Drum mic set up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gdavi1
  • Start date Start date
G

gdavi1

New member
Okays so i'm tracking a hardcore 2 step band in the styles of Ambitions and Guns Up! and i have these mics.
2-shure sm57's
1-Mxl 992
1-Mxl 993
3-Samson R11's
1- Akg D 9000


now i need some help with what mics for what use on the drumset. I was thinking an sm57 on the snare and an sm57 on the kick (anyone try an sm57 on kick before?) and then the mxl 993 on the hats, 2 samson r11's as over heads and the 992 as a room mic.

I will ovbiously try them out when the band is here to see what mics for what. But i just want to have a plan on what to do. This is my first time recording a band that is not mine and i'm very concerned about giving them a great product. Any advice would be great! Thanks in advanced
 
Most of what you are suggesting is good except......

You CAN use an SM 57 on your kick but it is far from ideal. You won't get the fat kick sound with it, it will be at best a bit shallow. I know many that have used the 57 or 58 on kick and it is only okay. Good kick mics are not prohibitively expensive and even an "entry level" kick mic will serve you better than a 57. For the money, an ATM Pro 25 is an okay kick mic, but for the sound you are looking for I would suggest getting the Audix kick mic (D4 or D6 I forget the actual number) as it will give you the fat sound you'll like.
 
Also, the Shure PG52 is quite good for the money. It comes in this bundle:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PGDMK6XLR/

or by itself:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PG52XLR

I have an engineer I work with who actually uses these mics on my drums. He's a freelance engineer and brings them to each studio to use. I haven't the foggiest idea why, when much "better" and more expensive mics are available at the studio, but he's probably my favorite engineer in terms of getting me a killer drum sound, so I don't argue! I think he actually uses the PG52 on a floor tom and a D112 on the bass drum (I can never bring myself to call it a "kick" drum--I don't kick it! :D), but I know it gets a fat sound.

What are you using for overheads?
 
the samson mics i think


i would lvoe to get a kick mic but i dont have the time to go pick one out and i'm kinda saving money for preamps. But like out of the mcis i have what is the best on the kick.
 
I have used a SM58 on a kick before and it wasn't too bad. Especially because Hardcore bands tend to prefer a snappier kick sound anyway.

There are a lot of good Drum-microphone packages out there that will do much more justice than the collection you have. I got a 7-piece CAD set a few years back for around $200. I think they've dropped to $150 now, and though they aren't the greatest microphones in the world they will get you on your feet.

As far as your setup goes, I would try the SM57's as overheads instead of the R11's. I wouldn't overdo it either, the overheads, kick and snare might be all you need.

Good luck!
 
Also don't forget that if you're using a DAW like Pro Tools (not sure what your platform is), or even if you plan on transferring your tracks to one, you may have the capability of replacing your drum sounds anyway--Sound Replacer does a nice job and you can replace or enhance the bass drum or snare drum track with a better-sounding sample.

Just a thought.
 
i have a samson r11 and haven't used it in years, as i find it, well, unusable.

ultimately, you should try every configuration and see what works best, but this would be my starting point:

i think you'd be better off using the 993 as a mono overhead, the 992 as a room mic (as you said), sm57 on snare (of course), and if you can't afford to get a dedicated kick mic (audix d6 is what i use, but the 52 and the 112 are also great), i'd go with your original plan to put a 57 on it too. not ideal, but better for kick than anything else in your closet. you could always give it a little boost around 80 hz to fatten it up. just remember to leave yourself headroom for that when tracking, because even if you carve out the mids around 250 hz, boosting (especially at lower freqs) will increase your overall level a lot more than cutting will decrease it.

if i had a choice of either buying a second 993 for stereo overheads or getting a kick mic, i'd probably go with the kick mic. of course, ideally you would do both. miking the hi-hat would be at the bottom of the priority list for me.

hope this helps. good luck! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top