Mixing Drums Recorded With A Single Microphone

I ran into a fun mixing challenge this past year while working on an album called “Magical Thinking” for an artist named Windchime Weather. It was recorded in their garage during the pandemic using nothing but Logic Pro X and a couple of dynamic mics. The drums were recorded with a single mic overhead, the Sennheiser MD 421… not what you would typically expect for this application. Despite the apparent limitations of this setup, I am proud of the final product and I think it’s a good reminder that you can still make compelling, beautiful music with even the most humble of studio setups.

In this video, I break down how I approached mixing the drums for the song, “Magical Thinking”. I walk through my plugin chain and talk about my techniques for bringing life and dimension to a muffled mono drum recording.

Be sure to check out the full song on your preferred streaming platform. Here’s a link to it on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3qZrskBPF7TBZNTo2Zah4Y

-Brian