Tips & Techniques

Drum recording with two microphones

Comparing AKG 414 and Coles 4038

We are planning a full studio tour and video interview with Andy Bowes at Catalyst Studios in the next few months but for now, we hope you enjoy watching this short video that we recorded with Russell Cottier pre-COVID on comparing two pairs of mics to record drums.

Recording drum features are hugely in-demand. Many people want to record drums on a real budget or just get back to a more organic sounding drum kit. Here, Russ Cottier and Andy Bowes experiment with two pairs of mics and we thing that they show you can get great sounds without 20 mics!

Which do you prefer? Showing that just two microphones can get a great drum sound (if you have a good drummer!) so stepping up from our last Shure SM 57's we pushed the boat out and tried a pair of AKG 414's that can be bought used for about $1,000 (or you could borrow some!) and then a pair of Coles Ribbon microphones.

The pair of Coles 4038's can be bought for around $1,200, again, you could borrow them. The point here is more to show the sound with the positioning and you could use far more affordable mics, these were just two tasty pairs of mics that we spotted in the studio so thought we should give them a try. Each pair was placed by Russ Cottier and Russ also did the drum hitting duties!

For more information on Andy Bowes and Catalyst Studios, please visit their website.

Catalyst Studios

  • Units 7-17 Catapult Too,
  • Charles Street,
  • St.Helens,
  • Merseyside
  • WA10 1LX

Tel : 01744 733222

Email : info@catalyst-studios.co.uk