MOTUnation.com

which mics for miking drums are you currently using? which ones not so expensive would you recommend me to buy

if not expensive is under 300•‚¬ well I'm quite happy with a takstar set... I like especially the 2 overhead. Here I ran a stupid test with them comparing the two overhead with AKG C1000S
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... 912#123912

sm57
(toms/snr)
you wont outgrow those.

d112 or similar for kick....


akg 451 (old ones) for overs (a little pricey).


-pete

What are you recording? Rock? Jazz? Metal? SM57s are always a must around the studio. Thru the right mic pre you can get great results.

See also the new kit recording package from Earthworks:
http://www.earthworksaudio.com/29.html

It's been getting good reviews.

Good Luck.

Yes, let us know the types and breadth of material you expect to be recording. Some people are one genre only, or only record their own band; whilst others cover every genre imaginable and work on-location in every conceivable type of venue.

Until more context is forthcoming, I can at least recommend a cheap all-purpose condensor mic that is only $89: Behringer B5(?). I don't have one yet but am strongly considering a few of them while simultaneously weighing the cost/benefit of drum-specific mics from Sennheiser, A/T, E/V, etc.

I owned the AKG D112 for a few years, and tend to deprecate AKG mics in general these days. They are very "old skool" in design, are expensive for what you get, and very coloured as they were made to compensate for other deficiencies in the recording chain back in the 60's and 70's.

You can get good results with any mic, given correct placement, acoustical treatment, and EQ, but it's better to spend wisely and have confidence that you will get good results during initial tracking, as one can only go so far to "fix it in the mix" with drums (moreso than with other instruments).

For kick drum, I highly recommend the E/V N/D 868 ($238 -- cheaper now than when I bought mine three years ago). It has the least coloured sound of any kick drum mic on the market, and thus is the most flexible. It also has the most headroom, making for excellent transient response.

I am considering the aforementioned Behringer B5's for stereo overheads, as they are said to be very consistent and thus very easy to properly match (even if not from the same manufacturing batch). They are also under consideration for hi-hat and other close-miking situations.

Mix Magazine gives high recommendation to the Sennheiser e914 for cymbals or overheads. The e904 is recommended for toms, and the e905 for snare. They also make the cheaper e604 (sold as a pack of three) for general purpose close-miking of snare and toms. Even cheaper is the e504 for toms. There is great consistency between the e-series.

The Sennheiser Evolution series is really one of the best mic series in production today, and good value for the money, but it always pays to read reviews, compare frequency response charts (being careful to look at the SPL scale and not just eyeball the plot itself, as many manufacturers use a very coarse scale to make their response look flatter), and the polar patterns for rear-rejection/etc.

If you're more comfortable going with the lowest-common-denominator of Shure SM57's, you're still WAY better off getting the Beta 57's instead, which are currently only $140 each, and that's BEFORE a $25 rebate.

I have a Sennheiser MD421 mk II ($339 -- again, much cheaper than when I bought mine three years ago) which is one of the best general purpose dynamic mics on the market and is especially good for bass and guitar cabinets, kick drums, toms (floor toms especially), and snare drum.

I would only recommend that approach if you need to cover a lot of other bases as well, and need flexibility for frequently changing recording setups (such as if you're working with a lot of bands/artists). Otherwise it's best saved for bass/guitar amp miking, which isn't part of your current needs.

There are a few other slightly pricier (or even way pricier) special purpose mics for close-miking snare/toms/etc., but I'm holding off on mentioning those until we know more about your budget and your needs. The most commonly mentioned of these though is the E/V RE20 (especially for toms), but I was not successful just now in finding an on-line price.

thanks for the quick response, im doing mainly rock music, but i would also like being able to record some jazz type of drums.

Be aware that miking techniques for jazz drums tend to be quite a bit different from those used for recording pop, rock, metal, reggae, etc. -- and this is aside from the choice of mics themselves.

It is common to depend primarily (but not solely) on the overhead mics for jazz, as so much of jazz drumming is about the top-kit, ambience, three dimensionality, etc.

There are some variants to this, based on trad vs. straight-ahead vs. fusion, brushes vs. sticks, etc. But the jazz cats I know (and I used to be one myself, but before I got deeper into recording technology) don't seem to mic the kick drum, but do sometimes close-mic the snare and/or hi-hat.

I bought a pack of Audix Fusion mics, and they work pretty well (6-pack for ~$300)...only complaints are that the overheads are a bit tinny and the kick drum mic doesn't pick up a lot of low end...some EQing fixes it a bit, but all in all i'm very pleased for the price i paid for them...
-Brian

I have struggled with drum mics, and placement for many years, both live and in the studio. For Rock I like the following:

Shure SM57 - Snare (for sure) and is good for toms

Sennheisser 421 - Excellent on toms, especially floor toms
EV RE20 - Excellent on toms and Kick Drum (especially with sound holes)

Beyer M201 - another excellent tom mic, but is surprisingly good in a kick drum with a small (2.5 inch) sound hole cut near the rim. Be sure to use the windscreen and get the diaphragm in past the pressure blast from the sound hole.

AKG D112 - I have not been able to get such great results with this mic, but others have managed to get fantastic results. I find it is very picky about beater/head combinations and dampening.

All of the above are dynamic mics and are well suited for live performances, but also work well in the studio.


In the condensor category...

I'm not certain if you mentioned what your budget was, but one mic that I must mention is the Neumann M147 is a great mic for toms and kick, but is expensive ~$2000. Use care when using in a kick. I recommend removing the front head altogether if it has a sound hole in it.

Behringer B5 - overheads, hats... good results, low price

AT2020 - toms and hats - good detail, nearly indestructable and inexpensive

MXL v67 - good for overheads, not too good elsewhere

CAD makes a 7-pc mic set that is inexpensive and give acceptable results. I haven't used it, but have heard the results when a collegue of mine used them on a country rock project. I was pleasantly surprised.

Neuman U87 - An excellant mic! Expensive too, but if you have a studio, it is a standard for vocals. Put it anywhere on the kit, it will give good results. I have to admit that I have to grit my teeth when some engineers put it in a kick drum, but the results are very good and I have yet to see a mic get ruined.

Rode NT1A - good on toms and snare bottom. Can also be used as overheads with decent results. This mic is sensative, so have a pad handy.

There are many, many more, but you get the picture. Probably the biggest mistake that I have seen, is that the mic is blamed for poor placement or poor attention to the actual drum sound (tuning and dampening).

Another killer mistake to good drums sound is phase cancellation or filtering. Mic placement can be used to minimize bleed, but propper alignment of the resulting wave is important for detail, tone, and sound image.

Don't be afraid to try mics on drums that you usually wouldn't use them on. Sometimes you will get amazing results. Also, it goes without saying (but I will anyway) signal chain and proper gain staging have a huge impact.

Experiment, use your ear (carefully, drums are loud) to find the spot where a given drums sounds good, and start from there.

A long answer, and it doesn't scratch the surface.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the pointers to the Beyerdynamic M201 TG snare drum mic. I still have some toss-ups before reaching final conclusions on my best initial investments for close-miking toms, hi-hat and overheads (though I'm VERY close to making decisions), but after all the on-line forums and reviews yesterday I have no doubt that the Beyer is the way to go for snare.

That said, does anyone know anything about the ReVox M3500, which is apparantly the same thing as the M201 but made for the ReVox name by Beyer. I only ask because there's one on eBay at the moment.

Normally I would only buy a mic new, but I've only found one on-line source for the M201 and it isn't one that I already know and trust.

Is there anything to the "TG" qualifier? Are there several revs of this mic? I just want to make sure there's no confusion when I splurhe for this mic.

kick: Audix D6

snare: sm-57

overheads: oktava mk-012

Kick in: Sennheiser e602 ($180)
Kick out: AKG D112 ($200)
Snare: SM57 ($90)
Toms: Sennheiser e604 ($330 for a 3-pack)
OH: Marshall MXL 603S ($99/each)
Room: Groove Tubes GT55 ($199)

Hi There

just to add to the confusion or broaden the spectrum:
Kick: BeyerDynamic Opus 65 (great sound)
Snare : EV 486 (crisp & great placement possibilities), BeyerDynamic Opus 53/87 & SM 57 (old-school, for requests only)
Toms: BeyerDynamic Opus 87 (small condenser on a nifty clamp & gooseneck; very accurate sound)
FloorTom : BD Opus 87 / EV 486
Hi-Hats: DB Opus 53
Overheads : StudioProjects C1's in XY-config (saving up for LSD2)

Especially the overheads always give great results. For non-break material (jsut a simple beat) I only have the kick, snare and overheads in use. ALl toms I usually gate. The hi-hats are only put in a little bit if I have to play 16-th parts, the volume decreases and the overheads are to fussy on the 16th's notes.
I play drums myself and my style is funk-rock.

I'm wondering how StudioProjects B1's would sound on toms and since my XY-overhead discovery I seriously want to get the StudioProjects LSD2.

Cheers,

Arjen

I am a drummer and have a small project studio. I am a novice at recording but I'll throw my mic setup in the mix.

I record many styles of music and have had great luck with Audix mics. They sound great and are reasonably priced.

Kick: Audix D6
Snare: SM57 or Audix i5
Racks: Audix D2's
Floors: Audix D4's
Overheads: Oktava MK-012-01's
HH: AKG C451

I also use the Earthworks Drumkit for recording jazz or if I want a more live sound.

Sometimes I combine the close mics and the earthworks mics and blend them all together for different sounds/effects.

Hope that helps in some way.

Recently recorded my drums...

Kick - Sure Beta52, great attack and all the low end the D112 doesnt get.
Tom - SM57's
Snare top - SM57
Snare bttm - Beta 58
Overheads - Octava MK319's large diaphram 10db cut and roll off
Hat's - Octave mk12 small diaphram with 10db pad
Ride - MXL 2001
Room - MK12's with 10db pad

The Mk12's are SOOO versitile, they sounded great. I also play high end drums which is probably more important that mic use in my opinion...Bad gear=bad sound.