snare mic - will I notice a difference?

MrKwik

MrKwik

**will man ho for gear**
Right now I have a cheapo Superlux drum mic kit and a Shure PG52 kick mic. All I use is 2 overheads, kick and snare. I see that everybody pretty much likes the 57 as a snare mic and I was thinking about picking one up. My question though is this....being that Im a total beginner, my drum room (aka garage) is less than ideal and my gear is not top shelf either, will I actually be able to hear a difference that would make it worth upgrading the snare mic?
 
Maybe not right away.

But as you gradually upgrade your setup, you'll start getting incremental improvements with each new piece of gear, and in time, you'll have noticeably better recordings, overall, with better gear. Getting a 57 is a pretty decent place to start.
 
MrKwik said:
Right now I have a cheapo Superlux drum mic kit and a Shure PG52 kick mic. All I use is 2 overheads, kick and snare. I see that everybody pretty much likes the 57 as a snare mic and I was thinking about picking one up. My question though is this....being that Im a total beginner, my drum room (aka garage) is less than ideal and my gear is not top shelf either, will I actually be able to hear a difference that would make it worth upgrading the snare mic?
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Most people do... so most likely you will too. By the way, my favorite snare mic is the Beyer M201. ;)
 
I don't know what your financial situation is like. If things are lean for you, I'd have to ask myself if I'm getting the most out of what I already have. Have you experimented to the point you feel that the mics are your weakest link?

If you're close micing the snare, how does it sound all by itself? If it sounds like crap, look at all the other possibilities like placment, drum tuning and such. I mention this as you indicated the room was a garage. The dislike in your sound might be coming from the over-heads which will be where most of your room sound comes from. You might not be able to fix that within your limitations.

If you've got the bucks to spare, then I would encourage the mic buy. It would free up the existing one for underside snare possibilities.
 
I personally think that if you are using superlux overheads, those have got to go. You can probably pick up 2 mxl 603s for anywhere between 50-80 bucks each... with decent overheads, the overall sound of the snare will improve. I'd say it'd be worth it to buy overheads and then use a sampling program (if you're on a DAW) such as drumagog for your snare and kick. Even the presets it come with are going to be much better than what you've got. You can probably actually get a decent sound this way considering you have a nice snare gog and you work it in right.

2 mxl 603s - 120 +
drumagog - 149 (or cheaper used)
= 270
for a better than garage demo sound which you can use for a while.

Hope this helps
 
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