Overhead microphones are those used in sound recording and live sound reproduction to pick up ambient sounds, transients and the overall blend of instruments. They are used in drum recording to achieve a stereo image

Stereo imaging

Stereo imaging is an audio jargon term used for the aspect of sound recording and reproduction concerning spatial locations of the sound source, both laterally and in depth. An image is 'good' if the performers can be effortlessly located; 'bad' if there is no hope of doing so...

 of the full drum kit

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

, as well as orchestral recording to create a balanced stereo recording of full orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

s.

Overhead positioning

There are multiple arrangements for drum overheads, which are often based on personal preference of the musician, engineer, or producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. These include "A-B" spaced pairs (where two directional microphones are suspended above the left and right clusters of cymbals), "X-Y" coincident pairs, where the two directional microphones are centred on the drum kit with their capsule are very close without touching, and angled across each other at 90°. Coincident placement give a wider stereo image than spaced pairs, and some engineers prefer it for this reason.

Other drum overhead positions include the Recorderman Technique (where the distance between both microphones and the snare drum

Snare drum

The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...

 is equal, as is the distance between both microphones and the bass drum

Bass drum

Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...

) and Glyn Johns

Glyn Johns

Glyn Johns is a musician, recording engineer and record producer.-Career:He has worked with such artists as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Easybeats, The Band, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Clash, The Steve Miller Band, Small Faces, Spooky Tooth, The Ozark...

' method (where one "overhead" is placed to the drummer's right, aiming across the floor tom

Floor tom

A floor tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. However, they can also be attached to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp....

 to the centre of the kit).

In orchestral recordings, particularly those for film score recordings, the Decca tree

Decca tree

The Decca Tree is a spaced microphone array most commonly used for orchestral recording.It was originally developed as a sort of stereo A–B recording method adding a center fill. It is the most commonly used spaced-pair technique...

is often used.