Basic Overheads

Learn the basics to achieving great sounding drum overheads.

Key Points

  • Mic selection and placement comes first
  • The drummer's ability to mix themselves before the mics is huge
  • Think about micing the entire kit, not just the cymbals
  • Soloed overheads should sound good by themselves! If they don't, reach for placement before you reach for EQ.

Pro tip: using darker cymbals will allow you to more aggressively brighten overheads if needed, bringing presence to the snare and toms as well.

After positioning, your first step should be a high-pass filter

You can get more specific with high-mid tweaks, depending on the specific cymbals the drummer is using


Gear in this video

  • Console: Yamaha TF5

More like this

  • Overhead Micing (video)
  • Drum Overhead Phase Alignment (video)

Topics

Mixing

Categories

Audio
101