Recording Drums 7 - Ribbon Mics in the Room!

Recording Drums, Percussion - & Dealing with People Who Like to Hit Things 7.  

Here at The Coolest Record Studio in London Town - we got a Big thing for Microphones & Texture. 

You can kinda manipulate any audio - guitars / keyboards / bass / tuned percussion etc to taste using eq & compression - but vocals - & especially drums - they need to be captured right at source. 

So - you can use a mixture of microphone types - just as an artist would use different colours - to elaborate on your sonic vision. 

Dynamics - 

add serious colour - & also a tad of natural compression when pushed, they're also punchy, moreish & gorgeous. These mics will give you added tone. 

Condensers -

are in some way opposite - they are very clear - & are meant to faithfully reproduce what they are recording without adding anything of themselves tonally.

Ribbon Mics -

 ..... are very natural sounding - & are excellent at reproducing the environment they are placed in. 
For drums - they are a nit of a necessity - even if you just use one as an ambient mic, above, behind or in front of the kit - what they bring to the party is nothing short of magic. 

Vintage Tannoy Ribbon Microphones come in many shapes & forms - this is one of the best models: 

The lower you place a ribbon mic to the floor the more kick mic you will pick up - the higher - more snare & cymbals - never place them too close to a plosive sound source as you'll break the ribbon (expensive!). This mic is "open" on both sides so is called a "figure 8" mic.

This is a Tannoy ribbon mic with a closed back - very good for noise rejection - it is directional. 

closed back ribbon mic

 This is a Bang & Olufsen ribbon microphone - a bit more high quality than the Tannoys - used as a pair they are perfect for jazz or Country music.
 

Bang & Olufsen Ribbon Microphone

So - mono is good - especially if you want to just add some ribbon flavour to condenser & dynamic mics - but! A stereo pair will add a lot of silvery colour & beauty to anything - guitar, drums, vocals, strings - you name it - they're good for everything - though they are very delicate - so keep them away from loud sounds! 

reslo ribbon mic pair stereo

 
You can see the studio HERE .