micing drums from the inside

snapper

New member
Has anyone had any experience micing their snare and or toms from the inside. Ive ordered a May miking system for my snare which is a xl57 that simply mounts inside the drum.
 
Yep.

I like The May stuff.

I've used the May's on the Kick drums for ages.(D112's)
I do not use it on the snare-simply because that Would man I'd have to have one for each snare.

Tim
 
Yah I use the May d112 on the kick too and it works great. Ive got the may 57 on order for the snare and am hoping for some feedback there.
 
snapper said:
Yah I use the May d112 on the kick too and it works great. Ive got the may 57 on order for the snare and am hoping for some feedback there.


Well, I've used it in a live situation-and I liked it alot (The original 57, from about 10 years ago.)
But I haven't used it for recording.

Tim
 
snare

I use the May system and love it. The snare 57 gives you a good spike but you will have to experiment with positioning for more "snare" sound. be prepared to change the head quite a few times to get it right but you should be pleased with the results. if you can't get a good sound try some different heads, etc. don't forget you can always blend the internal mic with an external mic for a better sound. if you have more questions on the MAY/EA system you can email me or post here i've been an endorser for the MAY system for about five years and i've been using them live and in the studio since '88. I actually own some of the first 57s to hit the market. May has since reconfigured the windings on the capsule to eliminate the midrange respose so you don't have to radically eq it out.
 
Hey gregg can you offer any sugjestions on heads that you liked or didnt like. I'm currently using an evans power center.
 
hey snapper my snare head configuration goes like this (and this is for all my snare drums-picollo,chrome,wood,bronze,etc.) REMO ebony pinstripe on top- REMO ambassador snare side- extra wide snares 42 strand I think- use snare cord at the strainer side and mylar strip at the butt end. I've found this set up to work in most if not all situations unless you do alot of brush work. but for rock, blues, country, and all else you will consistently get a good crack, some meat on the bottom, a nice ring near the rim and plenty of "white noise" from the wide snares. The mylar strip at the butt end has no "give" to it while the snare cord at the strainer end will pull or "give" a little so it wont choke the snares. as far as positioning the mic I have it angled towards the center of the drum slightly tilted off to the side. I don't know what kind of hitter you are but you can get different sounds by adjusting both angles or getting closer to the head for "proximity effect" i.e. low end. your best bet is to experiment and find the sound that works best for you. good luck let me know how it all works out!
 
Hey gregg. I got the may 57 installed today and this is what happened. We put on a brand new evans power center on the top and a g1 on the bottom. I tried a couple of different mic positions but all I could hear was massive snare string. I also have a 57 on the outside two inches off and it sounds fine. The internal mic sounds completely wacked. Do you have any suggestions for correcting this.
 
snapper said:
Hey gregg. I got the may 57 installed today and this is what happened. We put on a brand new evans power center on the top and a g1 on the bottom. I tried a couple of different mic positions but all I could hear was massive snare string. I also have a 57 on the outside two inches off and it sounds fine. The internal mic sounds completely wacked. Do you have any suggestions for correcting this.

Hey Snapper, what size snare did you put it in?
What's it made from? What Model?

Tim
 
snapper said:
Its a 14" steel snare from a pearl export kit.

It's probably always going to ring like that man!

I thought you were doing a wooden shell.

I'm not even sure if you can E.Q. out all that ring with a parametric.

I would have told you upfront not to do it with a Metal shell.

I have seen it done, but the guy glued that grey soundproofing foam to the inside of his shell-he left about 1/8" off the bottom edge, so that there was 1/8" between the foam and the bottom head, but the top head lightly touched the foam.

This was the snare that I had used lived-it was a friend's drumkit, and was essentially the same model snare you're using-but probably an even cheapper one-because we're talking the 80's exports....
It was also only tensioned to a medium tension, and I have no Idea how this would work with a head cranked up on it-which is common today.

Tim
 
snare mic

yeah tim's got it right it should be in a wooden snare but you can try some foam or sound dampening material. also remember to approch the drum from an "electronic" standpoint meaning it is not going to sound like it does to the human ear try to get it to go to tape the best way.
 
Well I bought an anton fig sig. snare but I'm on my second one now. Both were brand new and both have a lopsided bearing edge. Thats pretty pathetic in my book. I'll be returning the second fig tomorrow and I'm going to check out the yamaha recording custom(birch shell) and the birch absolute. What do you think of those? I'd like to check out the pork pie snares but they have no dealers in wisconsin so I guess there out. So I wont no the outcome till wednesday. I called Randall May and actually got to talk to him personally and he hooked me up with their sampler cd. Not a lot of help there. I also got yamahas drum sampler cd which goes through all there snares with a may mic inside and a similar setup and found I liked to birch sound the best.
 
sorry you had such a problem with the snare mic. mine also sounds kind of wierd but i mix it with the beta57 off the top head anyway. I found you almost have to think of the drum in the sense that it's electronic and not just an acoustic instrument. keep experimenting and I'm sure you'll find a good combination you can work with. yamaha makes some nice drums I don't think you can go wrong there. look into some different heads for some alternatives to sound. good luck talk to ya later.
 
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