snare mics

That is totally personal preference, as well as what snare you are using. We cant assume what genre you are working with.

Welcome to the forum, oh vague asker of questions... Just razzin ya drummerboyle. :)
 
Both these mics are good on snare, it's just personal choice. I tend to use a 57 on snare and the 421's on toms.

Alan
 
The bottom of the snare is where I like my K3U Alan. ;)

And DB the top of the snare from me usually sees a Sennheiser e604.
 
witzendoz said:
I would do if I did not use my secret weapon on the snare bottom ;). I do use K3U's fitted with an ME40 for high hats and over heads a lot. :)
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Wait a minute Alan you can't mention a secret weapon than just walk away like that ..... come on what is it.
 
I've never really cared for 57's for snare or toms but they can definately work. I really like an MD-441. Tight pattern and stuff off axis still sounds OK. I've used AKG C-1000 on snare with success too. But as always, the snare itself and the player will have the most affect on how any mic will sound.
 
moresound said:
Wait a minute Alan you can't mention a secret weapon than just walk away like that ..... come on what is it.
Click to expand...

Oh Ok, but if I tell you I have to Kill you! Here is the story......:eatpopcorn:

Many many years ago I bought 2 Toshiba condenser mics very cheap, they were well made metal case and had a removable basket pop filter that turned them into a vocal mic. There was a switch on the side that said Music / Voice which was probably a bass roll off. I was doing a lot of live sound at the time and was always short of mics so I put one on the hi hats and it worked really well, one day in an op shop I found another one so now I had 2 overheads and a hi hat mic. As the years went on I bought more and more mics and the Toshiba's were put in the draw. Move forward to a few years ago and I was experimenting with different mics under the snare and I stuck a Toshiba there and it is great.

I wish I know what the model is, but all the writing and model numbers have worn off from all the live use. If I get a chance I will grab a pic later this week.

Now my secret is out :eek:

Alan
 
It's like watching that video in the movie *The Ring*! :eek:


Can't wait to see some pictures Alan. Anyway to open them up for some shots of the innards?
 
I've used (and liked) 57's, 421's, and Audix i5's on snare. They're all a bit different, but also close enough that I could adjust the mice placement, and eq any of the three such that I'd have a hard time picking it out from the others. Right now, I'm stuck on the i5--but only because I like to keep all of my amps mic'd and ready to go, and the three 57's and the 2 421's are on amp duty.
 
I've used a huge number of mics on snares. Some live and a lot in the studio. Its fun to experiment! Currently I use either an i5 Audix or a very old UnidyneIII SM57 on top. A couple of surprising snare top mics I've used are an ATM63 and a Teac MC-106 Lo-imp dynamic from a home recorder setup from the early 70's. I bought a pair at a garage sale for $5. They're kinda cool lo-fi but sound great on a snare. You'd only have to hit em once though to make a broken piece of plastic out of em. I'm using an Audix D1 under and its been a real eye opener. Its also my go-to conga mic. I also like my 3 Sigma Chi SDC on the snare top. You have to pad it down a bit but its great for a drummer who has a lot of intricacies in his snare work. Especially good for brushes. Very natural sounding.

I've used 412's and 441's on snares. 421's usually have a placement problem and 441's sounded great but seemed like the drummer could easily destroy that grill.

The VERY best snare mics I've ever used are the Beyer 201 and 422 for dynamics and a Neumann km184 for a condenser.
 
BigRed360 said:
I've used (and liked) 57's, 421's, and Audix i5's on snare. They're all a bit different, but also close enough that I could adjust the mice placement, and eq any of the three such that I'd have a hard time picking it out from the others. Right now, I'm stuck on the i5--but only because I like to keep all of my amps mic'd and ready to go, and the three 57's and the 2 421's are on amp duty.
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Time to add to the collection BR ;)
 
cavedog101 said:
I've used a huge number of mics on snares. Some live and a lot in the studio. Its fun to experiment! Currently I use either an i5 Audix or a very old UnidyneIII SM57 on top. A couple of surprising snare top mics I've used are an ATM63 and a Teac MC-106 Lo-imp dynamic from a home recorder setup from the early 70's. I bought a pair at a garage sale for $5. They're kinda cool lo-fi but sound great on a snare. You'd only have to hit em once though to make a broken piece of plastic out of em. I'm using an Audix D1 under and its been a real eye opener. Its also my go-to conga mic. I also like my 3 Sigma Chi SDC on the snare top. You have to pad it down a bit but its great for a drummer who has a lot of intricacies in his snare work. Especially good for brushes. Very natural sounding.

I've used 412's and 441's on snares. 421's usually have a placement problem and 441's sounded great but seemed like the drummer could easily destroy that grill.

The VERY best snare mics I've ever used are the Beyer 201 and 422 for dynamics and a Neumann km184 for a condenser.
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I usta use for live PA set ups the ATM25 and the ATM23HE depending on which rig that I had out at the time and really enjoyed them.
Then I moved onto the Shure Beta 56a but positioning was a pain and I really didn't like that the lever kept loosening.
Now it's just the Sennheiser e604 with never a complaint from myself or a client.


All three of these models do get used in the studio from time to time for as other have said it all depends on the drummer and his abilities PLUS his drum sound.
 
I worked backstage for a Reba/Phil Vassar show this summer and was surprised to see an EV RE20 on Brock West's snare... Sounded incredible!
Of course that was for a live show but I keep trying to remind myself to try mine out in my studio real soon... Hmmm... Maybe tonight...? :rolleyes:
 
BentRabbit said:
I worked backstage for a Reba/Phil Vassar show this summer and was surprised to see an EV RE20 on Brock West's snare... Sounded incredible!
Of course that was for a live show but I keep trying to remind myself to try mine out in my studio real soon... Hmmm... Maybe tonight...? :rolleyes:
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He musta had a pretty wide open drum set to get that 20 in there!
 
lol yup... It was just Kick/snare/racktom/floortom... (But a 15 year old DW so I forgave him) ;) The RE20 was very conspicuous sitting between the hats and the racktom
 
The sound company was an outfit out of Portland OR (NW Sound I think? Garron Lee was the head honcho at the show).
We did Reba's sound check the night before and Phil Vassor's band the morning of the show. Both Tommy Harden (Reba) and Brock (Phil V) used 6.5x14 Yamaha brass snares, and they both sounded great on stage, but out front, there was more of a distinct crack and depth on Brock's snare than on Tommy's... Not to say his didn't sound good as well (57 on the snare, C414's as OH's) but it didn't cut through as much as Brock's. Of course, a lot of that could have been seasoning by the individual sound guys, but I took notice since I'd never seen an RE20 used like that.
Here's a zoomed pic to show placement... You can see it peeking out under the hats (Sorry for the graininess... Enlarged to show the RE20) :

BrockRE20b.jpg
 
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