Calling all mics! (or knowledgeable folks.)

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
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Quick question here.

I’m looking for some solid microphones I could use to mic a drum kit - one kick mic, one snare/hihat mic, two overheads, two tom/rides. 6 mics there. Thing is, I am only looking to spend $200 or so, and I was hoping to get some general purpose mics I could use for recording anything. I have an SM 58 - what should I be looking for? Is my request too unreasonable? What mics should be used for specific drums (small diameter condenser on kick, etc.)?

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Are you dead set on using 6 mics? You might look at techniques that use two or three first, so you can buy good mics a few at a time.

On kick people often use mics designed for low end, large diameter dynamics; also LD condensors. You might also consider using something like an sm 58 in conjunction with a home made speaker mic, which can really sound great, and is cheap. :)

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OK i’LL BITE…i WANNA KNOW HOW TO MAKE A HOMEMADE SPEAKER MIC. sorry bout the caps I’m not yelling…or am I? ??? :p
Cheers

5

Hey
Check out the oktava mics. I have been using the mk219’s for snare(one top-one bottom) and I like them. The build is rough but the sound is worth it and the price is right. I got two of them for $100 on ebay. Other than those the rest of the kit has an akg112 on kick sm57’s on toms akg 535eb’s overheads and rode nt2(omni setting) for room. I know these add up to more than $200 but do some research on ebay and you might get lucky! Good Luck!
jeromee

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Quote (cruiser @ Dec. 30 2004,08:41)
OK i'LL BITE.....i WANNA KNOW HOW TO MAKE A HOMEMADE SPEAKER MIC. sorry bout the caps I'm not yelling...or am I?

yeah, caps are "yelling". Please use your indoor voice. :;):

Here's one using headphone elements as mics:
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/cheapmic.php

...makes sense, cos today's lightweight headphone drivers look very much like dynamic mics.

Here's a thread from a forum which discusses using woofers as bass drum mics:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=10096

...anyways, the idea is that you get interesting and often useful results from using speakers as microphones, especially on drums. As a starting point, just about any mic pre that can amplify a pro dynamic mic can also amplify a speaker. For more gain, you can try using standard mic low->hi impedance transformers or speaker output transformers.

Fun on a rainy day.
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Quote (cruiser @ Dec. 30 2004,08:41)
OK i'LL BITE.....i WANNA KNOW HOW TO MAKE A HOMEMADE SPEAKER MIC. sorry bout the caps I'm not yelling...or am I? ??? :p
Cheers

Here:

http://emusician.com/tutorials/emusic_bottom_fishing/index.html

:)
Jeromee, that sounds like a wonderful setup.


edit: I would add that one thing they say in the article is wrong - a woofer mic can have a huge output, so much so that you'll need an in-line pad.
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We had a couple of great threads on this in the past, search isn’t finding them though.

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Do you think that those threads may have been on earlier builds of the Board?

Mabey, that’s why the scearch of those threads don’t bring them up…

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what i like best for miking drums ( both live and recording ) is :
sennheiser e602 for kickdrum ( it sounds really huge when used with a well tuned kickdrum ( and a gate for mixdown with some phat reverb ) - i stopped using triggers since i found this one )
sennheiser e604 or beyerdynamic md422 for snare ( it’s great for some kind of “crispy - clear” sounds ( besides you can use it also for hihats!!) - dont like the shure sm57 too much ( maybe the shure beta57 )
for hihats and overheads there are many choices ( again beyerdynamic md422 or ( somehow better for overheads md420 ) or why not use some akg ( c391 ore c451 - even the c1000 works well )
for toms there are - again - some choices
you can use the shure sm57 or sm58 ( which i dont like too much as mentioned ) or you can use the sennheiser e604 ( its a clip-on actually invented for miking toms ) or you can use sennheiser e609 ( also great for guitar-amps ) or do yourself a favour and check out some - old!! - sennheiser md421 ( md521 is nearly the same ). But keep in mind : this miks are rather “high-quality” for not professional use ( which is seen best in pricing ).
And dont forget to use some compression ( nearly heave compression ) when recorcind ( except for hihats and overheads )
michi

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Thing is, I am only looking to spend $200 or so
Tht kind of knocks out most of the mics Michi mentions, but his suggestions are good nevr the less.

I suggest checking out the Behringer B-1 (EDIT: fixed the moble and Musician's Friend still has it for $99 each) large diaphram model. A couple of those overhead and a halfway good dynamic in the snare and kick and you'll be set, assuming the roon is ok and the drums are tuned well. I was surprised at how two LDs overhard got a good overall sound. Dont think of them as cymbal mics, but position them to get the whole set in a good stereo spread and use the snare and kick mics to add punch or depth missing from the overheads.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7....5
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no no no no no lobster mate’’’’ jus too many blinkin mics
fewer mics is best on da drummys’’’’ all sublimashun cos da blinkin room snd is da fing wot muks up yer 90 per cent’’‘
if yer got a grokky room da mics aint gonna save yer less yer
do a gob o’ werk wiv isolatin drums’’’’’ old engr once slammed intas me brain box wen i was like 9 ‘’’ if it snds like grok wiv uno mic itll snd like grok wiv 20 mics’’'
summashun is ya gotta get sndin good wiv one mic n lissen carefully in control room n move drummys around :D :D

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FWIW, I record in a basement, and what Limey says was a revelation for me. I have tried one mic and 8 mics, and no matter what, it always sounds like my drums in my basement. The room is so important…

:)