i am trying to record drum with 5 tracks.

[tesung82]

hi, everyone. I am trying to record drum with just 5 mics. i have made up my mind on 2 over head mics with neumann u87s. That leaves me 3 mics left.. i wanna go with Kick, Snare and high hat. I've got a baby bottle that would be good for high hat.
So here's the question. What should i use for kick and snare? Anybody can recommend me some good mics?? Sm57 for snare? i dunno.. i just want some opinions^^
Thank you
DAVID

[michaelhoddy]

SM57 for snare is fine. I find myself liking it okay, but I'll pair it with a condenser like a 4041, SM81, or even 414 for additional presence. As a single mic, a Sennheiser MD441 is usually great.

There's a myriad of kick mics out there. The Shure Beta 52 and AKG D112 come from the same sound family, being generally useful, but somewhat pre-EQ'ed and a bit hyped for more natural-sounding music (like folk/acoustic). The Sennheiser MD421 is a different sound, being more balanced in the midrange but with less sub-bass, and the EV RE20/RE27 yet a third sound, with great bottom end, but less aggressive overall. These days, I usually will pair a dynamic such as the 421 inside the drum with a large-diaphragm condenser outside the drum. I've heard great things about the Audio-Technica AE2500 and some good things about the Audix D6 as well. A Royer R-121 ribbon can also work wonders here.

As you go along, you may find the hi-hat mic to be a non-essential, but maybe not.

[Brandon Hook]

I like the sound of FET mic's on bass drum, usually outside the drum at the end of a blanket "tunnel," mixed with either a d112 or a Beta 52 on the inside pointing at the beater. I have also found the high hat mic to be quite useless, especially for fast rock/ punk stuff. As for softer, more refined drummers, it might be useful, but I have yet to meet that drummer. U87's on overheads is quite cool! I wish I had that kind of budget. I use Small diaphragm mics on overheads for their wider angle pickup of higher frequencies. Great for cymbals. I'm in love with my AKG 451's. Great mics for overheads. As for snare, I've used 57's to no end...and recently moved to a combo of Audix D1 on top, and MD421 on the bottom. Nice blend there. I hope this helps you out some.

[Hynek]

You'll find it makes very little difference what mic you use for overheads and hi-hat. If you can tell any difference between an OH track recorded with C451 and with U87 I'm calling your ear exceptionally sensitive. What can make a difference though is the positioning of the mics and that requires some moving around the kit.

As mentioned above here you may find the HH mic expendable which would save you a track you can fill with bottom snare sound (don't forget to flip the phase on this one).

[Ernest828]

THE AUDIX 6 HAS BECOME MY FAVORITE KICK DRUM MIC. I WAS ACCUSTOMED TO THE SHURE AND THE AKG MICS MY PRODUCED MIKED THE KICK WITH THE AUDIX AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MADE. IMO, IT IS THE MOST OPEN KICK MIC RIGHT NOW.

FOR SNARE YOU CAN`T GO WRONG WITH THE SHURE 57 BUT NEUMANN MAKES A MIC (CAN`T REMEMBER THE NAME RIGHT NOW) THAT I ALSO PREFER TO THE STANDARD 57. THE MIC GOES FOR ABOUT $650, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SUPER SHARPIE. THIS DOESN`T SOUND VERY PROFESSIONAL, I KNOW....DOES ANYONE KNOW WHICH ONE I`M REFERRING TO?

87S ALWAYS WORK ON THE OHS AND WE ALSO USE THE DRAGONFLYS AND THE 4050S ARE ALSO VERY NICE.

THE ONLY EXCEPTION I TAKE IS MIKING THE HAT. THE OHS WILL PICK UP ENOUGH OF THIS AND THE EXTRA MIKE COULD BE USED ON THE TOM RACK OR AS THE ROOM MIC. DO YOU HAVE A HIGH END SOUNDING COMPRESSOR THAT WILL ALLOW TO SMACK THE HECK OUT OF THE SIGNAL? IF YOU DO, TRY SETTING THIS EXTRA MIC UP IN THE CORNER OF THE ROOM OR BY A WINDOW, BASICALLY ANYWHERE WHERE IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT, OR JUST SET IT UP 5-10 FEET IN FRONT OF THE KIT AND SQUEEZE TO TASTE.

I`M A BI FAN FOR MIKING THE DRUMS AS ONE INSTRUMENT RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL PARTS BUT THE KICK AND SNARE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE THEIR OWN MICS. HOPE THIS HELPS!

PEACE,
ERNEST