Recording: direct or mic, what do u prefer

[zuperdog]

If you want GOOD recorded drums, you've got to mic each one.
 
I use:
Beta 52 for the kick, PG56s or SM57s for the toms, an SM57 for the snare, and PG81s for overheads. Everything placed very close to the drum, toward the drummer, at a 60 degree angle or so.
 
If you don't have enough mixer space on your recorder, a cheap Behringer pre-mixer works really good for this, mixing all of the drum mics down to one or two tracks.
 
Placing mics in back of the set never works out too good, in my experience.
 
I know there are a lot of different opinions on mics and placement, so maybe someone else will chime in with an alternative.

[glocke]

yeah, im limited on mics...2 overheads and a bass drum mic....I keep putting the mics in front and down close, and liek the results i get...but the drummer always ends up putting them in back and far away...this always gives me a weaker signal, and alot more noise because I need to turn up the gain....

[keith_h]

I seem to recall seeing somewhere for two mic drum  recording the recommendation was to have them placed slightly behind and above the dummer in an X setup. If this was not possible then two mics placed in front of and slightly higher than the drums (again crossing the mics)was considered an acceptable alternative.  
 
Keith

[adriaan]

The X setup works with directionals, and not with omnis. Most mics in a rehearsal room will be directionals, like the average 57.
 
Good point about placing them slightly BEHIND the drummer - with the added benefit that (s)he won't complain about the placement.

[s_wood]

The best sound I've ever gotten on tape (well, actually it was a hard drive) was at CBGB's in NYC where they took a DI out of my F1-X to one channel, and a EV RE-20 miking my cab to the other.  Whenever I record, that's the setup I try to use.

[zuperdog]

I would agree that in a live situation, where everything except monitors is pointed away from the kit, the best placement is behind the drummer facing forward. In a practice situation, where everyone's often facing into a circle, I get better sound by placing them in front of the drummer facing back, in the same cross or x pattern, and almost straight down.
 
Condensers work great for this, but 57s are hard to beat for the $.

[bigredbass]

WHAT you're going to use for recording bass ALL depends on WHO's running the board and/or engineering.
 
Here in NashVegas, I've heard of everything: mic'd cabs, mic'd cabs+direct, chessy direct box (Whirlwind, etc.) right into the snake, serious direct box (Demeters, F1Xs, Kerns, Avalons, who knows what else), homemade/custom zany specials (a Bogen tube ex-high school PA head with a custom tap post pre/pre power), the mic'd cab inside the huge road ATA coffin, and a bunch more I can't imagine.  Bring your own stuff, you've got about 30 seconds of their attention to see IF it really does sound good and they'll use it.  Otherwise you plug into what they use everyday or go home.
 
They record FAST here.  You either sound fine RIGHT NOW, or you're dead.  So it's usually only the big name bass studio guys that have a say.  If you're David Hungate or Mike Rhodes, you've got some say.  If you're not on that level, you use their setup. Period.
 
Then to top it all off, they'll take ProTools, etc., and do whatever they want to it, often sounding NOTHING like you heard it go down.
 
I wonder if I could use one of those voice tuners for perfect fretless?
 
J o e y

[hollis]

Hi Gregory,
 
I record electric guitar both direct and mic'd.  It gives me more control in the mix.  The mix is one of the very few places I actually am a control freak...... Freak, always.... Control Freak, very rarely...
 
MIc'd:
I use EV N/D757's (both plain 757's and 757A's for a little more depth).
 
Direct:
I almost always use the Mesa/SF-2 punch (for those little tweaks that make this road we've chosen so worth living).
 
Bass, as with most others.... direct (in my case)through F-1X/SF-2.

[811952]

One technique that's become somewhat popular is to:
 
a) mic the amp
b) run a direct line
c) place a mic over the picking hand and/or fingerboard (or both) and mix betwixt them for best effect.
 
I would love to try this out, but haven't done any recording in ages and don't see any happening anytime soon.
 
What I *have* done quite a bit is to:
 
a) mic the amp (for highs/mids)
b) run a DI straight from the bass (for clean lows)
 
John

[ampeglb100]

I have found the best results by recording with a few mics that you like (so you have a some options later on) while running a direct line as well.  If you are like me, you have spent a ton of time finding the right amp, tweaking it to your liking, finding the right cab, the right bass, and just overall getting your live/practice rig setup sounding how you like it.  So when I go to record, all I really want to do is capture that sound on tape/digital.  Experimenting with good mics and mic placement is the key, and you can find a ton of recomendations online to get you started.  A direct line (after the pre-amp) is great too just to capture whatever the mic's missed and/or to even out the low end frequency response, but basically in mixing I use the mic(s) first and then bring up the direct and see how it sounds.  If it doesn't add anything that makes it better then I don't use it.  I use passive basses and a lot of my sound comes from my amp, so I guess this is just me...  I have never recorded with my Alembics... so maybe with great active electronics you can go about this differently, but above all my lesson is:  If you have spent hours/days/years practicing with your amp/cab/bass setup getting it to sound just right in the context of the band, recording it should simply be a matter of trying to capture that sound you love as cleanly and transparently as you can, rather than going into a studio and starting all over and/or using a lot of equipment to make it sound better... just my two bits.
 
Andy