Recording drums, using MBox2

[B# Studio]

Hi - quick question, as I am just starting out in the world of recording. I will be recording a drum kit, using the mbox 2, which only has 2 inputs. My options are to mic the kit and run through mixer down to 2 channel into the mbox, or just use 2 mics to do the entire kit. We're opting to go the route of micing the entire kit and mixing it down.

My question... do I set up the board w/amp just like live sound and then run the outs into the mbox?

For future reference, can anyone recommend a nice quiet power amp for studio use when I need to use my mixing console?

Appreciate your advise!

[knightfly]

That's pretty much how you'd do it; only with one BIG difference - what you hear when the drums are actually playing (and being recorded) will NOT be what you hear on playback, unlike the "live" case where what's being heard in the room is the most important thing.

Using a mixdown to 2-track you'll need to "cut and try" a few times to get a mix you like. Only exception to this is if you were in a WELL isolated CR with the drums in a WELL isolated drum room, so all you hear is what's coming thru the mics; under those circumstances, you'd just tweak the mix til it sounds right and hit the big red "R" button

I have a couple of older Yamaha power amps that use convective cooling (no fans) and they work well for studio use as well; but most of the newer units have variable speed fans. As long as the room stays cool, they might be OK but you'd prob'ly be better off using something like the Alesis RA series (low budget) or a quality audiophile type amp (not so low budget)... Steve

[audiomixsdm]

Remember to really spend time to listen and place microphones on the kit.
I have gotten away from using a single mic on every single part of the drum kit. I have run into phasing and noise problems as the person plays. I now employ a whole new thought process, and borrow some ideas from the "festival live mixing" book. Let me explain...

Years ago I was working with an old horse of an engineer. He was older than dirt and could mix a show using nothing but old Altec Horn speakers(the kind in your high school gym), and he would make them sound great. Anyway we were doing a festival gig, and I started to mic up each drum. He told me to stop. With 10 bands playing that day, we didn't have time to do individual drum mics. We placed a kick, snare and 2 robust overheads. The overhead mics picked up the tom rolls perfectly, and since no one played a tom solo for an entire song, it works well.
I have several engineer friends that would argue with me on this concept: however I've used it quite abit in Live sound with great results. NOW I'm using it in studio recordings too... I use a Jecklin Shield (homebuilt) to seperate my overhead mics a little... but the sound I'm getting is great, less problems and easier to mix...

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE... with mic placement, recording tecniques and listen to playback. Readjust and re -record.

Good Luck!