If I can jump in there, I must admit it's a first for me to read that bottom-miked toms "cut through the mix". The bottom head is the resonant head so generally, and from my experience, there's nothing but resonance down there. However, when I thought about it, depending on how the rest of this mics are set up, he may be getting a fuller bottom end from the close tom mics and then the attack from the over heads. It would just depend on how well the attack is coming through the overheads versus how much of the bottom mics he blends in. It's certainly not impossible. One question to the OP, though. Did you flip the polarity on the bottom tom mics?
Myself? Depending on what's available at the given studio, I'll use the best of the selection. At my own place I've been loving an LDC (Rode NTK - it's got a great low end with a nice scoopy sound) on the floor tom, and AKG C1000s on the rack toms. People diss the C1000 a lot but I believe that's just because it's a cheap mic that finds it's way into the hands of a lot of beginners. I find it very useful on toms and guitars as well. Horrible on overheads, though. But I digress...
For snare I use good old SM57s - top and bottom. If I want a brighter under-snare sound, I'll use an AKG c418. I also use the c418 on high hat, miked pretty close. They've got a great natural bass roll off. They can be a little bright though so I usually high shelf it down a little bit.
For the kick I use another c418 inside, usually clipped to the internal dampening, for the attack of the kick. At the hole I'll use the D112 or an SM7 for the low stuff. This is just the SM91/Beta 52 approach with different mics. I prefer the AKGs though, to be honest.
As overheads I use the same mics I've used for years - two Neumann TLM103s. People diss this mic a lot on GS too but I don't hear anything wrong with them. I personally don't think the top end is as brittle and hyped as everyone claims. I use them on vocals as well, though, and they can approach brittle territory with some sibilant singers, but for drum overheads they rock.
Where do I put them? That's the tough part. I put them where they sound best, as trite as it sounds. Generally the drums are set up in the same spot in my studio so there are some trends. First I'll start with the overheads. I want to make sure the overall tone between them is consistent. For instance, if the right side is close to a glass window it may be brighter. If its close to a boundary, the bass may be accentuated. Once I get the overheads in the position I want I just take it one mic at a time and when I'm satisfied with its position, I'll move on to the next one. If there's bleed I don't want, I'll move the mic until I get the desired
balance of tone and bleed. It's really not rocket surgery. If you listen and know how to make the right decisions to better the situation, it's pretty smooth sailing. I also think knowing your microphones really well is key. Like their polar patterns, overall tonality, etc. I certainly wish I had many more mics than I do now. They're like colours in the palette. But when you're forced to work with what you got, sometimes you get creative and it works. I know lots of guys are probably reading my post and going, "c418s???" Yup, they work, I'm tellin ya. If you need more attack on ANYTHING, particularly when mixing them with other, more rugged sounding mics, they rock. They're good on hi hat because of their natural bass rolloff. It starts at like 500Hz at about 6dB/Oct. They're bright, yeah, but sometimes you need bright!
Cheers
