A children’s drum kit can be a great way to help them develop a sense of rhythm and coordination. But, did you know that mic-ing up will better enhance and make your kid’s drum kit sound much better?
So, What does mic up mean?
“Mic up” is a term that is often used in the music industry. It means to connect a microphone to an audio console or other recording device. This allows the sound of the instruments and vocals to be amplified and recorded.
Benefits of Micing Up a Drum Kit
By mic-ing up your child’s drum kit, you can help them to get the most out of their practice sessions.
The microphones will pick up every drum hit, giving them immediate feedback on their timing and technique. In addition, the microphones can also be used to record their progress, allowing you to listen back and identify areas for improvement.
Furthermore, another benefit is that it allows the drums to be amplified, which can be helpful if the drummer is playing in a large venue or with a band that has loud instruments.
Additionally, micing up the drums can help to capture a fuller sound, as each microphone can pick up different aspects of the drums’ sound. This can be especially beneficial if the drums are being recorded.
Finally, micing up a drum kit can also help to isolate certain sounds, such as cymbals, which can be helpful in live settings where there is a lot of background noise.
How To Mic Up a Drum Kit for Kids
The tried and tested way of micing up a drum kit is to use microphones that can withstand loud explosive noises close to the drums themselves, with more sensitive mics further away from the kit to pick out the detail. The popular choice for drums generally are dynamic microphones like the Shure SM57. These are usually located on stands pointing at the toms, snare and sometimes the ‘pedal’ side of the kick drum. Some producers also like to give themselves more control by placing a dynamic mic on the hi-hats too.
To pick up the overall sound of the drumming, including the cymbals, place the condenser microphones over your kid’s drum kit . These microphones are often used in stereo pairs on either side of the kit. You can pan the two mic left and right in the mixer to give the drum kit a stereo ‘image’. This is usually done so different sounds are happening in the left and right speak/headphones. This way, it gives the listener a more interesting listening experience. (More on panning later)
For the kick drum, there are a range of microphones that you can use to pick up the low frequencies created by the drum. The kick mic is usually placed in front of, or just inside a ‘sound hole’ cut in the front skin of the drum. Sometimes the front skin can be completely removed to allow a microphone to be placed inside the drum.
If buying all the mics separately seems daunting, there are a wide range of drum mic sets available online that give a producer the basic starting mics to get a good drum sound.
Micing Individual Drums on the Kit
How to mic each individual drum is something that varies wildly. But the following tips should help most people get a good basic sound that can then be tweaked for their own needs:
Micing Kick:
There are three main ways of micing up a kick drum. The most common way is just to place a bass drum microphone in the hole on the front skin. The second way is to remove the front skin completely. Place a mic just inside the hopps of the drum and face the pedal through the rear skin. And the third way is to mic BOTH the front and rear skins. You can do it with a bass drum mic in the front. And a dynamic mic like an SM57 pointed at the drum from where the drummer is sitting.
Micing Toms:
Toms are usually miced by clipping a drum mic to the drum. Position the mic at the skin of the tom, or point an SM57 on a stand at it. If the band require a ‘ringy’, resonant sound, the mic can be angled more towards the edge of the skin. This will let it pick up more of the ringing sounds and less of the impacts of the stick.
Micing Snare:
A snare is miced the same as a tom. But a second microphone can be used underneath the drum. This will let it pick up more of the ‘crack’ caused by the metal snare itself on the bottom skin.
Overhead Microphones on the Drums
Two condenser mics will usually be placed to pick up the overall sound and the crashing of the cymbals. These will usually be placed on high mic stands and pointed down at the drummer. One on the left of them, and one on the right. The amount of separation between the two depends on the type of sound the band are going for. The closer the mics are, the tighter and less ‘roomy’ the sound will become.
Panning a Drum Kit
How to pan a drum kit is another debated topic. The general rule though is to ‘space out’ the drums: The kick and snare should be central, with toms panned slightly left and right (higher toms to one side, lower toms to the other) and the overheads panned as far left and right as possible in relation to where they were on the kit. Panning the drums in a mixer can make a huge difference to the sound.
Related:
Eastar 16 inch 5-piece Junior Drum Set Review
RockJam Complete 5-Piece Junior Drum Set Review
Like anything else in recording music, experimentation is key – there are still producers out there who swear the best way to mic a kids drum kit is to stick to two mics – one on the kick and one above. It’s all about deciding what effect the music needs, and how best to acheive it.