Recording Percussion
Congas
- Congas, tumbas and bongos are single headed, low-pitched drums
- They can be individually miked very close; 1" to 3" above the head and 2" in from the rim
- The mics can be pulled back to around 1' (30cm) for a fuller, more 'live' tone
- Alternatively, a single mic or XY pair can be used to pick up the drums at a placement point of around 1' above the head(s)
Hand Drums
- Hand drums are often deeper in pitch, therefore requiring the mic to be backed off in order to allow the sound to develop and/or interact with the room
- A good starting point is to position a mic 1' to 3' in front of the drum head
- The drum's low end is produced from it's back hole; a mic could be placed 6" to 2' from this port
- The rear sound will be 180° out of phase with the front, so the rear mic channel's phase will have to be reversed (Ø)
Xylophone, Vibraphone & Marimba
- The standard way to mic a tuned percussion instrument is using a stereo pair of condensers above the playing bars
- A spaced pair must use the 3:1 rule to determine the distance from the bars; a spaced pair will produce a clear and wide stereo image
- A coincident stereo pair (e.g. XY) can help eliminate possible phase errors
© Matt Bellingham 2003 – 2006
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