Mixing drums recorded with only two microphones comes down to three moves: get the polarity relationship between the mics right, adjust their timing so the transients reinforce each other, and EQ both microphones as one instrument instead of soloing them. Get those right and two mics can sound bigger than ten, because there are no phase problems between channels that never existed.
That is exactly how Grammy-winning engineer Matt Ross-Spang approached the drums on Dr. Dog's "Fat Dog," a song the band recorded themselves in a cabin on a 1-inch 8-track tape machine. The whole kit arrived on two tracks: a kick mic and a single kit mic covering everything else.
Step 1: Check polarity, together, not soloed
The first plugin on both drum tracks in Matt's session is a simple EQ doing one thing: flipping polarity. Both waveforms arrived "negative," meaning the initial transient pulled the speaker inward instead of pushing it out. Many engineers believe a positive waveform nets you more perceived low end.
Matt's take is more pragmatic: what matters most is that the two mics agree with each other. Flip one against the other and listen. Sometimes making everything positive feels better, sometimes it doesn't. On this song it did, so both tracks got flipped.
Step 2: Align the mics in time
Next comes a time-alignment plugin on the kit mic, nudging it by samples relative to the kick. Moving the track in time is like physically moving the microphone closer to or further from the kit. On "Fat Dog," a surprisingly large nudge gave the snare noticeably more punch, because its transient now lined up with the energy in the kick mic.
You can do this in any DAW by zooming into the waveforms, but do the final judgment by ear, listening to both mics together.
Step 3: EQ the kit as one instrument
Matt is explicit about this: he almost never solos the kick and EQs it in isolation, because everything in the kick is also in the kit mic. Instead he listens to both together and treats moves as a system:
On the kick: a Pultec-style boost around 60 Hz for weight and 3 kHz for beater attack.
On the kit mic: a boost around 8 kHz so the snare top and hi-hat match the brightness he just added to the kick.
On the summed drum bus: tape-style saturation applied only above roughly 7 kHz, mimicking what tape does to cymbals and snare crack without brightening the whole kit.
The bleed between mics is not a problem to gate away. It is the glue. As Matt puts it, the bleed is what gives the drums life.
What about parallel processing?
With so few tracks, parallels do the heavy lifting normally handled by close mics. On "Fat Dog," Matt ran the two drum tracks into a SansAmp pedal in parallel for attack and grit, and a UA 610 compressor in parallel for weight, then blended each under the clean pair.
FAQ
Do two-mic drum recordings need gating or editing?
Usually no. With two mics the bleed is the sound. Gating creates more problems than it solves and kills the natural sustain that makes minimal miking work.
Which two microphones should I use to record drums?
A dedicated kick mic plus one well-placed mono kit mic (over the snare side or in front of the kit) is the classic combination. Placement matters far more than the model.
How do I know if my drum mics are out of phase?
Flip the polarity of one mic while listening to both. Whichever position has more low end and a fuller snare is correct.
Want to watch every one of these moves on a real session?
In the new Inside the Mix series, Matt Ross-Spang opens his Dr. Dog "Fat Dog" mix at Southern Grooves in Memphis and walks through the whole thing, drums to tape print.
