Recorderman Technique - The Real Story from the Recording Session it was Invented At

The drums sounded excellent through a phone without headphones. I can only imagine how it sounds on a better listening situation.

This is amazing haha....haven’t even listened to the result yet.

Hey brother, or anyone else who can tell, is that a 58 on the kick?

hes grilled lol

so much knowledge being dropped I love it

pretty incredible drum sound you were able to achieve

How was the panning set on the desk?

I like it but there's 420 likes and I don't wanna be the one to wreck it.

Dude, I won't copy paste this comment on every of your video so I do it on this one... But damn, thank you so much for what you do!

Your content is invaluable, your knowledge is so inspirational and your guests are able to share the passion for music, recording and all the stuff on a such brilliant way! Big support, and much love from France, that's all I got to say!

I usually love your videos, but this was terrible. 'Mixerman' spent a lot of time making sure we knew this was invented on his session, and that he was now about to show us exactly how it's done, and then when it came to the crunch he actually wasn't sure! Not surprising since it seemed he was just full of self-promoting hot air. He didn't even know if the measurement was taken from the bass drum beater or the rim - unbelievable (and the video didn't make it clear either!). He didn't invent the technique, someone else did, and it became embarrassingly obvious he didn't really take careful observations of how it was done, yet here he is trying to own it.
Also, as a producer/mixer how did he not know to use a mic lead instead of string or sticks to measure distance - good god, basic stuff. There were so many inconsistencies in his explanations; he'd say one thing, then later say almost the opposite - it was laughable really. Too busy pumping himself up I fear. This was painful to watch. But anyway, thanks for trying to get the story straight from him.
Interesting the hihats didn't register.

That sounds pretty great! I know this must have been mentioned in other videos‚ but what's the name of those ribbons? Also! Has anyone tried muffling figure-of-eight condensers to aproximate a ribbon frequenc response?

The ribbons as overheads sure do take any harshness out of the cymbals, I think that depends also on how hard the drummer is hitting those which can make a huge difference of course if we don’t use ribbons. Cool vid.

Thank you a lot for the video! As an amateur, I find very interesting and valuable info on your channel. Keep up the great work.

what does he mean about the drummer being "in balance"?

Where was the hat? I almost couldn't hear it at all.

How baked are you guys? JK. I always reference this vid. Truly informative content.

Are the x/y room mics pointed at the floor? Was kinda hard to make out exactly how and where they were positioned.

I mean this is great, but I don't expect the guy who was there when it actually happened and being featured in this video to specifically talk about this technique... not to remember what the heck he did...

V Interesting to see just how 'across the kit the mics are pointed, did you notice any effects worth mentioning from changing the way the mics point, in addition to where they're placed?

While this is a great technique for having a balanced drummer, If i had any 4 mics, I would still set up a 3-mic Glynn Johns technique and then add the close snare mic, since balanced drummers are few and far between! LOL.

I really love the theme music... where can I get that?!

this is a nice authentic video. you brought us with you on the experience instead of just teaching what the recorderman is all about

For an example of Glyn John’s drum mix technique, listen to any Led Zeppelin album up until Houses Of The Holy. Glyn’s mix technique plus a stair sell at a country mansion is what makes that John Bonham sound, when Bonham is playing drums.

I can give you a list of 30 records recorded using this technique from much of the Wrecking Crew tracks for Motown artists, through Led Zep, Neil Young up until Pete Dougherty and Babyshambles in which we used the very technique

Guys, if you have any class please credit the guy who made this his signature drum recording technique - Glynn Johns

Originally they just used a pair of U47s

Are the mics panned hard left and right?

invents recorderman technique
doesn't know how to get mics equidistant from both kick and snare
doesn't know what part of the kick the distance is measured from

9.00mins - we have maths for problems like that! ;)

What ribbons are those?

Jeesh

Funny stuff.

love the cymbals with the ribbons, hate harsh sounding mics on overheads

I really enjoyed this. thank you

Not too different from Glyn Johns method.

Not surprisingly, it sounds amazing.

What ribbons for the overheads did you use?

Started this video when it came out, got to the end tonight due to this guy's rate of story telling.

Mixerman was a great book! I read it somewhere around 2007 to 2010 time frame? I forget the year, but it was a great book, and I still own it. :-)

Nice technique! Thanks for sharing!

Recorderman is my dad :) he was telling about this interview. He didn't know about it until recently so I came to check it out myself. I knew my dad was good at what he does but as someone who themselves doesn't understand the music and the industry on the same level I never comprehended HOW good he was. I didn't realize he set a new standard to recording techniques for drums.

Sounds great although there is very little hi hat. I have seen people use this technique but with the hi hat side overhead pointing directly down which seemed to help.

Best way to center the kick and snare simultaneously is to use a long piece of string or guitar cable held in place on the kick with the beater and held in place on the snare with your left hand; use your right hand to sweep the slack up to the mic over the snare, then over your right shoulder to find all points that are equidistant to both kit pieces.

Two pieces of yarn, one taped to the snare center, one taped to the middle of the kick where the beater hits.

Put the overhead mic two drumsticks up to start. Take both yarns stretched taut to the point where they meet at the OH mic. Keeping them stretched taut, find the same place where it would be over the drummer's shoulder.

Have you tried cutting a hole in the pipe, putting a mic stand in and clip on the mic inside the pipe? Would be a cool effect. Both just inside the pipe faceing outward, in the middle of the pipe, or maybe faceing backwards catching the ”return”? An omni would be wierd!

Or a piezo on the pipe!!

Great video!

From the horse’s mouth- awesome!

Recorder Man is a very cute technique. Not original at all. Many of us. Have been doing similar things. Since, the beginning of, Analog Recording. I know I have.

It's almost a, Rudy Van Gelder like, technique. Instead of moving the musicians around. You move the microphones around. What a concept! Maybe, it'll catch on?

Really all depends on the kind of, drum sound and tracks, you want. And it's a relevant, technique four, Recorder Man, set up.

And so I highly approve your technique. It certainly isn't original. But you can claim fame for it. I guess somebody had to? It may have well been, you..

This was posted 7 years ago. I wonder if he survived, COVID? You just never know?
RemyRAD

Good stuff as always.