Omni vs. Cardioid mics for drum overheads and room mics

jarick

New member
Well, I just finished reading through Harvey's sticky post, and saw that he touched upon the use of omni's in overhead micing, but I'm looking for a little more information.

How many of you use omni mics for drum overheads, and what kind of a sound does it tend to give you?

Also, on the subject of room microphones, do you favor omni or cardioid mics, and what sound differences do you see between the two?

I ask because I may end up getting a pair of SP C4's over Rode NT5's due to the exchangable capsules, as well as using the infamous B1 for room mic purposes...

Your Thoughts?

- Jarick
 
Using an omni is going to be kind of like using a wider angle lens on a camera.

Generally speaking, they're going to pick up more of a composite of the entire kit, including the room and the interaction of that drum set with it's environment so the accoustics are going to play a much larger role. Again, generally speaking, because you could just bring the mics in really close and thus take the room a little more out of the equation.

Usually, the sound will tend to be much more accurate and true to the source, as omni directional mics will "hear" things a lot closer to how our ears hear things.

Having both options can most definitely be an advantage; as certain situations might call for one over the other.
 
So in the case of cardiod on a drum kit for example in a live situation, would be a good choice due to its cardiod pattern with less bleed?
 
chessrock said:
Generally speaking, they're going to pick up more of a composite of the entire kit, including the room and the interaction of that drum set with it's environment so the accoustics are going to play a much larger role. Again, generally speaking, because you could just bring the mics in really close and thus take the room a little more out of the equation.

Usually, the sound will tend to be much more accurate and true to the source, as omni directional mics will "hear" things a lot closer to how our ears hear things.

So would you say that the overall sound would be more unified or smoother? Or would it be more natural?

Some reviews of the C4 seemed to say those things about the omni capsules versus the cardioid ones. I guess the only mic I've tried in omni was an NT2 and I didn't really dig it, although that was before I read Harvey's post and now I've got a lot of experimenting to do!

Also, which one would you prefer for picking up cymbals predominantly versus the whole kit?

Thanks chess for the response; anybody else have any experience or insight?

I think I may just pull the trigger on the C4's after I get a bit more cash and my firewire interface...if anyone's interested, I'll post up a bunch of comparisons of different miking setups when I get them in.

- Jarick
 
jarick said:
So would you say that the overall sound would be more unified or smoother? Or would it be more natural?

More natural.

Also, which one would you prefer for picking up cymbals predominantly versus the whole kit?


If you're zero in on one thing -- i.e. cymbals, then a tighter patter is going to be better for that, whereas a wider pattern will give you a bigger picture.
 
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