micing up a BIG kit

  • Thread starter Thread starter James HE
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James HE

a spoonfull weighs a ton
We are exspanding the studio, hopefully by march we'll have a MOTU 24i and a Mackie 1602 (or that's the plan for now) My drummer's kit looks like something held over from an 80's hair band :D It's a 9 piece kit + Rototoms + timbales + lots and lots of cymbals. All in all we'll have 19 mics for drums. (yes, I said 19! we'll have the inputs, why not!) We've compiled our list, I just wanted to see what you guys thought about our choices...

Overheads- AT 3525's
Kick- ATM 25 (or Beta 52)
snare (top)- SM-57
snare (bottom)- SM-57
timbales- sm-57 (x2)
Rototoms- SM-57 (x2)
10" concert tom- SM-57
Rack toms
11", 12", 13" Audix D-2 (x3)(?)
Floor toms
14", 16" Audix D-2 (x2)(?)
22" Gong drum Beta 52 (or ATM 25)
ride AKG C1000s (or ?)
hi-hat Octava MC012 (or ?)
room mic NT-1 (cuz I got it)

I already have 4 57's, the Beta 52, the ATM25, and the NT-1.
I'm not sure about the Audix mics on the double headed toms, but we can get a deal on them for $100 a piece. I'd use 57's on them, but we need something a little more low profile, to squeeze the mics in with all the cymbals and whatnots. (that reminds me, where can I get right angle XLR connectors?) If we could afford Shure beta 98's, it'd be a no brainer. The other low-profile options in our price range are the Sennheiser e604, Beta 56 or the AT pro25. The stick man's getting the dynamics, so that's his call really. (i.e. help me talk him out of the D-2's! :D) Hopefully we can audition all of the above to see what we both like.

For ride and hi-hat it's a little blury. A small condensor for sure. I heard Ed say he liked the c1000 on ride (but nothing else) I guess I'd like to test that theory. The MC012 on hi-hat seems like a safe bet. I'd be using these for other stuff too, like percussion overdubbs and acoustic guitar tracks. I'm thinking having one of each would be cool so that I could choose and experiment depending on the application. Or I could just get a pair of MC012 and forget it. I don't want to spend over $350 for the two though, so that means Guitar center for the Octava(s).

I'm curious, who's ever miced up a kit this size? Nightmare? or intresting adventure? (so far it's been an intresting nightmare for me.)

-jhe
 
What a nightmare

I only have a 4 piece kit & it's a real pain in the ass, plus, the mackie only has so many channels & even then; you'll have to mix and sub mix. - MAN! Does he even use all of that stuff?
 
wow thats a lot of mics. but if you have the mics and inputs why not try it. i try the semi-minimal approach on most drum kit miking. for your situation, i would probably get away using 5 mics.

Kick 1-Sennheiser e602 inside as close to beater as possible for the attack
Kick 2-Shure KSM32 outside of kick to get low end, and some vibration from other drums

I really don't have to eq the kick to much with this setup

Snare-SM57

2 Overheads Shure KSM32


during mix group and compress all drum tracks, and maybe put them in a big room, boom i get a big bonham sound.
 
the Bonam sound...

...happens to be one of his least favorite drum sounds! :)

he plays a double kick pedal- no second bass drum... THANK GOD!

And yes he does use all of it, but, not all of it in every song.

-jhe
 
phase?

Your phase problems are going to be a nightmare.
19 mics????
19?????

wow.
 
thats insane
but could be a fun experiment
although i bet you never do it again
 
James HE said:
We are exspanding the studio, hopefully by march we'll have a MOTU 24i and a Mackie 1602 (or that's the plan for now) My drummer's kit looks like something held over from an 80's hair band :D It's a 9 piece kit + Rototoms + timbales + lots and lots of cymbals. All in all we'll have 19 mics for drums. (yes, I said 19! we'll have the inputs, why not!) We've compiled our list, I just wanted to see what you guys thought about our choices...

I already have 4 57's, the Beta 52, the ATM25, and the NT-1.
<---Mega Snip--->
Hopefully we can audition all of the above to see what we both like.


I'm curious, who's ever miced up a kit this size? Nightmare? or intresting adventure? (so far it's been an intresting nightmare for me.)

-jhe
Click to expand...

Hi James,


Is this a Tama kit?
(The only 11" Tom I can think of was made by Tama back in the 80's)
Well, Back in the mid 80's, I had a "Van Halen Mean Streets-era" kit, including 4 Slingerland 24" chrome kick drums and 6 Octobans. That's when I got turned off to Shure mic's. we had 21 57's and 3 58's, and a Peavey Mk.III Mixer! UGH!Hahaha

Here's how I would approach it:

Kick Beta-52
Snare SM-57
Timbales ONE SM-57 for the pair
Rototoms (I'm guessing this is the 6",8"10" set) ONE sm57 above it.
Toms ???

I'd buy another NT-1 and use the pair as overheads, and not worry about micing the Hi-hat and Ride as separates.


Right now you can get 3 e604's for $299 at MF.
Check around and see what you can get the Pro-25's for if you buy a dozen of them....Price Breaks RULE!

There are also:

Beyer #M-422_______ $130.
(I personally use this on the snare and love it.)
Beyer #TG-X5_______ $109
(tiny "gooseneck" mic that clips to the rim of the drum.)
ATM #pro25_________ $104
(A Killer economical Hypercardioid.)
ATM #pro-37R_______ $129
(A very small Cardioid Condenser.)


Right Angle cables can be bought at any PRO/Sound Contractor supply house.

You can get the ends-but the Right Angle end by itself is going to cost you between $6 and $15 dollars, so you might as well just buy the Cables!
Markertek has what I consider the best deal on Cables. Buy them once, buy them right!

For a 25' Mic Cable, if you buy 5 or more they are $23.95, plus another $3.25 for the Right Angle Female end. These cables are Canare cable with Neutrik ends.
LIFETIME WARRANTY with NO QUESTIONS ASKED!

Ask Big Kahuna, he'll tell you the same thing-These are worth the money.

I've made thousands of Cables (literally-I was a schwoog(my own term) for a Sound Contractor-starting out; mixing shows-forget that! Lugging speaker boxes and soldering cables! Hahaha) and even though I can make a cable that will look IDENTICAL to these-I wouldn't offer a lifetime warranty -a year under normal conditions, sure, but that would be it, AND I wouldn't sell them for any less!

http://www.markertek.com


All these Prices are from the Current Markertek Catalog.
Order one-it's free!
They've kept me in tons of much needed parts over the years.



Tim
 
that's the link I was looking for! Thanks Tim! The only other right angle cables I found were Rapco (Neutrik ends) which is good, but Canare will be much better!

and oh yeah it's a pearl kit, and it not an 11" it's a 10", I messed that one up. The roto toms are 6", 8", 10" (that makes three 10" toms, what is he thinking? :D) Whenever we've miced them with just one, the 6" is never loud enough. I was thinking two mics on the timbales cuz of where the are, one sort of sits underneath his percusion table, but we overdubb that stuff, so we can move the table and problem solved! Maybe I'll use the NT-1 there. Also I'll look into those Beyer mics.

4 24" chrome kicks! WOW! Now that's some overkill! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

-jhe
 
James HE said:
that's the link I was looking for! Thanks Tim! The only other right angle cables I found were Rapco (Neutrik ends) which is good, but Canare will be much better!

4 24" chrome kicks! WOW! Now that's some overkill! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

-jhe
Click to expand...

I cut down in the number of kicks and went up with size! Hahaha Now I'm using a pair of 28"'s.
Well, I used to collect drumkits...I had no bills back then, and I bought two Slingerland double bass kits (one a 9 piece kit, and one a 13-piece kit) and it was like KISS! Hahaha I would constantly play with different setups.
It was fun, but the drums were basically tore all to hell. The outsides of the shells were covered in real Chromed Metal, and they were scarred up really badly....they looked great from the audience, just like a mirror, but when you got up on them, they were all dented...The guy I sold them to, actually hooked up a pair of DW "Double Pedals", so that he can play the outside kicks as well from the Doublepedal extension! I just had them for looks.

Yeah, I like the Canare Cables better, and the Right Angle definitely makes a difference when you're trying to squeeze the Mic's in.

Markertek's a great business for home recording studio's to deal with.

Tim
 
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