recording suggestions

I'm want to make a demo of me playing the piano with a drummer. I've recorded with the G70 before but not a live drummer. Should I just place a Zoom between the two of us or I also have a Korg multi track. If I use the multi track how many mikes do I use on the drums and should we play it all live or record seperately?

I've never recorded a drummer, however, my son did this for several years. He usually used 4 to 5 mics for the drummer alone, and there was always lots of EQing to do for every section of the drummer setup. I believe he recorded each section on a separate track so he could fine tune everything in the final edit. He frequently told me that recording a drummer, especially a rocker, was extremely difficult and time consuming.

Good Luck,

Gary

Just piano and drums...? Probably a jazz drummer then, no? Those tend to be able to not whack the kit just for the exercise, and record with simple setups much easier.

Heck, most of the great jazz recordings were done with one mike (or a pair) up in a room!

How good is the room you are recording in? Very bright? Very dull? Very small? That makes a big difference... Are you playing acoustic piano, or the G70? Will you be playing through an amp, or feeding the drummer on cans? Lots of options...

I think, were I doing this, I would use the multi-track, but you don't need to go overboard with the mikes and post-production. One mike in the kick, two mikes in a stereo pair pointing from above to cover the entire kit. DI the G70, feed the drummer on cans. Experiment with positioning on the kick and overheads, depending on how he plays.

Try for the best natural balance on the overheads, not too much cymbals, not too little snare. Move them around, you'll hear a big difference (a cheap stereo bar for holding the mikes at the correct angle is a boon).

Done right, you shouldn't even NEED much EQ and compression in post. A little on the kick (and just use that to flesh out the overheads... they are your main mikes, and will already have some kick in them), a little on the overheads, you might be fine. Don't try squashing too much. Get the balance between the piano and drums in the mix itself as good as you can first, then master up to the desired level with some soft comp on the whole mix, and now is the time for a final EQ (use a piano/drums CD for reference, look for a good recording of the same type of ensemble), then some limiting at the end to raise levels...

OTOH, why not just stick the Zoom up, and try by experimentation, to find a 'sweet spot' in the room where the drums and piano (use a good keyboard amp or powered PA to get it to balance with the drummer) sound balanced? Just remember to take most of the reverb off the piano, because the mikes will pick up the natural room sound anyway (no reverb on a real piano!)...

One of those two approaches might make doing this less traumatic than a big multi mike setup (phasing issues with multiple mikes ruins many amateur drum recordings) and keep you focused on making music, rather than engineering music...

Hope this helps.

I'll be playing a RD300 and we are doing a boogie woogie demo to get into the blues and jazz fest in the area. I think I'm going to try your idea about moving the Zoom around first. Thanks alot