Drum frequency ranges?

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jingleheimer

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OK heres my problem. I have recently started recording local bands in my homestudio and when it comes to drums i always seem to feel lost. when it comes to micing drums i never seem to know what mic i want to use because im not sure of each drums frequency range. So if anyone could by chance provide me with a chart or some insight as to what drums produce what Drum frequency ranges that would be amazing. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP -Jingleheimer-
 
I'm not sure how knowing the exact frequencies are going to help in micing. Now for mixing it could help. But just hit your drums and listen with your ears. Lower tones have a lower frequency, higher have higher. I've found that I can throw just about any mic on any source and get a good sound as long as you know what you're doing. I've mic'd, say toms for example, with both dark sounding dynamics, and really bright condensers. Just experiment.
 
Use a kick drum mic for the kick drum.

An sm-57 will work for everything else (not so much on overheads)

Drums have really low fundamentals, but the harmonics and attack can be upwards of 10k.

And decent dynamic will work on toms and snare, you can use almost anything that would work on a bass guitar (and take the pounding) on a kick. Condensers for overheads.

That's it.
 
Different drums and tunings will be different. On average... The meat of the snare is around 200 and the crispies are between 5 and 8k. Toms are between 90 and 175 with the stick around 5k, bass drum is between 50 and 80. Mics with a roundish bottom tend to work well for close micing drums. Pretty much anything you might use for voice-over, sm7, re20 or 421 for example. A 57 or 58 is ok on any drum in a pinch, but a little flat compared to other options.
 
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