In this episode we talk about the unpopular but super important topic of phase and polarity. And especially how it affects your drum recordings. 

Want big, punchy drums? Want your snare to hit hard? Want your kick drum to have all the rich, full low end? Get your phase and polarity right!

Things mentioned in this episode:

This is the line that you should think of as your middle axis for the overhead mics, if you want your kick and snare to stay center and focused:

Here's an example of two snare drum mics in phase and out of phase:

The top waveform is a snare top mic and the bottom waveform is a snare bottom mic.

The top mic stays the same in both examples but the polarity of the bottom mic is being flipped. Look at the difference in the bottom mic waveform and its relationship to the upper waveform of the snare top mic. You have to look at the beginning of the waveform to clearly see and notice it.

When they are in phase the two add and have all the punch. When they are out of phase they cancel out and sound thin when combined.

Now listen to the audio examples to hear what that sounds like.

In Phase:

Out Of Phase: