I connected the bass drum mic (AKG D550) to channel one on the desk and pad out the inside of the drum itself with some items of clothing (Front skin removed). Having placed the D550 on a boom stand, I manoeuvred the mic inside the front of the drum. I did not make too many adjustments to the positioning of the mic because I had the other mics to set up yet.

I placed two AKG C1000s’s microphones on mic stands and connected them up to channels three and four. I then set them up as left and right overheads by placing them over the toms and cymbals. Again, I left final adjustment until later.

I took an AKG D440 and connected it to channel two on the mixing desk. I put it on a mic stand and positioned it under the snare and hi-hat. I angled the mic to a position I felt would give the kind of sound I wanted to create and then followed suit on the other three microphones.

Some final checks and a broken XLR lead later; it was time to perform a sound check on the kit.

I began by asking the drummer to play the bass drum only and I muted all channels except channel one. This allowed a more accurate individual sound f

With all the individual mics set up, I asked the drummer to play the whole kit. This was a good chance for me to listen to the overall sound of the kit and make any final EQ adjustments in the control room. During this time, I asked the bassist to set himself up in another room.

The pianist had already practised his part and so once I’d set him up with a pair of headphones and a primitive mixdown of the bass and drums, he was ready for a take. I asked him to play while I set up EQ and levels on the desk. I didn’t perform too much adjustment as most of it could be done at mixdown. Due to a broken lead, it took two takes to complete this stage of the recording, but the second take was fine. I was quite pleased with it.

With all my tracks successfully down onto the MD4’s, I mixed them down (See question six) and recorded the finished product to CD.

Some topics in this essay:
AKG D440, AKG C1000s, MD4 Track, AKG D550, AKG C1000s’s, , connected channel, stage recording, drum kit, bass drum, sound check, bass drums, mic drum kit, bussed channels, xlr lead, eight tracks, channel md4, deemed stage recording,