Drum Hi-Hat Mics

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eideland

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Looking for some suggestions for a good Hi-Hat Mic other than a SM57. What do you like? What do you hate?
 
Sm81 is good. I don't generally mic the hats, though.
 
eideland said:
Looking for some suggestions for a good Hi-Hat Mic other than a SM57. What do you like? What do you hate?
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Usually there enough of bleed from your snare mic which is usually a SM57 seems to be industry standard some times to much if your using like a pair of Zildjian K's HH like I use and how the drummer's technique is and plus your OH's which also catch a lot of the HH bleed as well. No set in stone says other wise I believe Korn's last album had mics on the HH's as well as 3 mics per drum but then again that was the producer decision. Yea sometimes you get over produce coming out of world famous studio's. Another example was Mutt single note chords on Def Leppord's album, each note was tracked individually but hey if your getting paid by the company to put out a stellar album guess you gotta be creative and use whatever works best for that project. Good luck on your decision what ever that may be.
 
Most all commercially released tracks containing acoustic drum sets have the hi hats mic'ed. You can definately get some from your overheads, and from your snare, but typically if you want a crisp distinct hat sound that also catches detail, you will need a hi hat mic to properly catch that. Unless of course you have a killer drummer in a killer room with awesome preamps and overheads... Most home recordists do not have this though, then again many don't have the mic arsenal or track count to do hi hats and still get the rest of the kit.

As far as the mics themselves go, I use different mics based on different situations. If I have one of those drummers that constantly mashes their hats half open, I find the an sm57 or even a beta 57 works pretty well. My favorite mic (generally speaking) for hats is an older Neumann KM84. The newer 184 usually sounds kind of harsh and strident to me, but the original km84 has a mid range warmth and depth that suits many hi hats and acoustics, at least for me. I have had plenty of success with Oktava mk012's, AKG 451's, AKG 414's, I really like AT 4050's, and even shure sm81's or KSM's. I must admit though, of all of the drums that I mic, the hi hat is usually the last decision that I make, so sometimes does not get the same care that the rest of the kit may get.
 
Personally I rarely mic the hi hat and actually find myself wanting to reduce the hi hat volume more often than not. I usually ask the drummer not to hit the hi hat so hard if it is too loud. I love drummers who can mix themselves! I would love for someone to invent an "anti-hi hat" mic which could reduce the volume of the hi-hat!
 
Shure SM94 is good for hi hats. It doesn't have that rough high end and adds just the right amount of detail. It also handles SPLs pretty well.
 
Anti hi-hat mic? I wonder, can you mic a hi-hat and then make a copy of it and invert the phase? Would that make it quietter overall?
 
mrhotapples said:
Anti hi-hat mic? I wonder, can you mic a hi-hat and then make a copy of it and invert the phase? Would that make it quietter overall?
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that might work, but it would also cancel out some of your snare considering your hi hat is right next to the snare
 
I rarely have a problem with the hats being too loud on the other mics. I almost always use the hi hat mic in the mix, but sometimes it is pretty low. What I like is that in either scenario, using a hi hat mic makes the hats and the snare sound much better. With a hi hat mic and decent technique micing the snare, I can actually use the snare mics for snare sounds rather than trying to compromise between hat and snare.
 
Well, obviously, since I asked about what would be good mic's for Hi-Hat's, I WANT to mic them.

Thanks Xstatic. I'll definately check out the AKG, AT, and Octava. I've always been a fan of all three. Shure are always reliable mics as well, but since I'm willing to spend a some money to get a great sound and the ability to do more, I'll check all those out. Big thanks.
 
For high hat, I've used a Beyer M201, a Shure SM7, an Oktava MC012, an MXL 603/604, and a Shure SM81 - all with very good results.
 
hey eideland sorry for not actually answering the question you asked, I was kind of thinking out loud. In the rare instance I actually do mic a high-hat which I sometimes do if I'm looking for a different sound (usually crisper) I go with whatever sdc I have available. Usually a rode NT5 or a akg 460b w/ ck61 preamp. I like harvey's suggestion of the 201, hypercardiod dynamic would help out with focusing on the hi-hat and rejecting the rest of the kit. I'll give it a whirl sometime. I'm also going to experiment with cancelling the hi-hat, interesting suggestion. Cheers!
 
Thanks guys. Appreciate it. I noticed that the Octava has a little bit wider frequency response than the M201 and MXL 603, with the MXL's definately being the cheaper of the three. lol I'm thinking I may just get the MXL603 and perhaps maybe the M201 as well. Definately liking the mic's that MXL has been putting out. I have the V69, and 2 each of the 990 and 991's. Love them all!
 
Yeah, I second 990s as hi-hat mics. They are very accurate mics and they, believe it or not, are pretty good for cymbals as long as you use them right. Otherwise...Yuck, too sizzly.
 
The newer 184 usually sounds kind of harsh and strident to me
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ditto on that. i mic'ed some acoustic guitars a while back with KM184's, and came out disappointed as all hell. harsh and brittle for days.

personally, i would make sure to stay away from your typical cheap-o chinese condensers...they're going to make the hats sound like ass. i've had success w/ AKG C451's on the hats before...also tried the rode NT5 before, but wasn't all that pleased with the results on that one.
 
Someone mentioned to me today in person, the Audix F-90. It's a small clip on type condensor mic that a friend suggested today. Anyone tried it before?
 
someguy said:
hey eideland sorry for not actually answering the question you asked, I was kind of thinking out loud. In the rare instance I actually do mic a high-hat which I sometimes do if I'm looking for a different sound (usually crisper) I go with whatever sdc I have available. Usually a rode NT5 or a akg 460b w/ ck61 preamp. I like harvey's suggestion of the 201, hypercardiod dynamic would help out with focusing on the hi-hat and rejecting the rest of the kit. I'll give it a whirl sometime. I'm also going to experiment with cancelling the hi-hat, interesting suggestion. Cheers!
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All you'll do is cancel out some of those frequencies i'd imagine? Including many of the beautiful highs you'll need for the other cymbals?
Recent recording we used a sm57 and most of the time we have to mix it is VERY low. We are using Rode K2 tube mics as OH's which means EVERYTHING (my drums) got picked up beautifully anyway. It's amazing sometimes playing just those back through the desk. Not enough ooomph (for a big rock sound) for the toms thought. But as far as catching a great signal of the raw drums they have been awesome - sorry i realise this isn't really talking too much about HH mics, which is actually why i visited here as well!
 
I've had good luck with 991/604's/012's on the low end, and KM84's/C451EB's on the higher end.

I go about 50/50 using the hat mic in the mix. I like how it anchors that stereo image, but I usually work with drummers that are pretty finese with their hats as opposed to thrashers, so I can get away with it.
 
I don't mic my hats. I find that the OH and room mics do a good job representing the kit, and if a certain element is over or under represented, I just need to hit that element a little harder/softer.

I imagine any good SDC would work for HH so long as it could take the SPL.
 
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