Multiple mics on drumkits can create as many problems as they solve. Many engineers have wrestled with trashy hi hat spill down the snare mic- we show you a different fix to try that could work in your mix.
Most engineers, musicians, and listeners associate the sound of recorded drums with a mix of mics comprising close ones on individual drums combined with overhead and other distant placements. Some genres demand an overtly close sound, whereas others benefit from a natural sound with a balance that comes mainly from the musicians themselves. In this scenario the close mics exist to augment what’s there as opposed to being the main focus.
Why Use Lots Of Mics Anyway?
Beginning in the late 1960s, the number of mics used on a kit started to grow as larger channel counts became available. The extra control offered by multiple mics afforded the engineer more control over the relative levels of different kit pieces, as well as a more produced sound using processing on them. Ever since, it’s true to say that putting close mics on drums has become the done thing in the studio; certainly there are very few, if any, engineers still working who remember the two mic days! This isn’t to say that minimal techniques totally disappeared, with the smartest engineers knowing when to step away and let the magic happen when working with a great drummer in the right place.
What Can Go Wrong With Lots Of Mics?
Using close mics isn’t without its problems. The distances between a combination of mics means that they can inadvertently hear each other’s intended target drum at different times through spill. This can introduce the first enemy of multiple mics: phase cancellation. This can be minimised with careful placement and sometimes some experimentation with polarity.
The second problem is spill in close mics from adjacent kit pieces. The most commonly used mics for this job often have polar patterns are optimised to sound at their best on axis, but the trade off can be less than stellar pickup from the sides or rear. This can manifest itself in a sound that is often mid-heavy or otherwise tonally lopsided. Some cardioid favourites especially are particularly susceptible when used on snare, with hi hat spill being a constant issue especially with drummers whose own balance favours their hi hat hand.
Is Spill Bad?
Spill need not ruin close mic signals if certain conditions allow. Most obviously, if the offending pickup is quiet enough, it will be masked by the wanted sound anyway and will be essentially inaudible when sat behind a mix. In the case of drummers this is aided greatly by good playing technique, and also by the layout of the kit itself.
If spill is taken as being a fact of life then another option is to accept it while taking steps to make it sound as agreeable as possible, and this means using mics with the best off axis response available. The logical conclusion to this approach is using an omni mic to capture ‘good’ spill rather than imbuing the wanted thing with any kind of unworkable noise.
Gating a snare mic to fix hi hat spill problems is frequently unsuccessful, as this process cannot remove spill from underneath wanted drum hits. Another way is to use spectral gating. This lets us filter out the problem frequencies unless the loudest thing (hopefully the snare) is playing. This way, we get a ‘good spill’ scenario without robbing the snare of meaningful energy at the spill’s target frequency. Watch in the video how to use dynamic spectral gating to tame the spill and keep the character of the snare as well.
The Best Way To Kill The Spill?
Prevention is always better than cure, and engineers should be able to massage the problem before it hits the mics by having a good rapport with the artist when it comes to the difficult conversations about adjusting things like kit layout or playing technique. Following studio pragmatism, judicious use of an advanced EQ ditches problems associated with gates or poor technique and can salvage a sound without having to replace it. That makes it the best engineering solution yet.