Pro Tools Drum Recording: Should You Use Close Or Distant Mics?

By blending close and distant mics when recording drums you can get complete control over the depth and tone of your drum sound. Learn how in this video.  

Recording live drums is a core skill that many engineers and producers will need to learn at some point in their musical journey. And there are lots of moving parts, from mic positioning to grouping and editing. In this video from the course Pro Tools 503: Recording Drums, Josh Carney compares and contrasts two different approaches to mic positioning - close and distant mics.

Pro Tools 503: Recording Drums

Josh explains that by capturing sound at different distances from the kit (he typically uses a 12-mic setup), you are able to control the type of drum sound much more flexibly. By soloing up a range of close and distant mic'ed drums including kick, snare and hi hats, he demonstrates how each one brings a specific quality to the drum sound - tight and focused for close mics, more ambient for distant mics. He shows how to use mic techniques to add depth and stereo width as well as 3D space to your drum sound. Check out the full course for a complete guide to recording drums in Pro Tools.

Watch the course Pro Tools 503: Recording Drums in the Ask.Audio Academy | macProVideo | Ask.Video

Hollin Jones was classically trained as a piano player but found the lure of blues and jazz too much to resist. Graduating from bands to composition then production, he relishes the chance to play anything with keys. A sometime lecturer in videographics, music production and photography post production, Hollin has been a freelance w... Read More

Discussion

Want to join the discussion?

Create an account or login to get started!