SM58's on the drum kit?

dem466

New member
Recently i have been using SM58's on the toms.. with the grill taken off. Still 57's on the snare, but i don't have enough for the whole kit.
Apparently they are pretty much identical, except that the SM58 has 10Hz less bottom end.

Does anyone else use SM58's on their drums?
 
I wouldn't use 58's on toms. They are designed for vocals and are completely wrong for making toms sound good. What I means is...depending on the sound you are going for, they may tend to work against you. They are hyped in the upper mid-range which is not the best part of the tom-tom's sound character. They also, by design, don't pick up much below 100 Hz, which is a big part of the tom-tom's sound character.

I use mics that are far more flat and extend deeper into the low frequencies.

But if it's all you have, I guess they are OK to learn on. On the other hand, many people have gotten good recordings using 57's on snare.

Keep experimenting.
 
i've used them before in a pinch. it was 2 SM58s as overheads and an SM57 for the kick. it was for a jazz gig and worked but not sure what style of music you favor. Experiment with mic placement to get the best sound possible. this can be time consuming but it pays off when you find that right spot. a good sound starts will well tuned drums.
 
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