RECORDING DRUMS OUTSIDE WITH MINIMAL MICROPHONES

In recent years I have been recording drums outside in various places around New York City. I've been at parks, under bridges, in the forest, on piers, at abandoned sea plane hangers, and even civil war era forts!

I usually take either an iPad or a Laptop with backing tracks and record with only a couple of microphones. I'm always recording video simultaneously so many times I also blend camera audio into my recordings. I have even used only iPad and iPhone microphones with good results.

People often ask me how I get such good recordings outside using such little equipment, but it's not really as mysterious as one might think. Recording outside one worries much less about reflections from walls and ceilings, so it has a much drier sound naturally. Though some areas I recorded closer to walls and structures offer some sound reflection.

I also usually play very minimal drum sets outside since they are much easier to move around. Often I will use only a kick, snare, hi hat, and cymbal. When you're not worrying about toms, one of my favorite places to put a mic or recording device is to the right of my seat where the floor tom would normally be. I usually point the mic or device slightly upwards and forward, so it is angled towards the kick drum and snare drum at the same time. This placement gets both kick and bottom snare with a good amount of attack on the kick since it is pointed at the batter side of the head.

Then I will often use another recording device such as a camera or iPhone either out front or overhead of the drums. This will add some clarity to the cymbals as well as top head of the snare. Combining these two sources often gives me results I am very happy with!

If I am recording with my iPad in GarageBand, I will usually use the iPad itself as the kick/bottom snare mic. Then combine that with either a camera mic or iPhone mic. The funny thing is when I had my old iPhone SE, it seemed to have a better sounding mic than my newer and better iPhone 14 Plus. So these days I don't use the iPhone mic much, but the iPad one still sounds just fine on the kick/snare position. It actually sounds quite interesting since it has a sort-of compression on it that cannot be turned off, but it suits this position well in the mix.

If I am using my MacBook to record into Ableton or Reaper, I will use my Zoom H1n in audio interface mode set in the same kick/bottom snare position. Then sometimes I will either use my Sony HDR-CX240 as the second microphone source, or if I want extra clarity, I will use my Zoom 2Qn video camera that has amazing stereo condenser microphones built in.

The Sony has a really hot and gritty sound, but sometimes this works well blended with the Zoom H1n on the ground. If I'm using the iPad as my ground mic, then I will often opt for the cleaner Zoom 2Qn since the iPad is the hot mic in this combo.

Working with them in the mix takes some novel approaches at times. Sometimes I even have to use expanders on the Sony or iPad to give them a bit more dynamic range. If you don't know what an expander is, it is basically the opposite of a compressor. Rather than lessen the dynamic range like a compressor, an expander makes loud sounds louder and quiet sounds quieter.

It is a good idea to have at least one audio source recording directly into your DAW. If I'm using iPad, then naturally the iPad is going right into GarageBand. You could do this with Logic or Cubase as well. But if I am using Ableton I'll set the H1n into audio interface mode and assign the built-in mics as my inputs 1/2 in Ableton. This way you have at least one drum track in the session already that you can line up the imported camera audio. If you try to record all sources outside your DAW, it will be much harder to make everything line up perfectly.

Lastly, when mixing it is important to listen to how the drums fit in the mix. Is everything balanced? Does the kick cut through enough, are the cymbals harsh or too dirty sounding? Is the snare balanced with the cymbals and kick? If you're getting too much cymbal noise and not enough snare attack, that is when you might want to consider an expander if you used camera or phone audio. Do not look at mixing drums recorded this way the same as you would in a studio/multitrack setup. Try to hear the whole recording and how the drums work within it.

I hope these tips help if you're interested in recording drums outside! Have fun!