Tip: Recording Drums

This has always been a scary thing for me. My main experience with this has been in a live band situation. I have usually been involved with two extremes, sometimes live recording, sometimes just live FOH stuff. 1. Mic on every drum, and some overheads. Pros:

gives you every drum in the mixer.

ultimate flexibility on mixing, assuming there isn't too much stage noise.

Cons:

takes a lot of channels in snake/mixer. submixing can help, but more complexity.

easy to get strange phasing problems that are hard to fix later.

in a live situation, can be too much stage noise to add effects.

requires lots of mics.

plenty of opportunity for 'mystery feedback'. requires sound man that is on his toes.

2. Stuff every drum full of foam/pillows and trigger them. Overheads for cymbals. Pros:

incredibly quiet stage volume, no more loud drums in the vocal mics.

easy to have hundreds of drums available for different songs.dog-bark samples are optional.

fun to take a block of wood and install a trigger in it. easy cowbell/hand percussion for front person.

easy to have effects, and have them change levels automatically with differing kits.

very reproducible results in a live situation.

Cons:

drums now sound like cardboard boxes acoustically.

because of crappy acoustic drum sound, a monitor is almost required for drummer.

an additional drum monitor mix can require more complexity with PA

requires time spent on getting velocity levels edited to drummer's playing.

a power blip or reset while playing live will produce angry drummers.

HOWEVER... Recording drums on their own at home is a whole new ballgame for me. I don't have lots of drum mics. As noted in other threads, I am just starting on getting an acoustically treated space for mics. I stumbled across what's known as the Recorderman/Glynn Johns method of micing drums. This requires good sounding drums and room in the first place... It's easier to see the Youtube video demonstrating it than for me to make this post longer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiFOD1EeKhQ A mic on kick/snare still can help, but I read of people getting good results just with overheads. It seems very concentrated on avoiding phase problems. I have read that some like to use three drumstick lengths instead of two. In the video, when he's moving the string in an arc, I think it's important to not let it slip, keep it pinched. Your mileage may vary. Now, the next step is to get a drummer to my house and try it.