best mics for recording cymbals?

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xclamx

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Okay,

I'm from south africa and Mic's aren't too "available" over here, the only ones that are available are Sennheiser, AKG, Shure, RODE and a few select ones. When I asked the guy at the music store if he can get me any Coles or Earthworks mics he said he's never heard of them, same with Beyer. SAD... very sad...

but my main question is this,

What would you suggest I get for my home studio for recording cymbals?

I don't like AKG C1000B's, because they are a bit "dead". I don't know what C3000B's or C4000B's sound like as overheads, nor C414's, but i've heard good comments on them.

I'm running it into a Steinberg VS20/20 with 2 Fostex D/A converters. So the signal is pretty "dry". I've got Behringer 1953 pre-amps on 2 channels, so that I can have phantom for my mics and to warm them up a bit and my Behringer mixer has balanced ins with Phantom power(going straight into the Fostex D/A).

thanks!
 
Rode makes a new small diaphragm condensor mic that's sold in pairs, I forget the model number now, NT-4?? Anyway, that's probably a good idea out of the brands you mentioned.

Other small diaphragm condensors to be on the lookout for:

Audio Technica AT4041 or AT4051
Studio Projects C4
Oktava MK012
Behringer ECM8000
Marshall Electronics MXL 603
AKG C451
Shure SM81

Each of the above have different characteristics, colors and options. Try to listen to them and imagine how they'd achieve the sound you're trying to get.

Also, look at some large diaphragm condensors as well. I did a session this week where we used two LDC's as overheads and they sounded great on both the cymbals and the toms, not to mention the room ambience they added.

Good luck, and trust your ears.
 
The Rode NT5 is the stereo pair, the NT4 is a single point stereo mic.

I use Rode NT3's, which give a really nice sound for a pair of overheads. If you can get a studio projects B1, then use that off to the side of the hi-hat. magic.

-Dr S
 
If you have the budget I would suggest a pair of Neumann KM184's. A lot of people say they are very bright, but although they have a rise in the high frequencies, they are quite musical and the best thing in the price range. I find them to be much fuller and "wider" sounding than the AKG 451. Perferably I would recommend using them with a transformer based preamp to add some character and "dimension" to the sonics. There are a lot of great overhead preamps, but you need something with an extended top frequency as I've found that preamps with a thicker low end are often not what is needed (I often roll of below 60 hz on overheads anyway). I'm really liking the Old School Audio line of preamps for that application. Up in quality from there would be Soundelux, Brauner, or DPA. Good Luck!

Nathan Eldred
atlasproaudio.com
 
The Marshall 603s are amazing mics, and for the price its unbeatable. Try to get the stereo matched kit though. I got one with a nice carrying case, shocks, and the two mics for $189. Look around.




Dave
 
Basically what I'm looking for in "Cymbal" sound is that EPIC nu-metal type cymbal sound. Eg. TRUST Company's 2002 record, Sevendust(Animosity), Deftones(White Pony) etc.

I really like that bright "roomy" type of sound, so that i can get a lot of energy into the whole drum feel.

I am looking into the NT3's now cos some other guy I know also recommended them.

Could you guys help me out on positioning them? I usually put them about 1 and a half feet above the cymbals and 3 feet apart. So that i don't get phasing problems. This is only if the drummer has 2 clusters of cymbals. hihats + crash over his first tom and Ride and crash over his floor tom.
 
The best I've found in the last couple of years have been the Josephson "C-42's" [less expensinve than Neumann KM-184's... a world richer sounding... less brash, more opulent]... and the Royer SF-12 [which is a bit more than double the price of the Josephsons]...

Best of luck with your search.
 
xclamx said:
I don't like AKG C1000B's, because they are a bit "dead".
Click to expand...

I don't think Ive ever seen the C1000 described in that way before. :confused:
 
Mark7, I meant that they sound a bit Dull, I recorded my band with a pair of C1000B's and I spent quite some time EQ'ing the hell out of the cymbal tracks to get it to sound somewhat decent. Aswell as adding a bit of compression.

Characteristics of the room: 15ft by 20ft and about 3 and a half meters high. Drummer, very consistent.

So basically what I meant was, i was looking for a good pair of mics that would give me a bright, warm sound. Not too dull.
 
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