What are your go to mics for drums?

gilaltom3

New member
I'm not really looking for a whole set. I know 57s are good for snares, among other mics. I'm wondering what would be good for toms, bass drums, and condensers.

I'd like to keep it cheap, but not so cheap that my recordings suffer.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

57's for anything and everything will not do you wrong IMO. 58's for overheads are nice, though, and I also like them for ported bass drums.

Of course, I am just talking run-of-the-mill mics here.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

I've always used either 57's or Sennheiser 421's for snare/toms. Shure Beta 52 for kick, and Audio Technica 4041's for overheads.

If you don't have many choices, 57's will work for pretty much everything, and whatever vocal condensers you have for overheads.
 
I want to have many choices. I simply mentioned them because I know they're good. What mics beside the sm57 are good for drums?
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

There are so many ways to mic a drum kit, you could buy one of the drum mic kits from Shure and get a good sound. As something to think about just get your tracks recorded and use drum replacement software to replace the drums with samples. You'll get better sounding drums with less hassle.
 
There are so many ways to mic a drum kit, you could buy one of the drum mic kits from Shure and get a good sound. As something to think about just get your tracks recorded and use drum replacement software to replace the drums with samples. You'll get better sounding drums with less hassle.

I don't really like the way those drum samples sound.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

My ex-drummer used Sennheiser e604s for toms, Shure sm57 for the snare, Sennheiser 845 for the overhead/cymbals, and an AKG D112 for each kick.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

If I am using an XY over the kit for overheads, I usually use a pr of SM57s or AT Pro 32's. If I am using a front/side setup, I use an old Oktava 319 (front) and Cascade Fat Head II (side).

For snare, I like a Sennheiser e609 or Shure Beta.

For kick, I use a small diaphragm condensor inside the kick on the beater side, and a 10" Cerwin Vega bass driver as a low frequency "mic" a few inches from the outer head.

I do not use spot mics on the toms or other hardware, just 2 over heads, 2 kick mics, and a spot on the snare.

I usually like a pr of condensors (typically a pr of Rode NTK's) a few/several feet away as room mic's.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

I don't know what model it is, but I've got a Shure proximity mic that you would normally put on the floor, but which is the best bass drum mic I've ever heard, but a D112 works really well, too. I like a small condenser for the high hat, like maybe a Shure SM1, for overheads I really like a pair of AKG C1000-S', everything else gets an SM57.
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

Really cheap the Behringer C2s are useable for overheads but the AKG C1000 and similar models are better (although cost a fair bit more). I like the Beta 52 on kick especially when you eq it a bit very useable. It all depends on cost but the above suggestions are what would work out fine and much higher up would be taste. I have yet to try my CAD tom mic and my Shure 4.1 (which I'll use for hi hat) hopefully they will be useable (got both of them way cheaper then a humble 57 would cost)
 
Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

As far as standard mics go, an AKG D112 on kick, MD421 on toms, SM57 on snare and any kind of condenser mics for overheads would surely get the job done. Audio Technica makes some pretty good budget stuff as Gearjoneser suggested. While it's not ideal for overheads, I find the AT4050 pretty good for the money.
 
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Re: What are your go to mics for drums?

Beta 52 kick, 57s on snare and toms, AKG C-3000 overhead. It works and sounds like a drum kit.
 
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