We talked to three drummers whose approaches to drum miking are as different as their musical odysseys. First, Rascal Flatts’ Jim Riley. Next, ex-Pat Metheny Group sideman and groundbreaking percussionist Paul Wertico. And finally, British touring band favorite Simon Phillips, currently living in the USA working on his own solo projects.

Shure enthusiasts all, here’s what they had to say.

Jim Riley
Bandleader, Rascal Flatts drummer

Jim was born in Boston, Massachusetts and from an early age, showed real interest in music. He began his formal studies of percussion at the age of twelve, the same year he began singing with the Youth Pro Musica choir. In high school, Jim studied with Boston Symphony percussionist Arthur Press.

He attended the University of North Texas, where the studied drums with Ed Soph and timpani with The Dallas Symphony’s Kal Cherry. In 1995, Jim moved to Kansas City. While recording with local guitarist Jeff Scheetz, he took a job with Kansas City Drumworks, building and selling custom drums. There, Jim began his long relationship with The VPR Creative Group as a writer and performer with the Sticks of Thunder percussion ensemble.

In 1997, Jim made the move to Nashville. Less than a year later, he was playing with country artist Mark Chesnutt and outlaw rocker Hank Williams III. The real turning point in Jim’s career came in 2000, when he took the job as drummer and bandleader for Rascal Flatts.

Jim is currently on Rascal Flatts’ ‘Unstoppable tour, which is expected to play to well over a million people.

“With Rascal Flatts, I’m playing a large drum set, so as you can imagine, we use a wide array of microphones to capture my onstage performance. I worked closely with Jon Garber, our FOH engineer and Stewart Delk, our monitor engineer to pick the right microphone for each unique application. ”

Snare
“On the snare we use two mics: an SM7B on top and SM57 on the bottom. We decided to go with the SM7 because of its ability to capture both low and high-end frequencies with clarity. The ’57 on the bottom is perfect to pick up some additional “crack.” We also use the ’57 on our auxiliary snare and it sounds great.”

Bass/Kick
“We use two mics on the bass drum: a Beta 52®A and a Beta 91. They are both great mics individually, but used as a tandem, the ’91 picks up the snap and the ’52 (placed just inside the hole in the resonant head) brings the big low end.”

Toms
“On the higher toms we use Beta 98s. They are the absolute standard in live drum microphones. And they work great in the studio as well.

We wanted to match the thunderous sound of our kick on our floor toms, so my initial thought was to go with Beta 52s. Since we were using the Beta 98s (which are condensers) on the high toms, Ryan Smith at Shure suggested the KSM27. That was a great call.”

Hi- Hat/Cymbals
“On the hi-hat and ride cymbal, we use KSM109 (editor note: this model is discontinued, it’s now the KSM137). . It does a great job of delivering the complex tones of my hi-hat and ride with stunning clarity.”

Mics for Other Apps
“We use an SM27 to mic the gong. We top off the whole drum mix with a VP88 stereo microphone placed overhead, directly above the snare in the middle of the kit. It does a great job of picking up the cymbals and gives us the entire drum set a fantastic stereo sound.”

Vocals
“I use a Beta 56A and an SM58®. We use the ’56 as my vocal mic because of its ability to reject unwanted noise. In our case, that’s the drums! The ’58 is used as my talkback mic – it can only be heard by the band, sound crew and video director. As bandleader, it’s just critical for me to be able to communicate with the band and crew in case any problems arise or quick changes need to be made to the set. It’s not a glamorous job for a SM58, but it’s an important one.”

Personal Monitoring
“The final and most crucial component to my setup is my personal monitors. The SCL5 earphones are by far my favorite. They deliver my mix with exceptional clarity and they’re able to withstand life on the road. ”

Read more about Jim, check out his gear list, and how you build your own mic locker on a budget on Jim’s Artist Page.

Paul Wertico
Session player, solo artist, innovator

One of the most versatile and musical drummers in music today, Paul Wertico became a member of the Pat Metheny Group in 1983. During that time he appeared on ten CDs and three videos with Pat and has toured the world many times. He picked up seven Grammy Awards, won numerous magazine polls, and received several gold records. Paul left the PMG in February of 2001.

When Paul is not touring, he divides his time between studio work, producing, session playing, and leading his own groups. He currently serves on the percussion faculty of Northwestern University and the jazz faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Paul was voted “Fusion Drummer of the Year” in DRUM! Magazine’s Reader’s Poll and he’s placed in the “Top Five in the Electric Jazz Category” in Modern Drummer magazine’s Reader’s Polls. Paul also has his own “signature” drum sticks: the Paul Wertico model – TX808W, as well as new “signature” products that he invented called “Tubz” and “KidzTubz”, all made by Pro-Mark.

Paul Wertico’s mic setup and tips:
“At my home studio (Rat Howl Recording), my engineer Brian Peters and I love to constantly experiment to find not only great traditional sounds, but also new non-traditional sounds. ”

Snare
“A cool trick I learned while recording with legendary engineer/producer Reinhold Mack (ELO, Queen, Rolling Stones) is to mic the snare drum from the side of the snare shell. We’ve tried this method with multiple different microphones (including the trusty SM57, which we’ve used on the last few recordings) and have gotten great results.”

“Instead of putting a mic on the top and the bottom of the snare drum, balancing them with each other, and then sending them to a bus to add any EQ or compression, we can just use one channel to get the entire snare sound. It really brings out the sound of the drum itself, with just enough of the snap from the snares and almost none of the ringing overtones coming off of the top head. It also gets a very nice rim click sound. We usually position the mic an inch or less away from, and perpendicular to, the surface of the shell (making sure to avoid the drum’s air vent hole).”

Overheads
“We most often use a pair of KSM32 microphones with the low end rolled off.”

Bass/Kick
“Between different styles of music, bass drum sounds can vary a lot. (In fact, just describing the drum as either a “bass” drum or a “kick” drum, can tell you a lot about what type of sound you’re going for.) Of course, most of that will have to do with how you tune and muffle the drum itself, but every type of microphone will capture different characteristics of the sound.

One of the best bass drum sounds we’ve gotten has actually been with the SM7B microphone. It’s often neglected as an option for a bass drum mic because of the number of other things it does so well, but this mic gives a deep, punchy sound that might be exactly what you’ve been trying to achieve. We usually place it on the beater side of the bass drum in conjunction with another bass drum mic we normally use, like the Beta 91 or the Beta 52A. The SM7B also sounds great when placed by the front head. Again, it all really depends on the type of sound we’re looking for and the type of music we’re recording.”

Toms
“For toms, we use a set of Beta 98D/S (or sometimes a set of Beta 56A).

Hi Hat
“After recording a number of records with a hi-hat microphone (usually a SM81), we’ve rarely, if ever, ended up using it on the final mix, so sometimes we’ve stopped even putting one up. Usually we’ve found that the overheads capture a very natural hi-hat sound by themselves.”

Other Miking Apps
“We’ve also recorded the drum set with Pro-Mark “X-Mutes” still on the drums and cymbals, as well as using various muting devices and “found sounds”. We’ll sometimes also use the May Internal Drum Miking System that’s inside some of my drums and combine those sounds with the standard miking techniques.”

Read more about Paul, check out his gear list, and how you build our own mic locker on a budget on Paul’s Artist Page.

Simon Phillips
Touring pro, solo artist

Simon’s professional musical career began at the early age of twelve, performing and recording with his father’s – Sid Phillips – Dixieland band until he turned sixteen.

With an offer to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, his path was marked and Simon soon became one of London’s most celebrated session drummers. In his early twenties, he was well on his way to having a musical career nothing short of brilliance. To date he has toured and recorded an “A” list of bands and performers: Mick Jagger, The Who, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Tears for Fears, Judas Priest, Roxy Music, Michael Schenker, Nik Kershaw, Pete Townshend, The Pretenders, Whitesnake and many, many more.

In 1992 Simon moved to the US. He was asked to join Toto for their world tour and remained a full time member until the band dissolved in 2008.

Expanding his career from drumming to writing solo projects, Simon recorded his first album “Protocol” in 1988 and followed it up with five more critically-acclaimed albums. Another facet of his far-ranging musical career? Producing and engineering.

Snare
“I use an SM57. I prefer it to the Beta 57. Nine times out of ten, I will reverse the phase when listened with the overheads. I like to play on a wooden surface and often encourage drummers I am working with to do the same. I am sure this contributes to the phase issue but it seems to work just fine. I rarely use a mic underneath the snare drum. This really messes with the dynamics of the player – but occasionally I will use a mic pointed to the side of the shell if I really need some more snare. It depends on the player and the sound he or she wants to get.”

Bass/Kick
“I use a Beta 52A, which is mounted on a custom-built clip assembly inside the drum. I think the best position for a kick mic is off center. I place mine around 4″ from the shell facing directly towards the batter head.

The distance is the main area of experiment and that will depend upon the type of head used and the tuning and the playing. I usually use closed front heads so the mic has to be inside the drum enough not to hit the front head. However if there is a hole (which I make sure is lined up to be directly behind the mic) then I can place the mic further away from the batter head. It also depends upon the shell depth of the drum.

You will see that my 52s have been modified so that they will fit into a KSM137 clip. This helps isolate the mic from the stand or the shell.

If you use a stock Beta 52 and mount it on a stand you must isolate the stand from the floor with foam or you will hear the floor – not the just the drum.

Toms
“I use KSM137s on all the toms for live applications and KSM27 for recording.

I used to use an SM98 and then a Beta 98 for quite a few years – very popular microphones for tom toms. But, I discovered something mixing live recordings. While the 98 worked well with a PA system, I found that the recorded signal was not as good – especially on the larger drums. So I set out to find an alternative.

The main requirement with live sound is a system that can be set up and taken down quickly. Certainly the system I had with my ’98s was pretty slick. All the barrels (pre amps) were set into A53M shock mounts which were attached to an aluminum bar mounted somewhere on the kit. A loom of 98 cables all cut to specific lengths and then wrapped with tech flex made for an elegant and quick solution.

The KSM137 was the prime candidate since it could slide into the A53M shock mount and isolate the mic from the drum and/or hardware. We created a loom made up of regular mic cable wrapped in tech flex and that terminated at the rear of the kit, close to a stage box.

I don’t place these mics close to the drums – in fact, they’re at least 2″ away from each drum. If the kit is well balanced there is no leakage problem I ran a side-by-side Beta 98 and KSM137 test. The KSM137 emerged the winner. It had everything I needed for live applications and it worked well in recording applications.”

“If space is tight, I substitute the KSM137 for the KSM27 when recording. The feedback (not the howling type) I have had from engineers has been very favorable.”

Hi Hat
“I use a KSM137 or KSM141 and I prefer an “off-axis” position. My main complaint with live sound is that the hi-hat is often mixed too prominently.

The hi-hat is not as loud as the snare drum or the kick drum —that natural balance has to be considered. You may be dealing with a variety of different cymbals and that’s often the choice of the musician. I generally feel that drummers pick cymbals that are not well balanced with the drums. They’re usually much too heavy and loud.”

“You should be able to hang one microphone over the kit (1960s style) and get a balanced kit sound (apart from the kick drum). That means that the drummer must play in a balanced way, his choice of cymbals is smart and his tuning of the instrument is sound. It just has to work and be musical and fit the music that is being played.”

Overheads
“I use KSM27s, KSM32s, KSM44s, SM81s, KSM137s or KSM141s, depending on what’s available and what works best. I prefer to use just a stereo pair since I like to use the overall kit sound and not roll off too much low frequency – but that will depend, of course, on the situation.

The actual positioning depends on the set-up of the kit but I prefer to keep them wide as opposed to a co-incident pair. I am not a fan of stereo mics – but in some scenarios, they work well.”

Read more about Simon, check out his gear list, and how you build your own mic locker on a budget on Simon’s Artist Page.

If you want to capture a more natural sound in your recordings, it’s time to learn a few fundamentals of stereo miking.

Early on, these techniques were developed to approximate the sound we hear in our own two ears. Stereo recordings give the listener sound images that correspond to the location of the instruments in the recording session – left to right and front to back. They provide a picture of the recording space’s acoustics and capture sound source characteristics without the tonal imbalances that mono close miking can sometimes produce.

Stereo miking offers an open sound that is an alternative to multi-track recording.

Using just two or three microphones, stereo miking is still the preferred method to record classical music and small ensembles ambiently. In this article, we’ll explain four of the most popular stereo miking techniques, illustrate them with images of mic set-ups from Shure’s Performance Listening Center and provide audio clips that will amplify the critical listening differences.

Stereo Microphone Techniques

Every recording situation is different. Room acoustics vary, the instrumentation changes, even the type of music and tempo can influence the sound you’re trying to capture. You’ll probably want to test more than one of the following techniques (and then make your own adjustments) to get the recording you want.

Unless you’re one of the fortunate few with a well-stocked mic locker, you don’t need a lot of expensive gear to get started. In fact, a couple of inexpensive cardioid mics will get the job done. Just make sure they are the same make and manufacture to minimize differences in their sonic signatures. What’s most important here are your own critical listening skills, since stereo recording is an attempt to replicate the way your personal transducers (those ears of yours) process sound.

Here are four of the most typical stereo miking techniques.

Keep in mind that stereo miking, just like any other audio exploration – whether its composing, performing, doing live sound or recording — is just that … a journey and an opportunity to experiment.

It is completely subjective, so try different techniques, borrow microphones if you need to and play with angles and positions to achieve the recorded sound you’re after. Be careful about the most basic of basics – tightening stands and mic clips. Take your time. Be meticulous and the results will be more than worth your effort.

Tips from the Pros

“My favorite stereo miking technique changes with the application. For a larger vocal group or choir, I like ORTF or X/Y plus an extra wide spaced pair to capture the outer edges of the group. For drum overheads my favorite is definitely X/Y. For me, it centers the snare in the stereo picture better than a spaced pair and also is less prone to phase issues because the capsules are so close together. For acoustic piano and hand percussion, I like ORTF for its wide picture of the stereo field.” –Kevin Becka, MIX Magazine Technical Editor

“One stereo mic technique I seldom see employed live is the good old X/Y pair over the drum kit as overheads. Properly utilized, an overhead X/Y pair gives you a very big stereo image that translates across the venue quite nicely, and collapses down to mono – perfect for your matrix feeds and whatnot. Get yourself a nice sturdy stand and a couple KSM44s and give it a shot. Also an extremely wide pair of SM81s are great for realistic room/audience mics for your multi track live mixes. Place them as far downstage left and right as possible. Sometimes the talent likes a little in their in ears as well. Gets rid of that isolated feeling in the ear buds.” –Zach Mishur; Guitar Player, FOH Engineer

“In tracking mostly vocal groups, I use two different setups for stereo recording. It all depends on the size of the source I’m capturing. If the source is no wider than 10-15 feet, I’ll go with two small diaphragm condenser mics in an XY configuration, making sure each capsule is at a 90 degree angle to each other. If I am trying to capture a larger source, like a chorus or orchestra, I’ll use a Decca Tree style which is 3 large capsule condenser microphones in a triangle configuration, 2 mics three units apart, and the third centered between the two and 1 unit forward toward the source. Always keep a 1 to 3 ratio between the 3 mics to limit phase cancellation. Then I use two other small condenser mics on the outside edges of the source on the same plane as the 3 mics on the Decca tree to add to the stereo image.

I’ve used this in Germany for a Symphony concert with the vocal group, Take 6 for an outdoor concert in Berlin. The six guys were amplified through individual handheld mics and supported by the Decca tree, 5 mic setup on the symphony. It resulted in an extremely natural representation of the symphony, while giving clarity to the 6 vocalists. The only true issue we had was that our in-ear transmitters were on illegal frequencies and broadcasting on police radios around the city. I thought they would have liked a 10 time GRAMMY® winning group breaking up the radio waves and adding to their crime fighting days. But, no. They threatened to shut the festival down.” –Tony Huerta, GRAMMY® Award-Winning Producer

“While the bulk of my work as a producer and engineer involves recording vocals or other mono sources, I recently had an opportunity to use my pair of Shure KSM-141s in a fairly unstructured recording environment. A composer client of mine booked time in a high-end furniture showroom in New York City to record some of his contemporary classical arias with a pianist (the showroom just happened to have a Steinway) and an array of vocalists. I arrived with my laptop, a mic stand with a stereo bar mount attached, my KSM141s and a set of Shure’s SE530 in-ear monitors to be certain my sound source was being accurately represented.

In this instance, I used a modified X/Y pattern where I pointed one mic at the partially closed piano and the other in the general area of the vocalists. In order to get a proper vocal balance (given that the number of vocalists on any given piece ranged from one to twelve!) I had the softer/lower voices closer to the vocal-directed mic and the louder/higher voices a bit further back. In the end, by adjusting the left and right levels (in my mix) I was able to get a nice, full stereo blend of the vocals and piano that accurately captured the spirit of the room and the performance.” –Cliff Goldmacher; Recording Engineer, Studio Owner

“My engineer, Brian Peters, and I love to experiment with colors and sounds and upon reflection on how three of our last solo CDs were recorded, we realized we’ve actually never used the same technique for any two recordings. Our approach to each new CD was always borne out of new ideas and inspiration, as well as reactions to whatever we’ve done in the past – gleaning some things and discarding others.

For “StereoNucleosis” (WERTICO – 2004) we settled on a configuration with two KSM 32s on either side of the drum kit, at arm level, facing inward at the kit, almost like room microphones. It gave a very spacey asymmetrical sort of sound, but it captured the spirit of what we were trying to do for the record, so we went with it. On a few tunes, we panned both microphones center to make the drums punchier for rock-beat type grooves.

For “Ampersand” (Brian Peters & Paul Wertico – 2007) we did a more traditional spaced pair above the kit, observing a line of symmetry and capturing everything in a balanced way, but then for one song (“The Tundra”) we decided to apply cymbal mutes (Pro-Mark X-Mutes) to shorten all of the cymbal sounds on the kit in comparison to the drums and we discovered that the entire kit sounded pretty good just through the overheads. So we kept everything mono (sometimes alternating mics, sometimes using both at the same time) and we threw a huge amount of compression with an ultra fast release across the entire drum bus to bring out the cascading decays of the different elements of the kit, later adding in a little bit of kick and snare mics to make it meatier.

For “Impressions of a City” (Paul Wertico’s Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance – 2009) an X/Y overhead configuration was used, but during mixdown, the sonic image of the kit felt too shallow and wide, so we panned the overheads in reverse orientation from the stereo image of the tom mics, which made the kit suddenly feel more three dimensional and spatially deep.

Often, after getting the sounds for all the close mics, we’ll set up multiple configurations of overheads and listen to how they sit in a mix, and how they sound by themselves during solo drum pieces. We’ve used the Blumlein technique for realistic binaural recordings that capture intricate patterns being played across a ride cymbal, we’ve used an M-S configuration when we wanted to capture the entire kit in an interesting sounding space but wanted to have control over the balance of the natural reverb during mixdown, and sometimes we’ve recorded the cymbals and drums separately when we wanted to EQ the cymbals a certain way but not affect the sound of a brush part on the rest of the kit.

Overall, the most important (and rewarding) thing is to keep continually trying new things and to avoid just settling on some ‘tried and true’ method that might have been instituted after trying one thing you read on the internet that someone said is “the best” method for everyone.” –Paul Wertico, GRAMMY® Award-Winning Drummer

Glossary

Several of the most common stereo miking techniques are known by different names. That can be confusing for the newbie recordist.

Coincident-Pair
(Also know as X-Y Pair) Microphones angled apart with grilles touching.

Decca Tree
A spaced microphone variation commonly used for orchestral recording. Developed as an A-B method adding a center fill, the technique was developed in the early 1950s by a team at Decca Records to provide a stereo image.

Near-Coincident Pair
A common variation is called the ORTF system, so named for the French Broadcasting Organization that developed it. Microphones angled about 110° apart, often with capsules about 6″ to 7″ apart.

Spaced Pair
Mics spaced 3-10’ apart, pointed forward.

Mid-Side Technique
Also known as M-S. Cardioid mic pointed forward, bi-directional mic side-pointed.

Shure Recording Microphone Lockers
If you need a basic selection of microphones to get your studio up and running, here are a few selections based on type.

Basic Home Studio
(Overdubs, vocals, acoustic guitar)

• SM57 (2)
• SM27 (1)

Advanced Home Studio
(Tracking, drums, overdubs, vocals, guitar)

• SM57 (3)
• SM27 (1)
• KSM137 (2)
• Beta52A (1)
• A27M (1)

Project Studio
Type of recording: Commercial (Tracking, drums, overdubs, vocals, guitar)

• SM57 (4)
• Beta52®A (1)
• KSM137 (2)
• KSM32 (2)
• KSM44A (1)
• SM7B (1)
• VP88 (1)

Resource Room

Here’s where to find more comprehensive information on the subject of stereo miking and even more stereo miking techniques.

Articles

6 Stereo Miking Techniques You Can Use Today (Audio Tuts+)
Stereo Microphone Techniques (Bruce Bartlett)
Stereo Microphone Techniques (ProSoundWeb)

Video

Microphone Techniques: Stereo Miking Techniques

Books

Bruce Bartlett, Recording Music on Location
F. Alton Everest, Critical Listening Skills for Audio Professionals
Ron Streicher & F. Alton Everest, The New Stereo Soundbook

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds headlines this issue, in which editor Cory Lorentz foregos the usual Letter from the Editor in favor of a simple remembrance of Michael Dalquist, Johnathan Glick, and Douglas Meis, three Shure Associates who tragically left this world too soon.

View and download the full On Tour With Shure Fall 2005 Issue on shure.com.