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Quality But Cost-Effective Microphone Solutions For Recording Drums
Feb. 06, 2012, by PSW Staff
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recording drums
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  Microphone World, Recording, Microphones, Drums

A discussion that began in the Harvey Gerst REP Recording Forum here on ProSoundWeb that provides relevant/useful points and references.

Topic posted by pavement
I have recorded a demo of my band, and we used pretty awful microphones, but after purchasing and loaning some mics, I have the following: Studio Projects C1, Shure SM57/58, and two AKG C3000’s.

This was what I was thinking: the C1 on kick drum (I know it sounds odd, but I got the best sound with it), SM57 on snare, SM58 on low tom, and the two C3000 as overheads in “XY”.

What do you think? The only thing is that I don’t cover the mid and upper toms, and I’m afraid that the high-hat is not going to sit in well. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Reply by pricey
I put my overheads in XY right over the drummer’s head, with about an inch to spare. This can sound almost as focused as close micing, especially if you have a pair of small diaphragm condensers.

Unfortunately I often get a “dumb ass” who flails around wildly, bashing the cymbals, and manages to hit the overhead mics no matter where I put them! I am considering electric shock as a way to keep drummers in line. Anyone else have this problem?

Reply by pavement
Heh - my drummer’s not so crazy. Your method might work pretty well, but I wanted the overheads to take care of the cymbals, primarily. Will this method work well for that?

Reply by mbrane
The AKG’s in XY should give you a good overall picture of the kit. Personally, I would take the ball-end off the SM58 and use it on the snare, and put the SM57 on the toms. Reason for that is without the ball-end, the 5SM8 is almost identical to the SM57, but the SM57 has a bit more bottom.

Be careful with that C1 on the kick. You could blow it out if you get it too close. Maybe try the ol’ blanket tunnel trick for that.

Reply by pavement
I already use the blanket trick and the 10 db pad on the C1 so that’s not a problem. Good idea with the SM58 - thanks a lot. One more question - should I use the SM57 on the low tom or the mid, to try to get all three toms? I’ve only got one mic for three toms, which sucks. Maybe I’ll try to get a friend to give me (another) SM 7.


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Comments (4) Most recent displayed first | All comments in chronological order
Posted by Nathan Menken  on  05/19/10  at  08:47 AM
I have plenty of mics. I am acheving the sufficient results with that combination.If needed i will usually throw up some sm98's on the mid toms and a sennheiser 421 on the floor tom. Also a akg300b with a ck91 capsule on the hat.
Posted by Brian  on  05/18/10  at  03:16 PM
Bunch of voodoo mic technique.

Does anybody buy or borrow anymore? Seems to me getting enough of the right mics would be a great first step, many are mentioned here.

Seems everyone is concerning themselves with trying to mic a kit with not enough mics these days, like some kind of bizarre challenge. Borrow.

Posted by Nathan Menken  on  05/18/10  at  09:06 AM
I have gotten great results with a KAM BD2 on Kick, SM57 on snare and 2 modded MXL 990's spaced about 4ft apart. The 990's cover cymbals, toms and hat very well. You can mix in the snare mic by your taste or what your looking for. I have had many compliments on this set up. The drums also mix well with the bass. Just my 2 cents.
Posted by Aiden Garrett  on  05/11/10  at  04:38 PM
I'm going to throw my thoughts in to the mix... And I come from a live sound background so bare with me!

I used to use 4 mics for drums as a minimum - Kick, Snare and 2 OHs spaced around 4ft apart. It worked well, and for being behind a screen, it added that extra little oomph into FOH you lose with screens. He was a good drummer and fairly well balanced so it worked, and I never noticed any issues.

We then managed to get 4 more mics (3 proper tom mics, and a 58 from way back) to mic up his 5 toms (the 58 was positioned so that it picked up his 2 floor toms), and again this worked well, particularly when panned. My only complaint about this, was that with the toms being brought up that extra notch, it made it very difficult to position the OHs to capture the cymbals (he had a fair few!) as well as the hihat... however, if you've got the patience (and not got a drum screen to hinder placement!) then it may work wonders for you :)

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