How many drum mics do you record with

How many microphones do you use when recording drums

  • 4

    Votes: 70 23.6%

  • 5-6

    Votes: 51 17.2%

  • 7-9

    Votes: 136 45.9%

  • 10-12

    Votes: 32 10.8%

  • 13+

    Votes: 7 2.4%
  • Total voters
    296
2 mics on this one

I was limited on 8 inputs for a 4 piece band.
recorded live at a club.

1 overhead on small kit (snare, hats, ride and floor tom)
Audix ADX51
1 Beta 52 on kick but kick sounded bad with no front head
So I cheated and I used Drumagog to replace kick with a studio sample. (easier than trying to get the drummer to put a front head on and learn to tune the heads)

I thought the 1 overhead did very well with some verb added to it and a little Aural Exciter to add a touch of Air as well as some parallel Compression on drum mix.

Nothing else was overdubbed........all live tracks.




Mic's I have so far:
Audix D6
Audix D2 (2)
Audix I5
Shure SM81 (2)
Senn MD421
Blue KickBall (is interesting to use on bass cabs)
AKG perception 420
 
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1x D6 on kick
1x home made subkick on kick
1x i5 on snare top
1x e609 on the snare bottom
2x sm57 on both rack toms
1x D112 on floor tom
2x EV RE200s on OH
1x F15 for hats
1-2x LDC mics for the room

So a max of 12, one of those would get sacked if there were any more toms.
 
3 mics here

Shure Beta 52A -- kick
Shure Beta 57A -- under snare
Oktava MC 012-01 -- OH

I would use two Oktavas, but I have only one. It's not stereo, but I add some reverb to the overhead channel and it widens the sound. I hang it above and between the rack tom and the floor tom so it gets the batter of the kick drum too.
It's a small Slingerland 196x kit -- if only I could play it...:o
 
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I mic according to the sound I want, on one song from our latest CD I used just an SM57 placed 4 feet in front of the kit at about 24" from the floor, gave me the 'vintage-pure-simple' vibe I wanted, I even played using brushes for the first time in 20 years. Usually though, I will spot mic all the drums and then a pair overhead and a room mic set back 10/12 feet, oddly enough I have recently got out of the habit of micing my hat, probably due to using plenty of room in the mix, need too get back into the habit soon, just in case.

My Mics and usual placement, but I experiment all the time so it varies !

Rode NTK ( mullard valves ) X 3 Overheads or Room
Rode NT2 old Room
Rode NT55 X 2 Overheads

Audix D6 Kick Drum
Audix D2 X 3 Toms
Audix D4 X 2 Toms floor and Kick
Audix D1 Snare/Percussion
Audix i5 Snare/Hat/Percussion

Oktava MK012 X 3 Overheads/Percussion

Sennheiser MD421 Toms/Kick
Sennheiser MD441 Anything...

Yamaha SubKick Kick

Audio Technica AE2500 Kick

Beyer Dynamic M201 Snare

Shure SM57 Snare

Goldenage R1 mk2 Room

Cheers. g
 
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I use seven or eight mics on a three-piece kit. I could probably upgrade my overheads, but this actually sounds pretty awesome so I'll leave it as is for now and buy some better preamps.

Snare (Top): AKG C114
Snare (Bottom): SM57
Kick (resonant): AKG D112
Kick (inside) Shure Beta 91 *only used if there is a port in the resonant head
Overheads L&R: Shure SM27 (2)
Floor Tom: Sennhesier MD421
Room Mic: Blue Kiwi about 8-10 ft. in front of the kit at about 4' off the ground.
 
I use 6 mics:

5 of which are from the Samson drum recording kit (about $200) for the snare, 3 toms, and kick and I use one area mic for the cymbals. If I have the room, I usually use another one right near the ride because it usually gets drowned out.
I posted a drum cover of a Shadows Fall song on youtube if you want to see how my setup sounds. My username is FlippinAbitch
 
Kick- Blue Mouse in the hole 30 db pad to Neve Portico II preamplifier only
Kick- Subkick 8" from the skin to SH Mono Gama Nickle setting
Snare- top Blue 100i to Neve Portico II preamplifier only
Snare - hole/shell Sure Bata 98AMPC to SH Mono Gama Nickle setting
Snare - bottom Miktek C5 to Manley VoxBox preamplifier only
Hat - Miktek C5 to SH Mono Gama Nickle setting
Tom 1 - Beyer Opus88 20db pad to API 312
Tom 2 - Beyer Opus88 20db pad to API 312
Tom 3 - Beyer Opus88 20db pad to API 312
Tom 4 - MD 421 to API 312
Overhead - Royer SF-12 stereo ribbon to Manly Slam! w/limiters on and wide open
Room L & R - Blue Dragonflys to SH Mono Gama no trany

That's my new setup I am in production with my first band in my new room. First two songs tracked and there very happy with what there hear. Now I have to mix it. I have been mixing my sound designs / music for the theatre and ballet for 25 years so this will be a new experience for me.
 
4 all the way! the Glyn Johns method...its all you need! Unless you have a massive kit. In which case more like 10! but if its your average set up....4 is perfect.
 
It really depends on the kit.

4 piece:
2x kick
2x snare
2x toms
2x OH
1x hats
1x room

5 piece is same as above just add another tom mic

6-7 piece:
Either decrease the kick mics down to one each (I have only recorded a 2 kick setup once and it fucking sucked) or add more tom mics.

If it's a really wide kit (cymbals are spread out and there are a lot of them) I might mess around with a ride mic.
 
Greg_L said:
7. Cad-Pro 7 pc kit. Not the best mics, but they're not terrible.
O/H's in the recorderman config.

I like big toms and a wide drum stereo field. I mix my drums from the drummers perspective because thats how I like it. My methods may not be the most popular, but I like it, and it's my stuff, so thats how it is. Everything is close mic'd and the song dictates how much close mic'ing I mix in with the O/H's.
Click to expand...

hey, if you see this, and don`t mind me asking..which ones..

these?
CAD Premium 7-Piece Drum Microphone Pack and more Percussion Microphones at GuitarCenter.com.

or these??
CAD PRO-7 7-Piece Drum Microphone Pack and more Percussion Microphones at GuitarCenter.com.
 
The CAD's aren't bad, neither are the Digital Reference, which I have. I've replaced a few with an Audix D6 and i5 for kick and snare. I'm going to get a better pair of overheads.

I use 8 mics, but 4 is perfectly fine for most situations. Depends on how big of a kit it is and the amount of close micing you want to do and also for the style of music. For playing be-bop jazz, probably 3 or 4 is sufficient, if you're trying to do some type of complex prog rock stuff like Dream Theater, then you need more close micing.

Getting back to the $200 mic pacs they are a great way to start out, and you can get some really good results. If you're going to spend more money on mics, kick snare and overheads are where to start. The CAD/DR kits are good enough for Toms.
 
Sorry to dig up an old thread but I have upgraded my miking setup and I am pretty darn proud of it.
Overheads: Shure SM81's
Snare: Shure SM57
Kick: Sennheiser E602
Rack Tom: Sennheiser MD421
Floor Tom: AKG D112
Room Mic: Cheapo LDC but experimenting with other mics.
I also use a homemade trigger on snare.
 
JG96 said:
Sorry to dig up an old thread but I have upgraded my miking setup and I am pretty darn proud of it.
Overheads: Shure SM81's
Snare: Shure SM57
Kick: Sennheiser E602
Rack Tom: Sennheiser MD421
Floor Tom: AKG D112
Room Mic: Cheapo LDC but experimenting with other mics.
I also use a homemade trigger on snare.
Click to expand...

That is a killer setup.
 
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