Mic's

Soren · Newbie Joined: Feb 26, 2004 Posts: 7 Location: Brunswick

i'm looking for a good set of drum mics (four toms snare kick and two condensors) any sudgestions?
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willheartsfusion · Newbie Joined: Feb 19, 2004 Posts: 5

Shure makes very high-quality microphones and you can get more information as well as a catalog from them on their website, but with these you may end up spending more on microphones than you did on your actual drums. I also hear good things about Audix microphones and they are a bit cheaper, so you may want to browse their selections.

LucB · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:03 am Post subject:

Soren,

We carry Shure packs at the store, but mostly because there are some guys out there that won't consider any other possibility for mic's, not because we think they're better.

The Audix mic's are superior to the Shure's because they're specifically designed for use on drums. The D series has dedicated, pre-EQ'd snare, tom, floor tom and bass drum mic's. (Shure SM57's, by contrast, do OK at a lot of different jobs, but they aren't designed to do any one thing particularly well.) The Fusion series is less expensive, but you still get a dedicated bass mic' as well as snare/tom mic's and really good condenser mic's. With the Fusions, you also don't lack for quality of sound. We used a bunch of Fusion mic's for the Marco Minnemann clinic 16 months ago, and they did a fantastic job. We also have a good customer/drummer/studio owner who's using them in his studio, and he's been thrilled with the results. I have owned less-expensive Shures in the past, and I can say with confidence (because of experience) that the Audix Fusions totally kick their butts.

I personally use D-series mic's; I bought a DP2 pack (D1 snare, 2xD2 tom, D4 for floor tom), then bought an extra D4 for my 2nd floor tom and I also bought 2 D6's for permanent internal installation in the bass drums of 2 of my kits. I also got 2 Fusion F15 condenser mic's for cymbals/overheads. I've recorded with them & played out live, and I couldn't be more jazzed about them. They make life so EASY! I just put the mixing board EQ settings at noon, and generally I don't have to do anything else. I might have to tweak just a tad for room acoustics, but that's it; I don't have to do anything radical with EQ-ing at all. They also have a really small profile, so they're easy to keep out of the way.

Audix are also priced on par or below Shure mic's.

And if all this wasn't enough, here's a final note: John Wyman, engineer extraordinaire at Big Sound studio, tried out the Audix mic's, and LOVED the D series.

Hope this helps!
Luc Bergeron
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Soren · Newbie Joined: Feb 26, 2004 Posts: 7 Location: Brunswick

hey wow thanks! i'll look into 'em!
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it is I Soren of the Hill People.

willheartsfusion · Newbie Joined: Feb 19, 2004 Posts: 5

I stand corrected Wink

Luc, is there a general rule in regards to how many overhead microphones one should have in relation to cymbals? So two overheads for ride, hats, and a crash, etc. ?

Thanks,
will

LucB · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 9:40 am Post subject:

No, there really is no general rule when it comes to miking drums with overheads, except for making sure that if you have 2 overheads, make sure they're out of phase with each other. This means that the two mic's patterns of directional pickup don't interfere with each other, causing weird "dead" spots or unwanted sound alteration. (This is easier done than described, you know. Just make sure they're either 3 feet away from each other, or if they're close, like they're on one stand, put them in an opposing X formation.) The typical setup: one condenser for the hi-hats and two overheads for a stereo mix and even cymbal coverage. The overheads can also help to balance out the whole blended sound of the kit, if you want. (If you don't, then roll off the lows on the cymbal mic's.) If you have the luxury of time, experiment as much as possible. Sometimes just having a bass drum mic' and 2 overheads are all you need for the desired sound.

Here's what I do live: I have 2 condensers (Audix Fusion F15's) that I made a special rig for. That rig is this: Gibraltar cymbal grabber arms with the cymbal arms removed and replaced with DW mic' arms. They're the same diameter as the cymbal arms, so they fit perfectly. One of these goes on the left off of a cymbal stand, and it covers the hats, splash, and left crash. The other attaches to the further right cymbal stand, and covers the ride, other crash & any optional cymbals I might put there. I roll off all lows (your mixer might have a low frequency cutoff switch to make that easy), and try to keep the level low, because too much cymbal can be painful for the listener.

This setup is so cool live because it keeps the signal for cymbals pretty clean (they're so close to the cymbals that there's not a lot of ambient sound going through the condensers), and it also keeps the stage floor clean (no mic' stands!).

As soon as I learn how to insert photos, I'll post one of the setup I'm talking about here. Anyone care to educate me?
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LucB · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:20 am Post subject: Condenser mic' setup

Here's the photo I promised weeks ago: (the heck with it, just click on the link!)

www.lucbergerondrums.com/micarmsetup.htm

It's pretty unobtrusive, and it works great!
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skwerl · Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:08 am Post subject:

Heh, you're close. You have to put an image in the link. You put a webpage. An image usually ends in .jpg or .gif and the one you posted was .html, which is a webpage. But you're on the right track!
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