Drum Recording Process in Pro Tools

[Halcyon2k]

I usually always programmed drums, but I plan to record live drums soon.
I was wondering about how to track the drummer. I've heard about drummers getting songs in one take, but if I were to have to record in separate, good takes, is there some good way to do it without having to create an extra 7 drum tracks?

Also, is the best way to do this by make a scratch track with just guitars, vocals, and a click track for the drummer to record over?

I really appreciate any reply!
Thanks!

[RedBeerd]

If your goal is to record the drummer in one take, then the first step is to make sure that your drummer is SUPERB. Even the best drummers you hear commercially spend a couple of hours tracking one song. Keep this in mind.

As far as the recording is concerned: if you don't wanna record multiple tracks, then you'll be using one microphone, placed in the optimal position, with proper gain staging. There's not much mixing involved in one track.

Generally, it's the drum tracks that are made scratch for the benefit of the other instruments. That's why it's so important for the drummer to be a very good one, so that the other instruments have a dependable reference for rhythm and tempo. I imagine you'd just use a metronome and the drummer takes it from there. Or a digital version of what the drummer is going to record live, and he can play along.

Peace.

[epotts06]

you could record drums with two over heads but tracking drums in general is going to be a b*tch...And mixing will be worst. Lots of phase issues and bleed. And drummers usely want bass and vox maybe a click track. Make the cue mix mono

[Halcyon2k]

Thank you both for your replies. I had imagined it would be pretty difficult. I'm recording a few friends of mine who asked if I would. They just want a real drum recording so i gotta figure all this out. I'll be trying to use 4 or more mics on the drums. I guess I'll just need to talk it out with the drummer to see what would be easier for him.. If I just gave him a click track and a quick scratch bass track, or bass & guitar. I'll try setting everything up and jamming out and recording to check for phase issues and whatnot. I figured it would be a lot of work. It's fun learning something new. Thanks again!