drum miking

[JFreak]

hi there.
what kind of miking setups you generally try first? what kind of setup you would think were best if money wouldn't come in the way?

i usually start with overheads (rode nt5) one meter away from kit. i first put them 1,5 meters high, in the centerline a little over 90 degrees away from each other. and distance between rodes some 20cm. if that doesn't work right away, i try regular XY miking (bring them close to each other and turn 90 degrees inwards). when i'm satisfied with the kit's sound from overheads, i move on.

second thing is the kick. i have noticed i use beyerdynamics opus65 all the time. i've tried audix d4, shure b52, akg d112 but opus wins all the time. d4 is good though, and i've not yet had chance to try the new d6, but as time being i use the opus. i place a little pillow inside kick, let it touch the beater head gently, and then place the opus inside off-axis and almost touching the pillow.

then i do the snare. i place a sm57 to bottom side almost touching the snare wires, about 45 degrees angle. and of course another sm57 top side just inside snare rim, almost zero degrees (!) angle. i reverse bottom mic phase, naturally.

at this point i have the drummer warm up and tweak eq:s a little. if i'm satisfied with the sound, i dont even bother miking toms. it all depends on the drummer's touch - if he's gentle with cymbals, i can lower overheads to get more toms. if he's a smasher, i need to keep overheads high and therefore mike the toms.

if needed, i use audix d2:s for toms. i place them in almost 90 degrees angle a little inside rims (so i'm not pointing to the center). and i don't drive tom mics at hot levels.

so...

how do you guys do drum kit?

if i had the money, i probably would try neumann 184:s as overheads. beta57:s are in my experience not as good as sm57, so i wouldn't use them even if i got them free. (of course you can buy me a pair of those, i can use them elsewhere). as for tom mics, i'd have to buy dozens of different mics to experiment. i rarely use them and have no real preference. tom mics are in my opinion the least important factor in kit sound.

[brinaddison]

I must agree with you on the Beta57, it's noisy and bright/no tone. The Audix D6 is in my opinion the coolest kick mic out there at the moment. It just always sounds killer. D4 is for snare/toms i think. For overheads 184 will give you a nice velvety sound without making the cymbals sound to large or brash but it will still let the toms through nicely. I set them up about 2 and a half stick lengths above the snare, good Phase distance. For toms the D2 or SM57 dynamic mics work realy nice but you could also try Micro-D by Audix. A little different sounding depending on tast. I feel micro condensers sound good sometimes and othertimes sound like S*@#. depends on the drum really.

Last but not least a good drummer who hits hard is the best mic you can have on the kit.

[antiphase]

I would recommend using the D6 on some toms..........and use a E602 for the kick. Its got the same attack as the D6 but more low beef. Try that D6 on a tom and you might be amazed.