Mics for a Drum kit...

[Bews]

My friend wants me to record his drums, he's going to buy whatever I tell him too and I don't want him to screw him over. But I'm just wondering what the best way to mic up a rock style drum kit. He has one kick, a snare, three toms, 1 ride, 1 crash, 1 china and his hats.

My initial plan was to use 7 mics, two overhead condensers, one kick mic, a shure sm-57 on the snare, and individual dynamics on each tom. And then run all of those through a PreSonus FirePod (I need to buy one of those too, I want to track all my mics separately, of course.) Now, I'm hearing maybe shouldn't use so many mics because of how difficult it is to get a good sound. So I'm just wondering what the best way to record rock style drums would be. Thank you.

 

[ofajen]

My friend wants me to record his drums, he's going to buy whatever I tell him too and I don't want him to screw him over. But I'm just wondering what the best way to mic up a rock style drum kit. He has one kick, a snare, three toms, 1 ride, 1 crash, 1 china and his hats.

My initial plan was to use 7 mics, two overhead condensers, one kick mic, a shure sm-57 on the snare, and individual dynamics on each tom. And then run all of those through a PreSonus FirePod (I need to buy one of those too, I want to track all my mics separately, of course.) Now, I'm hearing maybe shouldn't use so many mics because of how difficult it is to get a good sound. So I'm just wondering what the best way to record rock style drums would be. Thank you.

My first suggestion is to go to the sticky thread at the top that leads you to the mike FAQ!

How much to spend?

For what purpose are the recordings made?

What is the sound of the room the drums will be recorded in?

Do you want a recording of the overall, mixed sound of the kit, or do you think of the kit as a collection of individual instruments that you want to process on their own?

You can make it simple and get basically what the kit sounds like with a few accurate mikes or you can make it complicated and mike each instrument and give yourself the flexibility to tweak each sound like crazy. In the middle, you could mike bass and snare and add a pair of overheads. Or, you could start out simple, with just a couple of mikes and then add more later.

The mike FAQ gives lots of recommendations on the standard mike selections for snare, toms and cymbals. It depends on your budget.

Have fun!

Otto

 

[Warhead]

Rock style kit:

Kick: SM57 with Earthworks Kickpad (yup)
Snare: Audix i5
Toms: CAD M179's (on a budget CAD TSM411's)
OH: (2) ATM450

Don't sweat a hi hat mic yet.

Those mics each excel in those positions, and I'm here to tell you the SM57 with Kickpad produces a great kick drum sound and without it you have a different sound of course if needed.

My $.02

War

 

[travelin travis]

why spend so much on the earthworks kickpad?

 

[Warhead]

Because it sounds great with a 57...seriously...and most decent kick mics are $200 anyhow...so together they're in line...

War

 

[apl]

Check out the fabulous MSH-1O (that's an oh, as in omni) SDCs, perfect for drum overheads.

 

[karma101]

Well the question to you is. What is your busget of your friend? That is always needed to help you get the correct product for your pals.

 

[thavva]

Drum mic kits

I would like to post another question here if I may. Might be useful to. I know SM57 for eg is great for drums, but what about the drum mic kits by Shure? I mean the clip types. Is it good to invest on that?

 

[zacanger]

d112?

I go with a D112 for the kick and it sounds great.

 

[travelin travis]

Because it sounds great with a 57...seriously...and most decent kick mics are $200 anyhow...so together they're in line...

War

i picked up my atm25 on ebay, spankin new for $100 total. is the earthworks thing just some type of filter?

 

[kojdogg]

it's apparently an eq & pad that they originally included with their 3 drum (2 tc 25's for oh's and a sr 25 for the kick drum mic) mic system so that you could take it out of the chain and use the sr 25 for other things. their literature and reviewers (i saw a positive review for it in tapeop-- i think andy hong did the review) saying that it helped turn just about any mic into a workable kick drum mic.

 

[Warhead]

i picked up my atm25 on ebay, spankin new for $100 total. is the earthworks thing just some type of filter?

Yes, it's an EQ and a pad. It does what it says it will do, gives you an instant kick drum sound that in most cases coupled with an SM57 will get you closer than an entry level kick drum mic.

War