Some folks have criticized the glyn johns technique, because they think its too funkyexperimentaladvanced, has too many phase problems, and that unless you are. A legend in four microphones the glyn johns drum recording. This video is from an interview at the rock and roll hall of fame in cleveland, november 19, 2012, and focuses on the recording of the seminal whos next. Jan 07, 2015 the glyn johns technique what glyn johns discovered apparently by accident after leaving out a microphone from an acoustic guitar overdub was that a great position for one of the overheads is at the side of the drum kit, looking in at the drums, instead of above. Sep 02, 2008 i dont position the overheads like glyn john does, though. Take one of the most complex instruments to record, an acoustic drum set. First phase first or why you should never use the glyn. Glyn johns tcm mastering mastering information and. Microphone selection this technique involves four microphones two overhead microphones,a kick mic, and a snare mic. Other drum overhead positions include the recorderman technique where the distance between both microphones and the snare drum is equal, as is the distance between both microphones and the bass drum and glyn johns method where one overhead is. Jijja lasvegas on december 22, at i have bookmarked it for later. Then mike the inside of the kick with a dynamic cardioid microphone. The famous glyn johns drum miking technique bobby owsinskis. Real drum bleed and drum resonance between the shells.
Dec 21, 2014 glyn johns, who recorded groups like the rolling stones, the who and the clash, discusses what he liked about led zeppelins first album and what he didnt about the beatles last. Legendary producer bob clearmountain on recording drums. Nevertheless, such seemingly technical details are directly responsible for crafting the. And this gearslutz thread on overhead drum mic placement has more discussion and pictures. Chances are youre only average at getting drum sounds with the simplest techniques but for some reason you still want to graduate to something more. Drum overhead microphone technique comparison recording hacks. How to mic drums for recording, part 2 four microphones. Though his approach has been used by engineers for decades. Just use whatever mics you have a pair of same models preferably and keep at it. Johns recorded just about everybody of importance during the 1960s through the late 1980s. A life recording hits with the rolling stones, the who, led zeppelin, the eagles, eric clapton, the faces. Glyn thomas johns born 15 february 1942 is an english musician, recording engineer and record producer. The drum sound from back then could be huge, but engineerproducer glyn johns got a particularly great sound with just 3 mics on those early hits of led zeppelin, the who and many others. Finding a good spot for the drums in the room, the acoustics, drum tuning and playing, because you have so little room to cheat after the recoding, it has to be done right.
Fxpansion bfd vintage recording techniques bfd3 vstorrent. May 18, 2015 there is something beautiful about simplicity, especially when it comes to music making. Often ill use a spaced pair of overhead microphones, and in my studio i have a string that i use to measure the distance from the snare drum to make sure the two overheads are. Glyn johns is best known for his work with led zeppelin and the beatles. In this pattern, youll place a wa87 above the drum kit, roughly four feet directly above the snare. Glyn johns describes the recording of the seminal whos next ive always been a huge who fan and just as big a fan of producerengineer glyn johns work. The basic glyn johns technique uses four microphones. Legendary producer bob clearmountain on recording drums with. Recording drums can seem daunting at first, but its actually not that scary.
A shure sm52 and sm91 inside the bass drum and a u47 fet outside the bass drum. The beatles specifically the miking of ringo something that has been fascinating me lately is the sound of ringo starr on the beatles records, specifically their first three. Ive even it seen using three but for today, well use four. The glyn johns technique what glyn johns discovered apparently by accident after leaving out a microphone from an acoustic guitar overdub was that a great position for one of the overheads is at the side of the drum kit, looking in at the drums. Glyn johns was a studio engineer who worked with the who, stevie winwood, eric clapton, the rolling stone and lots more pioneering a technique of using two overheads and two close mics. Bfd vintage recording techniques is an expansion pack for bfd3 that uses a variety of vintage microphone techniques to capture a beautiful ludwig classic maple drum kit. Four mic recording techniques im doing a project that will require four mics on the drums because of the budget. Ive measured equadistance from the snare for both mics, levels are pretty close, tomride is aiming across snare at hi hats, panned 100%, overhead is pointing straight down at center of kick, panned 50%.
Typically the modern studio reaches for 12 or more microphones to capture the. The glyn johns 3 mic drum setup sometimes with 4 mics on led zeppelins when the levee breaks is internet audio folklore. The first dynamic microphone is placed 6to12 inches from the resonance head of the kick drum. Its kind of a halfway point between the simple techniques ive been discussing and full multimiking, and if properly executed, it creates an. Miking the drumset in your home recording studio if youre like most musicians, getting greatsounding drum recordings seems like one of the worlds great mysteries. The glyn johns drum recording technique home recording jedi. The mono signals from each microphone are assigned to the left and right channels of a stereo track to create a sense of width in the recording. The glyn johns drum recording method recording revolution. Glyn describes coming up with the 3 mic stereo technique while setting up to track led zepplin i, and discovering that the third mic was patched in on a track reserved for an overdub and the tape return was hard panned, he recognized the sound as something special, he made a few adjustments and proceeded to track the record with that setup.
The glyn johns technique uses only four microphones for capturing a full drum kit. Chances are youre only average at getting drum sounds with the simplest techniques but for some reason you still want to graduate to something more advanced. Any purchases made through our amazon links help support this blog at no cost to you. Glyn johns technique glyn johns is a famous recording engineer. Its largely a twomic adaptation of glyn johns mic setup. Yet, as track counts increased, johns technique for miking drums didnt change. Some folks have criticized the glyn johns technique, because they think its too funkyexperimentaladvanced, has too many phase problems, and that unless you are glyn johns and recording john bonham himself you wont be able to achieve this famous sound. Glyn johns technique how to mic a drum kit with three. But his brother andy is also or maybe only credited with recording that song. The glynn johns three mic drum recording setup jon stinson. You can hear big, fat drums on great albums, but when you try to record your drums, they. As a general overview, the book begins with descriptions of certain playing techniques, drum set up information and pearls of wisdom from the man himself.
Glyn johns drum miking technique george adams audio. What if we go backwards on the glyn johns method to make sure that its. Popularized by the noted engineer producer glyn johns rolling stones, the who, led zeppelin, this arrangement is called isosceles because the two overheads form an isosceles triangle with the snare. Popularized by noted engineerproducer glyn johns rolling stones, the who, led zeppelin, this arrangement is called isosceles because the two overheads form an isosceles triangle with the snare. I dont position the overheads like glyn john does, though. The glyn johns technique uses four microphones two overhead mics, a mic in the kick drum and one on the snare drum. If youre curious who glyn is and why this technique is so widely used, id recommend taking a quick look at his recording credits. Glyn johns describes the recording of the seminal whos next. Glyn johns is the sound of a large portion of rock radio, as well as most of our record collections. But today i want to highlight a famous technique for recording big drum sounds with minimal mics 4 to be exact, the glyn johns method. In this video we offer a short explanation of how to set up microphones for the 3 microphone glyn johns studio recording method for drums.
This technique involves four microphones two overhead microphones,a kick mic, and a snare mic. Typically the modern studio reaches for 12 or more microphones to capture the entire kit well. One of my favorite drum microphone techniques is the glyn johns overhead pattern. We pass on the hardwon wisdom of fifty top producers in the essential sound on sound guide to recording kick and snare drums, the backbone of modern music when it comes to describing in interview how they record drums, top producers seem to spend more time discussing techniques for snare drum and bass drum than anything else. See more ideas about recording studio home, drums studio and types of tumors. By playing games with the various qualities of each, i get the sound im after. Glyn johns drum mic technique how to record drums with. This is now my third kick at the can no pun intended, but i cant seem to center the kick with glyn johns with the two overheads. Basically, im helping one of my friends get his home studio setup. Glyn johns is a british musician, engineer, and producer who most notably worked with led zeppelin, the who, the rolling stones, the eagles, eric clapton, and even started his career assisting for the beatles.
The most obvious missing drum mic technique here is the glyn johns method, about which more can be read here. Simply put, glyn johns is a master recording engineer. More glyn johns drumswhy dont my drums sound huge like. Recorderman overhead drum mic technique hometracked. Oct 03, 2014 glyn johns is best known for his work with led zeppelin and the beatles. The reason i chose to research this particular technique is because he created the iconic drum sound for 1970s music and it can been seen in multiple different genres. Popular microphone techniques for vocals, guitars and. Glyn johns is an engineerproducer from the uk who got his start working with the beatles, then went on to work with legendary bands such as the the who, the rolling stones, the eagles, and many more.
Glyn johns describes the recording of the seminal whos. One of the innovations in drum micing came from him and is called the glyn johns technique. The glyn johns technique is something that take a bit of practice to get right. I use a threemicrophone technique on bass drum, says eddie kramer of his variant on this approach. The unique positioning of the overhead mics is what makes this technique interesting and effective. If it worked for the kinks, zeppelin and the stones it should be good enough for all of us. The result is a selection of familiar, authentic vintage sounds suitable for rock, pop. There are a few variations on it esp distance to, or in front of, or somewhere around the bass drum but the overly simple approach is 1. The glyn johns technique for recording drums audio. Highlights an immensely detailed ludwig maple kit for bfd3.
Johns has recorded many well known musicians including eric clapton, the rolling stones, the who, steve miller, and the eagles. His drum recording technique requires only 3 microphones to capture a full kit sound however ill talk about and describe several variations that you can employ with anywhere from 4 to only 1 microphone. Its glynn johns to rescue with his simple yet monumental method for recording drums. Heres recordermans original post about his technique, along with some good followup discussion. Jul 02, 2018 4 microphone drum setup sound pure gear tip duration. Johns has recorded many wellknown musicians including eric clapton, the rolling stones, the who, steve miller, and the eagles. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. He is the father of ethan johns, the older brother of andy johns, and uncle of will johns.
Glyn johns created his own distinctive drum miking technique that played. Apr 12, 2019 simply put, glyn johns is a master recording engineer. If you want to read more on microphone types and techniques look at parts 5 and 6. Aug 06, 20 one of the innovations in drum micing came from him and is called the glyn johns technique. You need two large diapham cardioid condensor mics and two dynamics. For the glyn johns technique, 2 neumann tlm103s were used for overheads, which when combined with the snare and kick direct channels provide that classic sound. B what challenges you can expect when using the glyn johns drum miking technique. The options to weigh when recording drums can be overwhelming. Check out parts 9 and 10 for recording guitarsfollowed by strings, horns and woodwind, then drums kicked off in part 18 going through to part 23 for percussion. The glyn johns 3 mic technique for recording drums. This includes such artists as eric clapton, the rolling stones, the who, steve miller, and the eagles, just to name a few. Many have tried to duplicate his technique since, but few come close to capturing the sound. Hi all, i have been reading quite a lof about glyn johns method for tracking drums lately. Glyn johns was a sound engineer and occasional producer mainly known for his work in the 60s and 70s.
Stereo recording is a technique involving the use of two microphones to simultaneously record one instrument. First phase first or why you should never use the glyn johns. I skipped it primarily because it is not a stereo overhead technique its a 4mic approach for the whole drum kit. Recent works include band of horses, benmont tench, ryan adams, patty griffin, and an upcoming eric clapton album. Sound man by glyn johns the duties of a sound engineer setting up equipment, recording audio, mixing tracks arent the most glamorous aspect of the music business. Miking the drumset in your home recording studio dummies.
Find the simplest drum technique in the book and get really good at making those drums sound awesome. Glyn johns drum mic technique how to record drums with alex. Whats especially interesting is how many of the main parts in several. In the years after let it be, glyn johns developed a stereo miking technique which has gained wide acceptance for rock recordings. More glyn johns drumswhy dont my drums sound huge like john. Nov, 2014 glyn johns was the engineer and producer of some of the most popular rock songs ever recorded, including classics from artists like the rolling stones, the eagles, led zeppelin, and neil young. Nevertheless, such seemingly technical details are directly responsible for crafting the sonic identity of an artist, album, or song. Sound man glyn johns on recording an era the dinner party. Mike stavrous book mixing with your mind begins with that right.
The glyn johns method is a simple drum kit micing technique using 3 or 4 mics, as heard on albums by the rolling stones, the who and led. The exercises in the book focus on triplet exploration and 4 way coordination. Often ill use a spaced pair of overhead microphones, and in my studio i have a string that i use to measure the distance from the snare drum to make sure the two overheads are in phase with each over with respect to the snare. This specific technique involves only four microphones. Feb 26, 2002 heres a method i use all the time with minimal mics and sounds great almost all the time. Popular microphone techniques for vocals, guitars and drums.
Who is glyn johns, you ask, and why does he have his own method. Learn the glyn johns microphone technique with alex reeves. Nov 26, 2015 the sound man is not a man of letters, yet he has written a book accumulating about a million words. Nov 27, 2018 glyn johns describes the recording of the seminal whos next ive always been a huge who fan and just as big a fan of producerengineer glyn johns work. The glyn johns method the second technique is the glyn johns method. The secret to the configuration is in the location of the two isosceles mics.
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