Drum micing question

[weirdotis]

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[Lyrica]

If you only had one mic to mic a full drum kit with, where is the best place to put it for balanced sound?

you need a good mic for the bass drum, one for hte snare, and two overheads, one right and one left, preferably a matched stereo pair as minimum requirements to get something good.

 

[Drew224]

Some friends of mine in a Jazz combo were cutting a demo, and I was there as I was letting the guitarist use my Ibanez Artcore, and there was only on mic on the drums. As I recall, it was placed a few feet over the drummer's head. To my thinking, that would allow the cymbals to overpower the toms, but it didn't sound half bad.

 

[weirdotis]

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[moff40]

Nicole's right, but if you can use only one mic, I'd put it up like an overhead, a few feet in front of the kit, positioned about a foot off-centre toward the floor tom, and pointed at the front of the kick. Nothing is miced optimally this way, everything is a compromise, but that positioning should get all of the cymbals and all of the drums, including the floor tom, as well as picking up the kick.