Studio Projects B1 for most tom applications?

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slickshoe62

New member
I was wondering if anyone used the studio projects B1 to mic toms?
I was going for a very live very huge drum sound like that on the most recent Mars Volta album, Frances the Mute.
I wanted a mic that I could use for anything from jazz to rock. I heard some very good things from the listening sessions with jazzoo, and they used 2 studio project B1s for the rack toms and one B3 on the floor (the millennia pre might of had a little to do with it). :)

Are these mics any good for rock? Has anyone had any luck getting a good open drum sound with minnimal bleed?

How does the 132 max spl holds up against the toms and how much sound bleeds from adjacent drums and cymbals?
 
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I was going fior a very live very huge drum sound like that on the most recent Mars Volta album, Frances the Mute.
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This is just me talking out of my ass here but I saw The Mars Volta live about 2 months ago and the drum sound was pretty much identical to that on the album. I was fairly close to the sound engineer and I swear it looked like they had some real time sound replacement going on with the drums. I have no idea if the drums on the album are triggered or if they were triggered live but I do know that, that particular sound would seem very dependant on the room/playing of the drums (very bonahm-ish).

Are these mics any good for rock? Has anyone had any luck getting a good open drum sound with minnimal bleed?
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I tried one on snare at the last session I did. It was clipping 6 inches back not even pointed directly at the snare. Im guessing that using one on toms with a hard hitter could be problematic. The b1 also seemed to introduce alot more bleed than I was willing to take. I imagine with the right drummer and cymbal placement that wasn't right on top of the toms, the mic would work in this position. At any rate, ive had my B1 for almost 2 years now and I haven't found a really GOOD use for it. It does get the job done in a pinch though.
 
We've been recommending B's for toms for over two years. Absolutely killer tom mics.

slickshoe62 said:
I was wondering if anyone used the studio projects B1 to mic toms?
I heard some very good things from the listening sessions with jazzoo, and they used 2 studio project B1s for the rack toms and one B3 on the floor (the millennia pre might of had a little to do with it). :)
Click to expand...

Ah, actually, I used the Roland VS2480 pres for recording the toms on the JAZZOOO CD. : )

You can also hear a B3 on different kinds of music – including rock – at http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/sessions.htm on Sessions 6 & 7.
 
I've used the B1 extensively as a floor tom mic. From my experience, I have had to back it off the drum a bit, which does introduce a little leakage from the rest of the kit. However, it's nothing that a little gating/expanding can't fix. The sound is big and beefy on a well-tuned drum.

I imagine that it could sound nice on other toms, but positioning might be challenging.

- Jerfo
 
I use B1s on toms...they capture a really great, fat, natural sound on properly tuned toms. The downside, like others have mentioned, is that there is a TON of bleed from the rest of the kit. But if you are willing to spend a lot of time editing out bleed (lots of different ways to do this), they work pretty well. They do tend to clip really easily...I use a Presonus Firepod, and they usually record really well with the gain knobs completely off...the drum hits tend to look clipped sometimes (but they weren't recorded clipped or clipping in the Firepod...it's just all the mic can handle I guess and it limits the peaks itself)...but it actually still sounds great even when it looks visually clipped.
 
Deege said:
I use B1s on toms...they capture a really great, fat, natural sound on properly tuned toms. The downside, like others have mentioned, is that there is a TON of bleed from the rest of the kit. But if you are willing to spend a lot of time editing out bleed (lots of different ways to do this), they work pretty well. They do tend to clip really easily...I use a Presonus Firepod, and they usually record really well with the gain knobs completely off...the drum hits tend to look clipped sometimes (but they weren't recorded clipped or clipping in the Firepod...it's just all the mic can handle I guess and it limits the peaks itself)...but it actually still sounds great even when it looks visually clipped.
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This thread is 6 years old...I don't know if he cares anymore :D
 
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