cymbals, and you'll mostly hear drums from your overhead track.
• The Mini K47 has a presence bump in the upper mids, and a falling frequency response above 10kHz. It will naturally hear the tone of the drums and snare, while attenuating the cymbals.

Hear the Mini K47s on drum overheads in the video clip below.

(Quick personal story: as you probably saw in the video above, Glenn's former go-to OH mic was a particular small-diaphragm model that was the darling of the internets about 20 years ago. Ironically, that was my personal go-to OH mic too, until I tried the Mini K47 prototype on my own drums.)

Here's another demo video, featuring Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires) warming up, with a pair of Mini K47s on OH and a Roswell Delphos on kick. (Check out Glen's left hand!)

This clip uses much higher mic placement, which creates a roomier sound than a lower overhead placement would.