recorderman

The name Recorderman comes from a user on the recording.org forums who is credited with popularizing the technique. (Though his approach has been used by engineers for decades. It’s largely a two-mic adaptation of Glyn Johns’ mic setup.)

Recorderman in a nutshell: Use two drum sticks as a ruler to place your mics the same distance from the snare drum, and a cable or string to get them equidistant from the kick beater.

Recorderman’s approach accomplishes 3 things:

1. It places the snare and kick drums in the center of the stereo image.
2. It ensures any close mics on the kick and snare are in phase with the overheads.
3. It captures a balanced drum kit sound, close to what the drummer hears.

Original article: http://www.hometracked.com/2007/05/12/recorderman-overhead-drum-mic-technique