What about ambience mic's?

[coolsoundman]

I have a 5 pc set and I am using eight mics to record them with. I'm fixing to buy another firepod to add 8 more tracks to my recording and that is where I'll be adding a track for ambience. I want to know what is a good mic for ambience? I just bought a Sterling Audio ST55 condensor mic, but I was using a SM58 mic for ambience. What is your mic preference? The room where my drums are set up in is a little small, I believe it is like 10X20 room with standard cieling height. Any suggestions?

[fuzzrhythm]

does the room sound good?

I've heard a lot of people use ribbon mics for room micing, but only if the room warrants it.

[coolsoundman]

I don't know if the room is any good, like? All I know, my drums take up about 1/3 of the room and there is still room to do a vocal and guitar tracks. There is no sound treatment only carpeting on the floor. When I recorded the drums for trial versions at the time, they sound kind of dry and I'm still trying to get a good thump on the bass drum. The toms sound good and the overheads pick up good too, just dry.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by coolsoundman

I don't know if the room is any good, like? All I know, my drums take up about 1/3 of the room and there is still room to do a vocal and guitar tracks. There is no sound treatment only carpeting on the floor. When I recorded the drums for trial versions at the time, they sound kind of dry and I'm still trying to get a good thump on the bass drum. The toms sound good and the overheads pick up good too, just dry.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "dry". If you mean "no reverb", then that's pretty much how you want to record them. You can add "room" or reverb" afterwards.

[light40]

If your room is acoustically untreated I would not suggest using an ambiance mic. An ambiance mic in a bad room will give you a sound of drums in a bad room. I record in a small almost perfectly cubical bedroom and a little EQ and artificial reverb can go a long way. In my case a room mic only makes the kit sound "boomier."

I have used a room mic in a nice studio using a Neumann TLM103 and though it made the drums sound larger and more spacious. Even in a nice studio with a super expensive mic I think an ambiance mic is more of a luxury, and some EQ and reverb will do a lot more than any ambiance mic could.

-alex