THE DRUM MICROPHONE / MICROPHONES THREAD

Re: Snare Drum Mics

Brent W said:
As far as placement, I am currently double micing the snare (batter and resonant side). Both mics are angled down towards the head and are about an inch away from the rims and about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch away from the batter head.

I know this might sound like I'm being patronising, but you are putting one of those microphones out of phase with the other, right?
 
Re: Snare Drum Mics

I use an SM-57 on the snare live. The thing is a beast. I accidentally whack it now and then and it never misses a beat.

For recording, the last time, the engineer guy added another 57 with reversed phase to the snare side. Then in pro-tools, since it was its own track, I could mix the amount of snare buzz I wanted in. It was really cool, in that with two mics, I was able to use one snare drum for about 20 tracks, but make it sound different.

Stu
 
Re: Snare Drum Mics

finnhiggins said:
I know this might sound like I'm being patronising, but you are putting one of those microphones out of phase with the other, right?

Yes sir.

I have a question, seeing as the consensus is that the SM57s are the best for snares, does anyone know if they changed their design? The two that I have are probably more than 10 years old, but I was under the impression that they have not altered the design. Does the age of a microphone actually take an effect on anything? I checked the element and the electronics of the microphone and everything seems in tact.

Thanks again for your input, I am going to try to rent a brand new 57 to try it out against my old one.

-Brent
 
Re: Snare Drum Mics

SM 57 is the standard tool for micing snares, however there are some killer AKG's out there. We played around with them on some of the tracks on our record. I spoke with an enigineer who recommends a 57 on top and a condenser mic on the bottom. I am no expert at recording, but I have work with some very talented individuals who are.
 
Re: Snare Drum Mics

I agree with everyone, An SM-57 is an awsome mic, very high quality. I think to get that sound you'll have to play with the compression and Equalization frequencies.
 
Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Me and my band are going to start to record in my house so we are buying all the gear. Does anyone know about good drum Mics that are not to expensive? What about a good mixer and a Sound Card? I have money to spend in it but not that much. I was offered a Yamaha 16 channel Mixer for 400 $US, is that any good?
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Chilli said:
Me and my band are going to start to record in my house so we are buying all the gear. Does anyone know about good drum Mics that are not to expensive? What about a good mixer and a Sound Card? I have money to spend in it but not that much. I was offered a Yamaha 16 channel Mixer for 400 $US, is that any good?

If you want multi-channel audio in for a PC you can't go far wrong with something like an M-Audio Delta 1010 or 1010LT (depending on what you're plugging in). If you just want to use a mixer to go down to a stereo pair and record in stereo you could get away with something like an M-Audio Audiophile 2496, but you won't get the same results.

I'm not really up on used prices of mixers in the US, but if you're just looking for a home recording setup I don't think you'll need a sixteen channel mixer - that is, assuming you want to do overdubbed takes. If you want to present the whole band then you'll either need to use a mixer to make sub-mixes and send it to the sound card as a reduced set of channels or you'll need two sound cards synched via word clock or SPDIF. If you do that you'll need to get seriously into the specifics of what's in your computer in order to make sure you have enough bandwidth available on the PCI bus for 16+ channels of digital audio at any given time.

What sound card you get dictates what you need in front for best results - for example, the Delta 1010 accepts standard jack connections but has no pre-amp, which means you need a dedicated 8-channel pre-amp or mixer in front of it to supply line-level sound. The 1010LT has two balanced inputs and six RCA inputs, and the balanced ones can be switched to Mic level using a jumper on the card - not very convenient as it requires taking your computer to pieces. So you'd need a configuration there that can send balanced where available (preferably at line level with a good pre-amp on the front again) or RCA when not (and use good quality RCA cabling, not flimsy ones that came with a Discman or something).

Try to work out exactly what your budget is, then try to buy pretty balanced stuff across your entire rig. There's no point in having $2,000 A/D convertor rack mount units if you are going to be using budget microphones, and likewise there's not a lot of point buying an amazing pre-amp if your sound card only accepts unbalanced RCA connections.
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Eurorack mixers are awesome, my band uses one and it hasnt done us wrong. had it for a year and a half. euroracks are the way to go.
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Well depending on your budget, I'm going to assume it's somewhere around my G.A.S. recording setup. It's around $1000.00.

Mixer - Behringer Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO Mixer - $300
Ebay - around $250

PCI Interface - M-Audio Audiophile 192 PCI Interface - $180
-or-
PCI Interface - M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI Digital Audio System - $200

Mics - Shure PG 6-Piece Drum Microphone Package - $400
Ebay - Also around $250
and a shure SM-57 isn't bad to have laying around - $90

plus money for cables and connection accesories.

Sums it all up to between $770 to around $1000 depending on your choices.
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

The thing is that I have a 5 toms, 1 snare, 2 bassdrums, 7cymbals set, and I would really like to be able to work ass much of them as a can into seperate channels. Thats without counting my 7 electric pads...
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Well, with mics, for your toms you can double up with mics if you get a pack.
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Chilli said:
Me and my band are going to start to record in my house so we are buying all the gear. Does anyone know about good drum Mics that are not to expensive? What about a good mixer and a Sound Card? I have money to spend in it but not that much. I was offered a Yamaha 16 channel Mixer for 400 $US, is that any good?
if you let the store samash sponsor u...they'll give you $3000 in equipment a year!
 
Re: Mics, Mixer and Sound Card!

Edward said:
if you let the store samash sponsor u...they'll give you $3000 in equipment a year!

that would be awsome! How would someone get a sponsorship there?
 
Re: overhead cymbal mics

Well, you didnt say what kind of money you had available to spend...but if that is not a issue. you might research and purchase Shure SM81's
 
Samson 7 Piece drum mics and Presonus Firepod

Money is an issue so i found these products which i can afford. So are these product any good for drums? Suggestions?
 
Re: overhead cymbal mics

jamndrummer said:
Well, you didnt say what kind of money you had available to spend...but if that is not a issue. you might research and purchase Shure SM81's

The SM81 Condensor mike has been widely copied. I've got one of those cheap Superlux Chinese made mike sets. The overheads look and SOUND like the Shure SM81s.
 
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