micing toms, sm57 or 81?

[tubbabubba22]

hey guys, if all i have to choose to mic my toms with are sm57s and sm81s, which ones should i choose? or should i choose a combination of both? thanks alot

 

[Ironklad Audio]

convential wisdom would say use the 57's

but you never know which you'll like more until you try

 

[bigtoe]

depends on the player for me.

if the guy hits well/hard...then the cymbal bleed won't be so bad with the 81's. if the guy hits lightly...then the bleed from the cymbals could be somewhat minimized by the 57's.

that and the sound of the drums obviously make a difference to me in mic choice.

try em both. both valid options. pad them 81s.

that said i've bene digging the little clip on sennheisers...604s i think...totally rad mics.

laters.

Mike

 

[hipskind]

Also depends on the size of the toms. The 57 is best for smaller toms (13" and under), in fact, IMO it sounds awesome on 10" and 12" toms; still good, though maybe not quite as beefy on larger toms, i.e. floor toms 14" and up.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my experience (and I own both mics) I'd think overall 57's will be a tad punchier, while 81's will be a bit more accurate and pristine. Try 'em both and see what you like!

 

[tubbabubba22]

thanks so far guys

thanks alot so far everyone. anyone else have more opinions?

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

It's just me, but I would put the SM81's on the OH's instead of toms. That being said, I don't own SM81's so I can't try it out. I say go for it, though. Wouldn't hurt to try, I guess.

For me, I use Audix D2's on my high toms, Audix D4's on my mid floor toms, and Audix D6's on the low floor toms. Then a D112 inside the kick and an AT4033 on the outside of the kick. i5 on the snare. NT5's as overheads but I'd change that if given the choice. Probably with SM81's or Josephson's.

 

[giraffe]

yea, prob the 81's as overheads and the 57's as tom mics.

if your lucky, you'll barely need the 57's at all, but that depends a lot on the drummer.

as always, ymmv.

 

[tubbabubba22]

yeah

well i felt like the 81's would give a crisper sound than the 57s. would the 57s be punchier tho? is it just a choice between crisper and more mid rangy?

 

[Robert D]

I would (and do) look to get the crisp part of the toms from the OHs, and get the punch from the 57s. But it may depend on the type of drum sound you're after.

 

[surfmaster]

I would (and do) look to get the crisp part of the toms from the OHs, and get the punch from the 57s. But it may depend on the type of drum sound you're after.

hes right, you'll get that crispness from the toms if you use the overheads correctly come mixdown.

i say use the 57's for toms and 81's for OH's

what are you using right now for oh's?

 

[Spikeh]

I've just recently purchased an extra 3 SM57s for toms... so I now have 6 57s

2 x 57s for the snare (top and bottom), and 1 x 57 per tom (top), plus I'm going to try micing up the bottom of the toms with my old samson Q-Tom mics.