I am planning on recording drums with three microphones. I have a shure beta 52 for the kick, but dont have any condensers for overheads. I have a budget of about $500-700 for the overheads and would like to know what mics would give me a good sound in that price range. I hear that the AKG C430's are good and inexpensive, but would it be better to get one akg 451 than two C430's? Also I would like some advice on mic placment. How should I set up the overheads to get a good snare and stereo sound? Should I place one mic pointing directly down at the snare, or should I place it closer to the cymbal? How high should I put them. How can I avoid unwanted bleading and frequency cancellation? I know that much of this is subjective and depends on the sounds of the drumset, the actual drummer, ambeint sounds, etc, but any advice would be helpful.
i wish i could be more help but the truth of the matter is that thare are so many correct answers to this question that i don't even know whare to start.
this is just a sugestion but....
try a pair of at4040s they will work fine as overheads but will not be limited to that area, they seem to do a good job on just about anything.
thare are almost as many options in placement as in mic choice
try maby XY (read the big thread on the mic page) drummer's perspective or just one on each side, one kinda over snare/tom1 and oneover tom2/3 area (kinda) or, don't do eithor of thoes, or alter them, or mic the gutters of your house, whatever sounds good.
M.
Yeah, there's lotsa choices. I haven't got alot of exp yet but what's been sounding good for me so far are a 57 , 2 KSM 109's and the beta 52.
I put the 57 on the snare at a rough 45 degree, a couple inches up and pointed to the center. Tweak accordingly. Or completely change it.
I'll put the 109's about the length of 2 drumsticks, end to end, and both angled toward the snare with the left OH (drummers perspective) pointed straight down over the snare and the right will be over the right shoulder and mostly pointed towards the snare. Grab a mic cord and get em both the same distance. Then just trust your ears and tweak em. This 'll get you close, tho.
I'll comp the kic n snare a bit goin in but usually not the OH's. You may want to.
Alot depends on your room. How's it set up? Got it treated? Got pics? Got milk?
Anyway, I read about this technique on another thread a few months ago and found it works pretty well.
Hope it helps.
