The Drum Squash Mic Trick

Here you can see the ‘fifth mic’ position discussed in this article — in this case using an Oktava MK012 small‑diaphragm omni capacitor mic.

When opting for a more minimal approach to drum miking, a compressed omni mic beneath the snare can pay dividends...

Recording drums is one of the most challenging project‑studio tasks, and it’s only made more difficult if you’re battling against the clock and have limited numbers of mics or recorder inputs to work with. As such, we’ve often encouraged SOS readers in these pages to streamline the process with a four‑mic setup, where you first position a stereo mic pair to capture a fairly natural full‑kit sound, and then add in kick and snare close mics to add the extra focus and punch those instruments require in most commercial music styles. In recent years, though, I’ve started recommending a fifth mic to supplement this setup — an addition that I think significantly enhances the mixed result, despite requiring very little extra setup time.

The Fifth Element

The mic in question is placed a few inches under the snare drum, and although it might at first glance seem to be just a regular under‑snare mic, there are a few crucial differences:

• It’s further away from the drum than you’d expect — a good eight inches, usually, and quite close to the side of the kick drum;
• It’s an omnidirectional mic, not a cardioid one;
• It’s pointing horizontally towards the drum stool, rather than up towards the snare wires. (Omnidirectional mics may be designed to pick up sound equally from all directions, but in practice the physical presence of the mic’s body makes them a little directional at higher...