Coles 4038: Recording Drum Overheads | Mothership Gear

Coles 4038: Recording Drum Overheads | Mothership Gear
#drumrecording #microphones #ringostarr #johnbonham

The Coles 4038 is one of the most popular ribbon microphones for capturing an overhead drum sound. Spencer Alfonso sits down with Dan Bailey to discuss the heritage and sound of the microphone.

The Mothership Gear crew headed to Dan's drum tracking studio, and captured some great performances to illustrate how the tone of the 1970's drum sound impacts the way session drummers approach a song. Dan walks us through to popular approaches: The Ringo Starr approach, and the John Bonham approach. By changing the dynamic feel of a performance Dan can achieve to totally different drum sounds with the same microphones and drum kit.

On Mothership Gear, we invite musicians to hang at the studio, and bring over their favorite or most unique pieces of gear.

Dan Bailey's Drum Kit:
Rogers Covington Green Marine Pearl Covington 3-Piece Shell Pack (2021/2022): 13", 16", 22"
Vintage Spec: Internal Mufflers

Dan Bailey's Cymbals:
Istanbul Agop:
Istanbul Agop 15" Special Edition Jazz Hi-Hats
Istanbul Agop 20" Traditional Jazz Ride Cymbal
Istanbul Agop 22" Traditional Crash Ride Cymbal
Istanbul Agop 20" 30th Anniversary Ride Cymbal
Istanbul Agop 20" Traditional Medium Crash Cymbal

Drum Heads:
Coated Ambassadors

Microphones:
Beyerdynamic M201
Coles 4038
AKG D12
FET47
SM54
Sony c37
RB500's

Hosted by:
Spencer Alfonso (Creative Director) (Co-Owner of Ildefonso, Inc.)
Riley and the Roxies / The Margots / The TVC

Today’s guest on Mothership Gear
Dan Bailey (Music Director, Drummer (Father John Misty), Recording Engineer
instagram.com/drichardbailey
patreon.com/drichardbailey

About Ildefonso, Inc.
Ildefonso, Inc is a full service sync house and music agency.

Say Hi to Ildefonso, Inc.:
ildefonso.co
instagram.com/ildefonsoinc
twitter.com/ildefonsoinc

More About the Rogers Covington Series From Big Bang:
To produce that classic, crisp and wide-open Rogers Drum sound (that we all know and love), each drum shell is formed through a heat-bending lamination process. Once molded, glued and air-dried to vintage spec perfection, the shells are then meticulously hand-built in our USA workshop. The overwhelming response from those who’ve have played the new Covington drums includes many vintage Rogers drum kit owners. It can be summed up in one player's quote: "These shells resonate for days."

Covington Series 3-Piece shell packs (rack/floor/kick) are available in Green Marine Pearl, White Marine Pearl and Black Diamond Pearl finishes, in either 12"/14"/20" and 12"/16"/22" configurations. All kits feature classic styling and appointments, like the Bowtie T-rods and script logo badges, with your choice of 9mm hex-steel, or lightweight 12.7mm aluminum spurs and legs.

Heat bending (not to be confused steam bending) is a special process of heating 2mm thick solid plies of wood in our proprietary molds and then fusing them together through a multi-step process. Rogers is the only company building drums like this. These techniques, along with the application of the interior fruitwood stain, hand cutting and assembly of the shells allows us to deliver that unmistakable Dyna-Sonic sound consistently in every drum we make. The Legend continues...

Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Mothership Gear
00:37 Meet Dan Bailey and the Coles 4038 Microphone Pair
01:45 Recording at the BBC with Father John Misty
02:00 The Tonal Sound and Frequency Range of a Coles Microphone
02:40 The Glyn Johns Technique: According to Dan Bailey
04:00 Ringo & Bonham: Using the Coles 4038 to get an Early 1970's Drum Sound
05:49 Recording the Drums with a Dry 70's Ringo Starr Inspired Sound
07:02 Bonham Land: Approaching the Kit with More Energy
08:00 The Player Psychology of Learning How to Engage in a Musical Character Reference
08:50 Dan Bailey's Analog Gear: Ampex Tube Pre-Amp
09:20 The Chicken and the Egg: Ribbon Mics and Tube Pre Amps
10:00 Rogers Covington Kit (2021/2022): 13", 16", 22"
10:50 Remo Drum Heads: Coated Ambassadors
11:20 Cymbals: Istanbul Agop

Sources:
Vintage King: Coles 4038
The Coles 4038 | A Microphone Standing the Test of Time: Chicago Music Exchange