I set up my drum kit in the lounge room at home to see how it sounded, and if it was any good, record a drum track for one of my bands (which I did and it sounds huge!).
The room is quite echoey, we live under a flight path so every now and then an airplane will fly overhead, and we’ve got a big dog who barks.
Everything about this room, on paper, should be really hard to record in.
What I wanted to do Is try and illustrate how you can record drums in less than ideal situations.
If you wanted to make drum videos, drum cover videos, or record demos at home. You could even record a full album at home if you’ve got the ability to be able to make a lot of noise!
This room has 3.4 meter high ceilings, all the walls are brick and smooth, there’s a TV, big glass windows, a mirror, a fireplace, the lounge room is next to the kitchen, there’s timber floors with a big rug in the middle but everything else is completely untreated.
So it’s really a less than ideal room to record in. It’s quite loud and has a lot of echo.
The drum kit sounds cool in here, it’s big and open, but there’s going to be a lot of overtones, a lot of spill.
But I’m going to try and get the best sound I can with the room I have.
Check out the samples in the video below:
Mix Comparisons
Recording and Drum Gear Used
I proudly play and recommend all of the products below, and have had drum endorsements with Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drum Sticks and Remo Drum Heads for many years.
Drum Microphones
- Kick Inside Mic – AKG D112 MKII
- Kick Outside Mic – Rode Pod Mic
- Snare Top – Shure SM57
- Snare Bottom – Sennheiser e604
- Rack Tom – Sennheiser e604
- Floor Tom – Sennheiser e604
- Hi-hats – Shure SM7B
- Overhead mics – Little Blondie Omni Condenser Matched Pair
- Room – Audix i5 in hallway
Stands, clips, and cables
- Kick inside and outside – Low boom stand
- Snare top and bottom – Clip with mic clip
- Toms – Sennheiser e604 with built in clip
- Overhead microphones and Hi-hats – K&M Boom Mic Stand
- Generic cheap mic cables (any will do the job)
Audio Interface and Computer
- Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 USB Audio Interface (I use the 2nd gen)
- MacBook Pro 15″ (The one in this video is my old 2013 model)
Pearl Reference Drums
Granite Sparkle finish
- 22”x18” Kick
- 14”x 6.5” 20 Ply Snare
- 12”x9” Rack Tom
- 16”x14” Floor Tom
Zildjian Cymbals
- Zildjian K 15” Sweet Hi-Hats
- Zildjian K 19” Hybrid Crash
- Zildjian K 19” Dark Crash
- Zildjian K 20” Dark Ride
Drum Hardware and Pedals
Drum Heads (or skins)
- Snare – Remo P4 Powerstroke 4 14″ Coated with Puresound 20 Strand Snare Wires 14″
- Rack Tom – Remo Emperor Clear 12″
- Floor Tom – Remo Emperor Clear 16″
- Toms Bottom – Remo Ambassador Clear
- Kick Drum – Remo P3 Powerstroke 3 Clear 22″ with Remo Double Falam Slam Patch
Drumsticks and Beaters
Other stuff
- Sony A6400 Mirrorless Camera
- Hisense 65″ 4K TV
- Sonos Soundbar (Mine is the old model)
Recording Drums At Home Mini Course
I also started a mini course which I’ll be adding more videos to about drum mic selection and positioning, drum tuning and mixing drums recorded at home:
Access The CourseAlso make sure you come and join us in the Recording Drums group