Mics for recording drums

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warble

warble

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I've decided to record drums in my home studio....with a little patience and work it may be a good venture.

I have 3 Shure SM58's, one CAD E-100 mic, and a RODE NT-1 mic for vocals. I've read before that the CAD-E100 will work pretty well for the kick drum. It has a 10-18Khz freq. and a SPL of 148. Can I use the SM-58's for the snare and/or toms? Should I pick up a couple SM-57's? I have the resources to purchase a couple new mics ($100-250 range) and am curious about any experiences you all might have had.

I definitely want to mic the snare, kick, toms, hi-hat, have a couple mics above the kit for the cymbals, and possibly 1 or 2 rooms mics. I would love to hear any configurations you might have tried.

Thanks.
 
Check-out The Sound Room at www.oktava.com
This is what I recommend.

Buy a matched-pair of the Oktava MC012s for your overheads. Buy SM57s for your toms and snare. Go ahead and use your CAD for bass drum, and use your Rode as the room mic.
 
I agree with R.E. on this... here's my typical drum mic set up

Snare: SM57 (~$99)
Kick: AKG D112 (~$200)
Toms: Shure AXS 6 (~$100/ea)
OH: (2) Oktava MC012 (~$225/ea .. matched pair would be ~ $600)

The only thing I find missing in this set up is a hi hat mic. Although, good placement of the overheads can reduce the need for a dedicated hihat mic.
I think the SM57 is well suited for snare because of it's freq response. I wouldn't use it for toms unless I had to, though.
I like the AXS 6 mics because they were really affordable (I think around $100/ea) and they do well at reproducing a nice warm tom sound.
The kick drum mic ...AKG D112 is an industry standard, and is well deserving of that.
I think the Oktavas do well and giving an overall room sound, but if you need more than that ... I'd just use the NT1.
 
Those are all good choices for people already with a lot of nice mics...but has anybody heard anything on this set of drum mics Audio-Technica has come up with. At a local music store, one can get 4 mics for $180, two that are "ideal" for snare and hi toms, and two that are "ideal" for kicks and low toms. Are these mics even worth experimeting with, or are they CRAP!!!!!????? (Judging by the price, I'd assume the latter, but you never know...they list for $260 retail)
 
Those are all good choices for people already with a lot of nice mics...but has anybody heard anything on this set of drum mics Audio-Technica has come up with. At a local music store, one can get 4 mics for $180, two that are "ideal" for snare and hi toms, and two that are "ideal" for kicks and low toms. Are these mics even worth experimeting with, or are they CRAP!!!!!????? (Judging by the price, I'd assume the latter, but you never know...they list for $260 retail)
 
I've talked with my friend at the music store I get most of my equipment from. Here is what he recommended to me (more of a budget version configuration):

Shure BETA 57- snare
Shure SM-57- Hi-Hat
(2)Shure BG 4.1- overheads (cymbals)
(3)Shure BG 6.1- toms
EV 868- kick

This is for a budget setup. I think the total price may be around $1,000-1,150. He said I'd probably want to mic the whole kit if I had the tracks available. I've go a VS-1680 so I'm set there. I know it's an all "SHURE" mic setup, but I've always liked Shure and the quality is trustworthy.

As far as Audio Technica's mic set, I'm not sure about the quality. I know they have a couple selections for a kick mic, but the others I'm not sure.
 
Why MIC all the Drums when you can get a good overhead or two.

HAWLK
 
True, you can get a good sound micing with overheads- but, I would like to add specific effects to certain drums, i.e) snare, and would like more control. I guess it's a matter of your budget.
 
Actually, I think it really has more to do with the sound you're looking for. There's a reason why the drums in a jazz combo is recorded with only 2 overheads and bass drum mic. This gives the drums that natural, loose, sloppy (slang), airy sound feeeling. There's also a reason why rock drums are recorded with a multiples of close-miked drums. This gives it a very close, "in your face", tight sound and gives control to the way rock is meant to be played.

Of course, thoughout the decades, the style of music we're trying to capture now really doesn't determine the miking techniques we choose use for different instruments in different styles; it's all determined the the sound and feeling we're looking for.

It's funny how many people don't realize that many of their favorite rock musicians (particularly guitarists) are highly trained classical musicians; funny how many aren't either.

My brother is a guitar teacher at one of our Sacramento music stores. He has students from the ages 8-45. He says all but 1 of the male students between the ages of 12-25 don't understand why he'd prefer them to learn a few things on acoustic guitar first and not an electric. They say they don't want or need to learn scales at all. "I just need to be taught a few power chords just to get me started, then I can just learn on my own. That acoustic stuff just isn't for me. I just want to ROOOOOOOOOCK!!!"
 
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