11
Positioning the microphone
Drums
In order to prevent interference due to crosstalk between
adjacent sound sources, try to position the microphone so
that the interfering sound source is located in the angle
area of the highest cancellation of the microphone
(approx. 135°; see polar diagram).
Position Resulting sound Commentary
More fundamental,
little overtones
Position on the drum:
3–5 cm above the
drumskin, the
fundamental to
overtones ratio can be
adjusted by changing the
angle of the microphone.
The most balanced
results are obtained at
an angle of 30–60°.
Less fundamental,
many overtones
Use of a second 604
for picking up the
bottom of the drumskin
and the snares. NB: The
lower microphone must
be phase-reversed to
avoid phase-cancellation
effects due to the second
microphone being on the
other side of the
drumskin.