drum mic advise

[jake_xms3_punk]

i need some help chosing drum mics for my home studio!! i dont have the budget to splash out on top brands, but i dont want crap mics either.
should i buy a low-ish priced, pack of just tom and overhead mics and spend a bit more on good snare and bass drum mics, or just get a good all rounder set? do you think its better to buy each drum mic separately or as a package? im looking to spend around £250 (around $470) for the lot .

i need help! thanks. please advise!

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: drum mic advise

SM57's sound beautiful on snare and toms, especially for low budget stuff. 58's without the grill work equally well.

I'd look around for a used Beta 52, AKG D112, or Audix D6 for kick - all three are great mics.

For OH's, I'd suggest a pair of Studio Projects condensors, or maybe RØDE if you can swing it.

I used a pair of NT-1's for OH's on the project I'm currently mixing, with Audix F15 (fusion pack pencil condensors) on the hat/ride, and the results so far have been awesome!

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: drum mic advise

That's essentially what we did, with different OH's and 58's on the toms, as I preferred them to the D2 ripoff's.

 

[muttonchopsrule]

Re: drum mic advise

i'd try to steer clear of studio projects mics. but the shure mics do sound good, and the three kick mics Virtual Kevorkian listed are all pretty much industry standards.

for overheads, i'd reccoment oktava mk-012's, there small diaphragm condensers that some with switchable capules for different polar patterns and a 10 dB pad. you could score one on ebay for around $150 a pop, or if you can swing in about $500 for a matched pair, and they sound better than anything for the price. i'm going to snag a pair of those pretty soon myself.

the thing about audio gear, or pretty much anything for that matter, is that anything below a certain level of quality is pretty much a waste of money and time. if you're building a home studio, then (depending on how serious you are about it), you're going to want to buy the best gear you can possibly afford, even if it means holding out and saving a few more paychecks.

edit:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oktava-MK-012-B...DVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170038049291
here you go, you can get a matched pair of those oktava's for pretty cheap. this pair only comes with the cardioid capsule and the 10 dB pad though, which isn't really a bad thing. additional hypercardiod and omni capsules is what drives up the price a little more of you choose to get them.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: drum mic advise

I've been told SHS and Apex make good, affordable mics for drums.

 

[jdier]

Re: drum mic advise

most of the info above seems pretty good.

Here are my thoughts. If you buy stuff from Studio Projects (mics which I do use and like) or Audix or Nady or almost any affordable drum pack, you will never be completely confident that you are getting the best sound. You will always wonder if your drum deficiencies are due to the mics you have.

With that said I would suggest giving consideration to using fewer good mics opposed to many cheap mics.

I am not a pro, but on my current projects I am currently recording kit with Oktava012 overheads, Shure57 and a AKG112 in the kick. In different cases I will do things like:
- put an extra 57 in the kick
- put a 57 on the bottom of snare
- put a vocal mic up at the opposite side of the room from the kit.
I do these things since I am still learning and want to see if what I get is useful. They pretty much always have been.

The method I use to set up this small number of mics to get a full sound was learned here: http://www.recording.org/ftopict-9909-.html

Check out the song Hollywood or Moline here:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=160713

On that same page the song Virginia was done with 3 sm57's and one beta52 in the kick. 2 57's as overheads, 1 on the snare, and the 52 for kick.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=160713

Here is another link with some examples. Entire album done with the Oktavas's two 57's and a D112 in the kick.
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6815624/a/Your+Final+Ride.htm

Hope this info helps. I would really suggest reading the entire thread over at recording.org.

Good luck and have fun!

Jim