Tricks For Your Tracks

NC Piedmont Triad Edition

A Publication of The Community Arts Cafe, Inc.

Tricks for your Tracks is a column for the project studio musician & engineer that offers tips designed to help make your studio a better & more fun place to create music.

When using multiple mics & tracks on a drum set, often the hi-hat will get it's own mic. A condenser mic with a small diaphram works well with the hi-hat & other cymbals. This is because it normally exibits a transparent sound without proximity effect. Proximity effect is the tendency of some microphones to build up bass frequencies the closer the mic is to the sound source. Since the hi-hat contains little bass information, any bass picked up by the mic is not needed & only serves to muddy up the overall sound. Taking this a step further, if the mic has a bass rolloff or highpass filter, turn the filter on.

Begin by placing the mic on a boom stand with the mic capsule pointing down vertically. Center the mic directly above the shaft of the hi-hat. The pedal of the hat will be up & the cymbals in the open position. Then, back the microphone away from the drumset to the halfway point between the center & edge of the hat. Monitor the sound on headphones, or have an assistant move the mic while you listen in the control room. Listen to the sound within the context of the song. That is, the mic placement might be different if the song is being played with brushes rather than sticks or if the hat is only being used with it's pedal.

For questions, comments & inquiries, contact Bil Jenko: biljenko@email.com