Try this for your snare mic... a SP B3

[The Generator]

I just want to pass on a good snare drum experience with a cheap mic.
In our studio, we have been doing mostly rock bands, which means mostly live drum kits. I usually gravitate toward using an atm25 on kick, atm25's & 57's on toms, mc012's or km-84's for overheads, and the ol trusty 57 for snare. But the other night, the drummers piccolo snare needed something more than a 57. I had heard someone here mention using a S.P. B1 on toms, so we decided to try the S.P. B3 on the snare, along with the 57. the sound was stellar, and the band freaked! The signal chain was nothing special either, ran through a joe meek twin. With the pad engaged and set to cardiod the snare came alive. I feared it would be bright and harsh, but it fit in the mix. Adjust for phasing and whellah! I think we all need to keep experimenting, and not getting stuck in a "rut" when it comes to mic selection. Of course some mics are no brainers, but some can be suprizing. B3 for a snare??? who'da thunk it? Not me.

The Generator

 

[Track Rat]

Try an AKG C-1000 some time.

 

[tmix]

Darn! Track beat me to it.
I was going to say, I use a C1000 all the time in conjunction with a 57 on snare. The 57 gives some warm body and a hint or so of the C1000 gives a lot of snap and snare sound. I put them side by side up on top close enough to minimize the hats bleeding too much.

Tom

 

[alecmcmahon]

how did you position it ???

 

[The Generator]

I was going to say, I use a C1000 all the time in conjunction with a 57 on snare. The 57 gives some warm body and a hint or so of the C1000 gives a lot of snap and snare sound. I put them side by side up on top close enough to minimize the hats bleeding too much.

Tom

Very cool. I'll have to try it. I'm typically not too fond of the C1000, but this would be almost redeeming for that mic in my experience. Thanks for the info. My next experiment will be B1's or B3's on toms with 57's. Let ya know.

The Generator

 

[dudge]

B1 and B3 are great tom mics! Big clear sound.
Use the B3 on floor tom with the pad on.
The Studio Projects C1 is great on snare, too.

 

[Track Rat]

I don't usually whore my tunes here BUT if you want to hear C-1000's on snare and rack toms (C-3000 on the floor tom) you can listen here. Granted, most of the drum sound I have comes from the overheads which are Earthworks SR-71's.
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=1331/singles.shtml

 

[mrface2112]

i've always talked about the merits of the SP B1 on snare--i think that's one of the applications it shines best in. i like it about 6in out, and aimed at the shell of the drum. nice woody crack. granted the B3 is a tonally different animal, but i would expect similar results.

another non-57 i like on snare is a sennheiser e835. it's got a totally different high end (and overall sound) from the shures, and depending on the circumstances, could be a very nice tonal variant.


cheers,
wade

 

[xstatic]

One of my favorite combo's for snare is a Shure beta 57a on top, and an AKG 414 B-ULS on bottom

 

[cavedog101]

I like my B3 on a lot of things...I never mentioned the SNARE cause I wanted one sleeper sound all to myself.....thanx a bunch.....I love the C1000 for stirring the tea.

 

[Dot]

If anyone's got a C1 around, it also makes a great snare mic.

 

[chessrock]

I just kinda' had one of those brainstorms the other day, and threw one of my Groove Tubes GT-44 tube mics on snare.

Guys, that's one nice-sounding snare mic. For this particular application, it basically sounds ideal; like that's what it was meant for. Just for shits and/or giggles, I tried the 33 and it just wasn't doing it for me. Too much crack; not very full or beefy.

Best part is that, you can fit the mic and the shockmount easily on to one of those clip-on attachments and mount it directly to the snare, without any vibrational issues at all ... and ergonomically speaking, it's easy to fit in to that tight space unobtrusively and (mostly) out of danger. It has plenty of spl handling to spare, and the -15 db pad also helps keep it from distorting the mic pre. The harder you hit, the more the tube reacts and lightly compresses. I might just give it a permanent snare assignment. No real reason to mess around with that.

 

[junplugged]

I don't usually whore my tunes here BUT if you want to hear C-1000's on snare and rack toms (C-3000 on the floor tom) you can listen here. Granted, most of the drum sound I have comes from the overheads which are Earthworks SR-71's.
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=1331/singles.shtml

Feel better, whores don't give it up for free. (unless you know something about them I don't?)

That is a cool snare sound, btw, it's a bit different and does something good for the mix. REMish?

 

[Dot]

chessrock, if you've got a piar of GT44's try them on drum OH's. They do a really sweet job. Excellent at tempering the transients and forgiving of rooms that are less than acoustically ideal.

GT44 is a great amp mic, too. Great for percussion, room mics, vocals.... One of the best all-purpose workhorse mic on the market, IMO.

I was raving about the GT44's when they were running about $980 a pair. At $199 each - as long as that lasts - they're a total no-brainer. Everyone should have a pair of these mics.

 

[chessrock]

I'll definitely agree with you on that one, Dot. They make for very good overhead mics. Basically, after working with them I've come to think of it as a very good work-horse mic that sounds good on a lot of stuff as you say, but doesn't really excel at any one thing. Except for when I tried it on snare -- then I kind of had that epiphany. The snare drum is it's special purpose in life, and I just can't take it off, now. It does really nice things there, to my ears ... really nice things. Ya know, I'd hazzard a guess that it would be pretty killer on kick, too, but I'll save that for another day. Hmmm.

 

[Dot]

Basically, after working with them I've come to think of it as a very good work-horse mic that sounds good on a lot of stuff as you say, but doesn't really excel at any one thing.

What pres are you running the GT44's through?

 

[chessrock]

What pres are you running the GT44's through?

Not that it makes a heck of a lot of difference, but I've run it through a Sytek and an Altec 1567a with fairly consistant results. One of my gt-44's does sound noticeably darker/smoother than the other (I'm assuming Shanhai's QC isn't yet perfect); that's the one I like on snare, by the way (through Sytek jfet channel).