Live Drums. Three Mics. Input?

[Mountainmirrors]

Greetings!
I've been jamming with a live drummer, as of late. As you can imagine, it's been a challenge to figure out a great drum sound, as I've been spoiled with samples and great-sounding drum machines.
I've got three mics. Two Shure SM57's and an A.T. condenser mic.
So far, the best sound I've gotten is putting the condenser a little above the bass drum, 1 ft. away. The Two SM57's I've got about a foot higher than the cymbals, spread 4 ft. apart left-right in front of the set.
While the bass drum sound is OK when I import it to my PC when I increase lower freq. but the cymbals are very loud. Any suggestions? Am I doing it completely wrong? The drum sound is very important!
Thanks, Jeff
http://www.mountainmirrors.com

 

[theletterq]

Try this: put one 57 in the kick, one on the snare, and the AT a few feet in front of the kit or directly overhead. You'll really have to fiddle with placements on the condenser to find "the" sweet spot.

Also, make sure your drummer is playing "for the studio". This means balancing the sound of his kit so it sounds like one cohesive instrument - not bashing the hell out of the cymbals while barely touching the toms, etc. Good luck...