mismatched overheads?

[aaronmcoleman]

I was helping a friend who runs a studio, and he used an NT5 Omni and a C2000B on the overheads...spaced pair about 30" above the cymbals. It sounded awesome. We also had a pair of fatheads in the corner of the room for room mics, 57 on the snare and toms, an nt5 cardio on the snare bottom, and D112 on the kick with a bluebird on the kick outside. Some of this seemed pretty standard, some seemed really weird, but it all sounded great.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear what you guys think about mismatched overheads. I'm definitely no drum recording pro, but I was pretty shocked that it sounded so good...I thought the balance would have been off but it was really nice. Also the SDC on the snare bottom was perfect.

I know the answer is "if it sounds good it is good". I just wanted to hear what you think about mismatched pairs.

oh, and I will post the clips if it get them...I didn't do the recording so I don't have a clip to post.

 

[Capt Hair]

I haven't experimented with mismatched pairs, I don't own enough mics to really do that lol.

I would think if it got to drastic though, it would throw off your stereo image your trying to capture. But I guess you could also just space the mics to taste so you could preserve that stereo sound, but then you may have some slight phase issues as well. Having an Omni coupled with a cardiod might be why it worked so well. What mic was on the snare side (on the left if your sitting at the set)? I'm guessing the C2000?

I mean hey, if it works, it works.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

nope, the omni was on the snare side.

very strange set up.

 

[Capt Hair]

well then, my thought process just went out the window.

 

[Jeff Ling]

I sometimes use mismatched overheads when I use an M/S technique, (Cardioid, and Bidirectional) but have never tried a spaced pair with different mics. The HF response curves for the two mics you used are similar, so that may be why it worked for you. We do the best we can with what we've got...

 

[Greg_L]

I wouldn't do it, but if it works, it works. Let's hear what yall did.

 

[Track Rat]

As I think about it I don't think I've ever used two different mics except for MS. But I'm in the school of "if it sounds good, it is good".

 

[TyphoidHippo]

I wouldn't do it, but if it works, it works. Let's hear what yall did.

I wanna hear, too. If possible - can you get him to make a mixdown of just the two mics in question - I'm interested to hear the stereo spread without the reinforcement mics... enforcing it, lol. Some of my "matched pairs" don't really even make a good stereo image.

 

[moresound]

Never have gone with the mismatched pair route.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

I sometimes use mismatched overheads when I use an M/S technique, (Cardioid, and Bidirectional) but have never tried a spaced pair with different mics. The HF response curves for the two mics you used are similar, so that may be why it worked for you. We do the best we can with what we've got...

Well, we both have matched pairs of SDCs, and LDCs, and Ribbons that could have been used and better mics than the ones that were chosen...that's why this is so interesting to me. I wanna ask him about his thought process and why he chose the mics he did.

I'll email him and see about getting the whole drum track, whole song, and just the OHs so we can see how it sits in the mix and how the OH sound on their own. I'll post when I get it.

I just can't think of any advantages of a mismatched pair unless that's all you have.