Have $600 to spend on drum mics. Help please

[elenore19]

I've searched through many decisions on finding drum mics. I first was going to go with shure b52 kick and then mic the high toms, floor tom, and snare drum with sm-57's and then overheads with these Crown Sound Grabber II PZM condensors.

I started looking around this site and I realized how I was being foolish in a way. I'm looking for Top of the line mics, ones that I will use the rest of my life. And I could use any help. I've looked through the FAQ on drum mics and looked at the suggested mics, but I still need to narrow down my decision, for I really have no idea what I'm doing. If I could get the mics under 600 bucks that would be awesome. If not, then I'll have to live. Thanks so much for the help, and I'm sorry for asking a question that is asked a bunch.

Thanks

-Elliot


EDIT: and one more thing, how many mics am I going to need total? i was thinking 7, but will I need a mic for every cymbal? or will two overheads work for that?

 

[gcapel]

I would concentrate on the overhead mics very first. It;'s the main source for your sound. Second the kick. I've done numerous recordings with only these three mics.

 

[elenore19]

I would concentrate on the overhead mics very first. It;'s the main source for your sound. Second the kick. I've done numerous recordings with only these three mics.

Alright, so where should I start looking. How many overheads should I look into, and what kick mics are damn good?

 

[gcapel]

rode makes excellant affordable over heads (matched pair) with good quality.

on the kick the audix D6 is a favorite around the forum. It has a nice punch and you don't have to tweek much. I own a shure beta52 too. It's a good kick mic as well but takes a little more tweekage to get a tight kick sound. I would recommend the D6.

 

[elenore19]

rode makes excellant affordable over heads (matched pair) with good quality.

on the kick the audix D6 is a favorite around the forum. It has a nice punch and you don't have to tweek much. I own a shure beta52 too. It's a good kick mic as well but takes a little more tweekage to get a tight kick sound. I would recommend the D6.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to keep asking questions, if that's alright. Where could I find this pair of Rode over head mics? I really don't know much about where to buy things, I always search Musiciansfriend mainly and zzounds as well sometimes. At musiciansfriend I found the kick mic you mentioned, but couldn't find the pair of Rode over head mics.

 

[bubbagump]

I agree with gcapel. The Ohs are number one, followed by a kick mic, snare mic, toms, and everything else in that order of importance. The key thing to remember is that you are micing ONE instrument, not 10 separate instruments, so proceed accordingly.

Past the preaching and on to practical considerations, there are a lot of good mics for OHs in budget price range. I personally like LDC for OHs, other guys like SDCs. In the LDC category, Studio projects, Rode, and Audio Technica all make decent low cost mics. In the SDC, Studio Projects, AT, MXL, and Rode make good mics too.

For the rest of the drums, I really like the Audix D6 and i5s as they seem to work on most everything I have thrown them at. 57s will work and I often will use an SM7 on snare. If you get lucky and can find em cheap, MD421s are great on toms.

As for where to buy, try Sweetwater www.sweetwater.com. They have a pretty large selection.

 

[appleyardrules]

my advice is to go on ebay and get a new matched pair of oktava mk-012's for like 350
then get an akg d112
which brings you to 550
then save up 40 more dollars and get a sm57 for 90 dollars
and you ahve a sick setup

 

[darrin_h2000]

Ive bought most of my sm57s for arround $20 used...check the pawn shops.

 

[elenore19]

I agree with gcapel. The Ohs are number one, followed by a kick mic, snare mic, toms, and everything else in that order of importance. The key thing to remember is that you are micing ONE instrument, not 10 separate instruments, so proceed accordingly.

Past the preaching and on to practical considerations, there are a lot of good mics for OHs in budget price range. I personally like LDC for OHs, other guys like SDCs. In the LDC category, Studio projects, Rode, and Audio Technica all make decent low cost mics. In the SDC, Studio Projects, AT, MXL, and Rode make good mics too.

For the rest of the drums, I really like the Audix D6 and i5s as they seem to work on most everything I have thrown them at. 57s will work and I often will use an SM7 on snare. If you get lucky and can find em cheap, MD421s are great on toms.

As for where to buy, try Sweetwater www.sweetwater.com. They have a pretty large selection.

So for the overheads. Are these mics nice? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT5/

 

[gcapel]

So for the overheads. Are these mics nice? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT5/

a friend of mine has this pair. A great investment. Go to http://www.lifesmyth.org/ to hear some of his drum tracks.

 

[ozraves]

I'd ideally like to have Blue Dragonflys to capture the "over the kit" thing. I like the SM57 on snare. I actually like those MXL 990 mics on toms. I also like the Audio-Technica ATM25 on kick.

You can go about putting up three mics on snare. I got a thread over at Mojo Pie where this big producer talks about it. Found it: http://mojopie.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=382&st=0

Look for Lord Alvin's post.

Ribbons sound nice over a kit. I think that Russ Long uses the Nady RSM-2 ribbons. I like the sE R1 and the AEA R92 the best among ribbons I've tried.

 

[cello_pudding]

Ive bought most of my sm57s for arround $20 used...check the pawn shops.

i wish i could

 

[TragikRemix]

i would get something really nice for OH's, the rode's, studio projects makes something nice, the oktavas are nice.

i would get a used d112 or other of your choice.

i would get one 57. can be done with $600.

i would get ALL used, better chance of not losing any money if you arent happy with them.

 

[TragikRemix]

oh, and i typically pay $50 for a 57, although i got caught up in ebay auction hype and paid almost $140 for a pair once!

 

[SRR]

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUDIX-D6-i5-2-M...hZ016QQcategoryZ41465QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Then add as many i5's/57's as you need for toms. You'll be right around $600.

 

[elenore19]

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUDIX-D6-i5-2-M...hZ016QQcategoryZ41465QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Then add as many i5's/57's as you need for toms. You'll be right around $600.

Ooo, hell yes. Thanks man, just like something I've been looking for. Thanks

 

[dgatwood]

D112: $200
MSH-1O matched pair: $60 w/ stereo bar & clips
AKG D190E (snare): about $40 used

So you're at $300 and all you're missing are tom mics.

Add whatever you want for tom mics. I rather like the AKG D2300S. It's a little uninteresting by itself, but close-miked at about 45% angle and mixed in with the overheads, it adds the right amount of presence, IMHO. $35 each, two for $60, three for $80. Of course, I bought them for something like $6 apiece when MF was dumping a massive overstock, but... it's still an okay deal at the current prices.

Or you might experiment with MsHilarious's tube mics or cardioid mics on tom. The tube mics just started arriving late last week (and I don't think anyone has gotten the cardioids yet), so I don't think anyone has had a chance to road test them yet, but it sounds like an interesting design for that application....

 

[mshilarious]

Or you might experiment with MsHilarious's tube mics or cardioid mics on tom. The tube mics just started arriving late last week (and I don't think anyone has gotten the cardioids yet), so I don't think anyone has had a chance to road test them yet, but it sounds like an interesting design for that application....

I haven't sold any cardioids yet. The tube mic would be a bad choice for toms, it would distort heavily if not clip, it would probably be microphonic, and one bad whack of a stick would be history for the tube.

Now if you wanted an "Airbag" style sound, the tube might be interesting for overheads . . .