THE DRUM MICROPHONE / MICROPHONES THREAD

Re: overhead cymbal mics

Have you considered using large diaphragm mics? When I worked in a studio, we often used U87s for overheads. Since I'm not wealthy, in my home studio I sometimes use MXL V69MEs or Studio Projects B1s as overheads. They don't have the hyped high end that some of the other inexpensive mics do, and the cymbals record nice and smooth without any harshness. I also have used a matched pair of Superlux SMK-H8K small diaphragm mics as overheads and they sound good as well.
 
Re: overhead cymbal mics

A pair of stereo Neumans will do the trick quite nicely. Warm and open.
 
mics for lifeless toms?

hey all,

I have a tama rockstar kit. Here pretty soon i will need to get mics for big up coming shows, and if any of you great people can tell me what mics are the best for $200-500 range it would be most gracious of you.

jules
 
Re: mics for lifeless toms?

NO microphone in the world is going to bring your lifeless toms to full sound. You must get your toms in tune for the mics. Remember, microphones always pick up what they hear.
Check out musicians friend .com or other dot com online music stores for Drum mic package deals.
Good Luck.
 
Re: mics for lifeless toms?

The problem with rockstars is that they are soft Phillippine mahogany. And if they are older, they could have some flat spots on the bearing edge. They lack attack and projection compared to other drums.

What you need is a drumhead with a bright initial attack, and a resonant head that will sustain for a long time. This won't make the drum sustain as well as higher quality drums, but it will be *much* better than a medium or other cheap resonant head.

For a lifeless tom, get something like attack double thin, with evans black (thin) reso. That will wake the toms up dramatically with "attack",
and enhance sustain. Attack heads have the bright initial attack and a touch extra loudness over other 2-ply heads. The evans resos hold the sustain wide open.
 
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Audix mics (Fusion)

any good ???

i have a F-12 kick mic and it works alright (got it on a deal, that’s the only reason I only have one)

but i have only recorded with it once (on a djembe - it sounded ok but there were allot of over heads in the mix too)

im planning on pickin up a couple more Audix (maybe a D4 for the toms - or F-10's) and im not sure what kind for the snare yet (i have a couple steel/ brass /aluminum /wood) so if im stuck with one mic to work with i want it to be the best i cant afford (but at the sane time not limit me)

i just want to know your opinions on the audix F-series mics (are they ok - should i not waste my time) that sort of thing

thanks DW (im kinda new here)
 
Re: Shure Drum Microphones

hey...

i know it's not what you asked...but i can really recommend the set from stagg...it's about 220€ for 7 mics and it's sound is simply incredible...the case is nice too, but that shouldn't be a criteria! you should IMO really consider buying those if you need good quality mics for a reasonable amount of cash!!

so long

Phil(thy)
 
Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

Hi All,

Thanks for reading this post.

DW website lists kits for mounting mics inside drums. This seems like a great idea. Do any of you guys do it? Can anyone offer any tips/advice on it? What's the way to go when mounting the brackets? What are the pros & cons?

As I understand it:

PROS:

Ease of rigging - mics already set-up
No bleed from other drums/instruments - no feedback, keeps PA subs clear, specially in an aux-fed subs rig

CONS:

Possible extra drilling of shells?
Possible unwanted noise if mic mounting bracket not isolated (rubber washers/grommets?)?
Possible tendency of boomier drum sound?
Mic cables trailing from drums?

I play bass (please don't kick me out - I wish I could drum, and I actually tend to listen to drums in music before I listen to any other instrument) in a rock covers band, and have joined here on behalf of my drummer - he's not really a surfer.

Thanks again,

Mark
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

There are mics made specifically for the inside the drums, but I wouldn't think it would sound better than regular mic'ing, other than in the kick.

Having a complete front head on the bass drum pretty much requires a mic inside unless you get fancy with multiple mics pointed at both heads, or you're playing jazz.

The kick drum is big enough where you can use a wireless system, and the power adaptor would probably be small enough to fit through the vent hole. Unfortunatly I don't think you can get a mic cable through your common drum unless you do some drilling, or you run a cable through the vent hole without it's end, and reattach the mic connecter to the bare wire.
You would use existing hardware to integrate the mounting system, which you can find with a search (and it would probably have shock-absorbtion).

I'm assuming that your drummer has some sort of muffling on his bass drum (most do, be it pillows or heads). This should prevent the sound from getting too boomy.

Neil Peart and Dave Weckl are amoung the drummers that play with front heads on their bass drums, and use mics inside them.

The big downside to having a mic mounted inside your drum is that if it becomes loose or moves, you have to take a head off to re-adjust it.
But it eliminates a possible tripping hazard out in front of the kit (as if we don't have enough of those on stage), and it can make it easier for the sound guy, although he might need to mess around with the knobs a bit if he's never worked with inside micing before.
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

phaedrus asked me....
Anyway, we have a few questions about placing mics inside drums.

1. Does there need to be any isolation between the mounting bracket and the shell? From your pics, it looks like you don't. Does/could this allow unwanted pick-up by the mics?
it can cause constructive and/or destructive interferance as well as damage to cheaper mics. my mounting is actually isolated. the black bit is a rubber clip on strip that i have inverted and wired/taped to a bicycle spanner.

2. Where should the mic cable exit the shell? The 1/4" hole already in the shell needs to be kept free, doesn't it? Do you have to drill another hole?

the vent needs to remain free for propper funtioning of the drum. for my floot tom i was forced to drill a XLR sized hole and then i put in a countersunk female XLR jack into the shell. my tome were already drilled as they were from the generation of drums before float monting. so i used the exsisting hole which was (thankfully) almost XLR sized. these sunken XLR jacks anser your third question.

3. The point is that the mics stay permanently fixed in the shell - I assume this includes the mic cable being permanently being attached to the mic - how is this cable connected to the snake/mixer? Long dangling loop that's un-coiled for gigs
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

There are mics made specifically for the inside the drums, but I wouldn't think it would sound better than regular mic'ing, other than in the kick.

the company that nakes dedicated internal mics is called 'may mics'. an excellent product that uses the capsules of leading mic companies (AKG, Shure and Senheiser), but May mics are ludicrously expensive. the reason is that there are two other pitfalls or internal micing that the company over comes and i have to an extent overcome through trial error. these are:
slap sounds
a sharp spikey slap even from a nicely tuned floor tom folloed by the tone of the drum. terrible. sounds like and explosive click and hurts the ears.
tube sounds
can amply be demonstrated using a christmas paper wrapping inner tube. ask your mom to tak to you through it. here voice sounds all hollow. it makes a tom sound like a basket ball...not good.
both these are avoided by perfectly correctly placed quality mics, but this is where the difficultly arrives. as you muddle your way through placement you have to take a whole head of each time and retune. through trial and error i have found an angle of about 45 degrees to the head and a distance of three inches seems o work but this changes with the make of mic and diaphragm size sp be warned.

i will type more on this topic and include some pictures later.

j
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

Sounds like a terrible idea to me - you'd have to be super careful between gigs not to dislodge the mics inside the drums...and if you did you'd have to re-tune...

Also I image the sound from inside the drum is really different from the outside.

As far as the kick drum goes Bonham had no hole, he miced the beater side as well. He had quite a good sound, don’t you think.

Mics on stage are a little annoying, but not that much of a pain…a good sound guy can mic a kit in a matter of minutes and get a good sound. (it's there job)

This seems kinda over the top to me…but whatever works for some don’t work for others…(do many of the pros do this?)

(You’re a bass player right? Ok this explains things.).
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

you'd have to be super careful between gigs not to dislodge the mics inside the drums

not if you make the mounts strong enough. i also tape the mics in place.

Also I image the sound from inside the drum is really different from the outside.

that's tube sound but there are ways around it.

Mics on stage are a little annoying, but not that much of a pain…a good sound guy can mic a kit in a matter of minutes and get a good sound. (it's there job)

unless you don't have a sound guy...then its your job and mic set up and tear down can add a ver fiddley 20 minutes to your time.

…(do many of the pros do this?)

a lot of pros do have sound guys and roadies etc and so have no need to worry about anything other than showing up ready to play. that said i often find pictures of pro drum kits with maymics here and there if you know what to look for.

BETA52RF.jpg
D4RF.jpg
ND868RF.jpg
ATM25RF.jpg

D112BD.jpg

XL57SDRF.jpg
D112RF.jpg
e604SDRF.jpg
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

So the cons might be:

Wierd sound because we don't usually hear a drum from the inside - this can probably be eq'd/processed till it's closer to the usual sound?

Possible movement of mics, necessitating pain-in-the-@rse retuning, etc.

Has/does anyone use ported resonant heads on toms? Mics could then be mounted inside, and access would be available to reposition if necessary. It might produce a more traditional sound too?

Mark
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

Using ported reso heads on toms is not efficient as any hole on a reso head should be roughly less than ten percent of the toal surface area...any more and you may as well not have a reso because it won't make a sound. since the hole would need to be big enough for your hand it would be too big a hole for anything smaller than an 18'' floor tom. so the obvious solution is to set up without reso heads (a la phil collins).

j

ps: for more on ports (particularly bass drum ports) google the tuning bible.
 
Re: Mics Inside Drums - Who Does It?

Yes, without reso heads then you would have accessability to the mics, but at the expense of your drum's sustain. That could be a good thing...depending on what you're after.
 
Recording with 2 mics

I currently have two instrument microphones, and I want to know where to place them to record my drums as best as possible. I have a 6 piece mapex m-birch fusion set, with a 21" ride, 10"splash,15" crash, 16" crash, and 14"hi-hats.

where should I place my 2 mics for recording?
 
Re: Recording with 2 mics

I would say pointing diagonaly into the kit from about 4-5 feet away. This way you should get a decent enough, open sound.

It will never sound brilliant but I have been in the same situation before and if you put a little time into getting the mic placement right you can get a good recording given the circumstances.
 
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