vocal mics?

[bojangleman]

could i use vocal mics for micing my drums?

i have 2, and could i use them as overheads?

thanks!

Alex

[harryconway]

Look no furthur than 42 years of the Shure SM57/58 for your answer. People have used those mics for every application under the sun.

[bojangleman]

that'd be sweet! but, i already have 2 vocal mics...could i use them as overheads?

Alex

[somexone75]

that'd be sweet! but, i already have 2 vocal mics...could i use them as overheads?

Alex

I guess you could, but if I were you I'd save up a little money and buy some MXL 603's online. They are some awesome mics to be used in home as overhead condensers.

If you are just trying to get a recording and don't care about the sound quality, go for it.

Good luck

[konaboy]

that'd be sweet! but, i already have 2 vocal mics...could i use them as overheads?

Alex


Sure 58's are vocal mics. some of the most widely used vocal mics out there. And I've seen them used like Harry said for just about anything, though I wouldn't want to put one on my bass.

You can try whatever you have for overhead mics, nothing saying you can't. Depending on the mic it may not give you the sound or be sensitive to pick up what you want to hear.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Really I'd advise against using them as overheads, the transient response is too slow and the frequency response is too mid-heavy. Really what you need is a reasonably good pair of condenser microphones, like the AKG C1000 or Rode NT5's. Whilst these aren't too cheap (and you'll need phantom power to run them) they can also be used as good entry-level overheads for studio recording as well. Typically speaking, when recording; the overheads pick up most of the kit and I tend to use the individual microphones just to add to the overhead signal. When you're live, a good set of overheads makes a massive difference, even in reasonably small venues, the cymbals get lost with the loudness of the snare drum, particularly when the bass drum is miced up.

So don't skimp on the overheads. They're the most important microphones you can buy.

[BertTheDrummer]

I've known some places I've played at before that have used Sm-57's even to mic the bass... though not my preference. To answer your question, yes vocal mics would work fine for overhead.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

SM57's on the bass drum are ok. Their mid-low bias is usable here and the transient response is adequate. In an old issue of Sound on Sound the engineer who produced Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' actually used an SM58 (same microphone with a windshield basically) on the bass drum because the drummer was so powerful that nothing else could cope with the dB SPL!

I would still strongly advise using SM57's as overheads! I cannot stress this enough - the results will be highly disappointing.

[bonzolead]

I always liked using SM 57's for my snare and hi-hats never use them as overheads.

Bonzolead