Where to mic my drums

[Kill Me Sarah]

I still have just the mics listed in my profile, the MXL 990 and 991 condenser mics. What would be the ideal placement of these for recording drums?

[ken]

I suggest the 990 in front of the kick and the 991 above and pointing down at the snare. They are basically the same mic, so try swapping them as well. I worry that the 990 will have to be pretty far from the kick so it doesn't distort. I suggest you don't point it directly at the kick, but maybe turned a little bit. It would probably work better for you to use a dynamic mic in the kick if you have one. I used this basic two mic technique for years and on many many songfight songs. I still basically use this concept, but I also have a mic on the snare.

Be sure to check that the two mics are in phase!

[Kill Me Sarah]

Be sure to check that the two mics are in phase!

What does that mean and how do I do it?

[Lunkhead]

If you search for "microphone phase" you can find nice articles such as this one:

http://www.uaudio.com/blog/understanding-audio-phase/

Sound is transmitted in waves. If you have two mics and one sound source, the sound waves from the source can take longer to get to one or the other mic. This difference can cause effects on the recording that people can hear and that usually sound "off" or otherwise not desirable.

[ken]

Let me refer you to the internet: http://www.uaudio.com/blog/understanding-audio-phase/

Just make sure the two mics are working together and not working against each other.

[Kill Me Sarah]

That was an interesting read, thank you. I'll try the 3:1 trick.