recording snare with 2 mics

Btyre2013

New member
do you think recording a snare with 2 mics is better? I've heard very mixed things about this technique, I'm not sure if it always works,

I ask because someone I know who I'll be mixing a track for them soon said they will be doing it this way and I was recommending using 1x sm57 instead because there will be phase issues.

He insisted the snare will sound 'bigger' with 2 mics, what do you think of this? is he right? I've only ever used one sm57 and it works well. Any recording engineers give me some tips?

Ben.
 
Do you mean top and bottom? Or 2 mics on top for some un-explainable reason?
 
I don't know if bigger is a good selling point.

I guess the most common thing is a pair of overheads and a mic on top of the snare, right?
So by two mics you'd mean adding a bottom snare mic? All that's going to do is capture the snap of the actual snares whereas the top mic would be getting the body of the drum.
There won't be any additional phase issues if the bottom mic is at the opposite angle to, and same distance as, the top mic.

You will, however, need to invert the polarity of one of the snare mics.
My immediate thought is to reverse polarity of the bottom mic as your overheads and snare top mic are already working together, but I've heard that plenty of people around here do the opposite.
Your call.
 
It's an extra tool to have/try.
If the kit sounds great in the room then bottom mic shouldn't be necessary. Try it and see. :)
 
yes sorry should have made it clear, top and bottom mics

Oh, well in that case, there's nothing wrong with it. I've done it on and off and am still not convinced. Sometimes, I like it, sometimes I don't. But it's definitely an accepted method. You almost always have to flip the polarity on the bottom mic, though. Even though there have been times where it sounded better when I didn't flip it.

Remember, it never hurts to use as many mics as you want. You can always decide whether to actually use all your tracks in the final mix.
 
Or 2 mics on top for some un-explainable reason?

It's actually not uncommon for pro-studios to do that. I think some people like to literally tape a KM184 to an SM57 sometimes just to get a brighter sound.

I think Steven Slate did it while he was tracking with CLA for his sample library. He's just one example, though.
 
I nearly always record a top and bottom mic, to seperate tracks. I don't always use the bottom mic, but it is handy if you want a bit more of the snare wires in the sound and also livens up a snare that sounds a bit dead in the mix. The balance between the 2 mics is the key.

Alan.
 
It's actually not uncommon for pro-studios to do that. I think some people like to literally tape a KM184 to an SM57 sometimes just to get a brighter sound.

I think Steven Slate did it while he was tracking with CLA for his sample library. He's just one example, though.

You're right on the money except it's a 451 taped to the top 57. It gives the snare a bit more attack.

Make sure you not only check your phase between the top and bottom snare but you also check your bottom snare against your overheads. (Lotta people forget that one)
 
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