Pearl Jam 10 Overhead Drum Mics....burp

[digdrum1]

Hey....I pulled out Pearl Jams Ten album again after a very long time and had forgotton how great the drums sound on that album. This might be a shot in the dark but would anyone happen to know the type of mics were used as the overheads? The drum sounds are soooooo roomy (as in the room is very evident)...I love it. Could they have been Ominpresent or Fig 8? Any thoughts would be.....groovy. :scared:

[michaelhoddy]

Probably was room mics with a bunch of compression, in addition to actual overheads.

I know what you're talking about on that record, and while I don't know which mics they were, I can tell you that the room makes up a whole lot more of the sound than the specific mics do.

My usual room mic trick is SF-12 plus Distressor set to "nuke" or somewhere close.

[DAS]

Yes, the compression probably has more to do with what I think you are referring to than anything else. I mean, there is a ton of compression - I'm not referring to which piece of equipment was used. I have really good luck with a DCL-200 for this type of effect - it stays very smooth and clean even with pretty extreme settings.

[digdrum1]

So it's the guitar players fault the drums sound so good.....is that what you're telling me?....lol...KIDDING!...geesh..I can see World War III starting over that comment on this forum.....lol.....anyone know of the room these drums were in? We all have to admit that is one tasty sounding room! Can I pick that room up at a local KFC or anything?....lol....OK yes Digdrum1 has had a few...but my questions are valid....lol

[xstatic]

I am not sure if it was "Ten" or a different album, but I talked to a person once who was working at a studio when Peral Jam was in doing some studio stuff. He mentioned that they loved to set up a decent PA in the room with monitors and all instead of using headphones. I am also not sure what and how much of an effect that may have had on different sounds. It's kind of hard to say how it affected things unless you were there to know exactly when and how they were using the PA and how that room was normally used and normally sounded. I could be mixing information up too. I have met lots of people and worked with lots of bands:D

[DAS]

Taking that one step further, I do know of a a few instances where records were recorded by running the drumset through a PA system and then miking the PA output. Seriously! I'm not insinuating this was done on the PJ record, but from what I understand (I have never done it) the resulting sound is in the ballpark of what they achieved, just more raw.

[Ted]

I know U2 did that on several records.

-Ted

[Danno]

I've read that Dave Jerden often used this technique. He will record the drums in a booth, and then run those mics to a pa in, say, the main room, and then record the sound of the pa (I think that's what I read). I think he said he uses a sliding door on the booth, too, to vary how much of the drum sound leaves the booth raw, so to speak, so the drums don't sound the same on every track. Apparently he feels this setup gives him more control over the sounds of the cymbals. I read this in Maureen Droney's book where she interviews a bunch of engineers (can't remember the name of the book, but it's very interesting). I may not be recounting this correctly, so probably best to check the interview. I do like his drum sounds, though.

[JeffBarnett]

Originally posted by Danno
... I read this in Maureen Droney's book where she interviews a bunch of engineers (can't remember the name of the book, but it's very interesting). I may not be recounting this correctly, so probably best to check the interview. I do like his drum sounds, though.

The book is called Mix Masters and it's published by Berklee Press.

[elsteve9]

I've got that book, very good.


-Stephen