Show Us Your Drum Mics!

[Johnboy]

Hey guys, been awhile since I was an active member here I've glad to see this is still an active community. While life has been crazy for everyone, I wanted to get back into posting and geeking out about drum stuff!

Over the last couple years I've been working on a self-produced album where I play trumpet/drums and I wanted to share and talk about drum recording stuff everyone's doing. The recording/mixing side of production has been extremely gratifying especially if you can hear your drums on a polished, finished album.

Here's a link to various streaming in case you want to give it a listen:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/an...luvian-projekt

https://antedeluvianprojekt.bandcamp...luvian-projekt

For me capturing useable room sounds even in a less than adequate recording environment made the overall finished drum sound more organic and explosive.

Here's also some pics from the various sessions where I recorded drum tracks and then wrote the music over them:

[Johnboy]

For whatever reason it is saying the file extensions are not correct, the image meets the size requirements. I'll investigate later when I'm comatose from eating/drinking this afternoon.

[MilesAway]

I use:

Shure Beta 52
Shure SM57
Audix i5
Sennheiser e904
(x2) Beyerdynamic Opus 88
(x2) Rode NT5

I don't end up needing these very often, to be honest. Most of the gigs I play involve either an in-house engineer at the venue, or we'll bring someone in. I do still play a handful of bar gigs or small weddings\functions; for those I'll usually just throw the B52 in the kick and sing into the i5. If necessary, I might add one of the Opus 88s on the snare. Those are my secret weapon mics. Just the one will pick up snare, hats and enough body from the toms to work nicely for simple gigs in medium rooms, when paired with the B52.

On the rare occasion I do mic everything up, I'll do the Opus 88s on the toms and the e904 on the snare. I love the "SM7\MD421\RE20 on the snare" sound, which you get from the e904 in a much smaller and more convenient package. I only use clip-on mics when I'm doing the mic'ing. The Opus 88s get some of the cymbals, so usually I won't bring overheads (again, if the room is big enough to necessitate overheads, there will probably be an in-house or hired engineer that takes care of all of this).

I generally only use the NT5s for recording. I sold my 8 channel interface a long time ago, when I moved in to my apartment, thinking I'd never get to use it. I do share a rehearsal room now, that is ok for lower-budget recording projects, and have access to a. little two-track interface. I'll use the NT5s as overheads, and just chuck a trigger on the kick (and maybe snare). I'm thinking about grabbing another sound card with more i\o now, though. Incorporating the samples into the overhead recording is monotonous and time-consuming. I would love to save some time, by eliminating the triggers (unless I want to do some crazy MIDI stuff).

I'm thinking of trading my Beta 52 in for a Sennheiser e902. Those mics are awesome.

My philosophy, corroborated by experience, is that although it pays to be prepared and self-sufficient, if I'm in a situation where the music or environment require a complex mic setup or lots of stands, it will be somebody else's job already.

[Mike Foreman]

I'm thinking of trading my Beta 52 in for a Sennheiser e902. Those mics are awesome.

Do it! The e902 is infinitely better than the Beta 52. I tested so many mics exhaustively & came to that conclusion. As for mics I use, they are:

Main snare top: Beyerdynamic M201 TG
Main snare bottom: Audix I5
Side snare top & bottom: Audix I5
Kick (internal): Sennheiser e902
Kick (external): Shure Beta 52 (the only decent use I found for this mic - just using it to capture the lows & filtering off all the mids/highs in the mix)
Mounted toms: Sennheiser e604
Floor toms: Audix D6
Overheads, hi hat, & ride: Slate ML-2
Room: Nady RSM-2

One day I'd like to replace the Nady RSM-2s with something else, but that's never been a priority for me. Also, I should note that I have Sennheiser e904s for the mounted toms as well but actually think the cheaper e602s sound just a little better, so I use those. For that matter, I tried Audix D2s & D4s and Shure SM57s on toms but none of those came anywhere close to the Sennheisers.

I've done a lot of testing & have a lot of mics and for my drums in my room (both of which are very important), the mics listed above are the winners.

[Drumming-4-Life]

I use: Shure Beta 52

Do it! The e902 is infinitely better than the Beta 52.

Mike physically tested his mics. I gravitated towards Sennheiser mics based off Internet research, including listening to lots of sound samples. The best sound samples (to me) are the ones where 1 drum gets recorded by a bunch of different mics in the same session, so you can hear the subtle differences.

My favorite kick drum mic is the Sennheiser 602e II, and I use it on my kicks, gong drum, and all floor toms.

[MilesAway]

Do it! The e902 is infinitely better than the Beta 52. I tested so many mics exhaustively & came to that conclusion. As for mics I use, they are:

Main snare top: Beyerdynamic M201 TG
Main snare bottom: Audix I5
Side snare top & bottom: Audix I5
Kick (internal): Sennheiser e902
Kick (external): Shure Beta 52 (the only decent use I found for this mic - just using it to capture the lows & filtering off all the mids/highs in the mix)
Mounted toms: Sennheiser e604
Floor toms: Audix D6
Overheads, hi hat, & ride: Slate ML-2
Room: Nady RSM-2

One day I'd like to replace the Nady RSM-2s with something else, but that's never been a priority for me. Also, I should note that I have Sennheiser e904s for the mounted toms as well but actually think the cheaper e602s sound just a little better, so I use those. For that matter, I tried Audix D2s & D4s and Shure SM57s on toms but none of those came anywhere close to the Sennheisers.

I've done a lot of testing & have a lot of mics and for my drums in my room (both of which are very important), the mics listed above are the winners.

Between the Beyerdynamics and Sennheiser's for me (and obviously Neumanns, which I've recorded into plenty), the Deutschlanders sure seem to know their microphones! I really like all of the "e" series Sennheisers. I've never really AB'd the e604 and e904, although the e604 seems to be the go-to tom microphone for most live engineers. I never get to hear it out front, but I get the impression they are great. The 904 just popped up on Craigslist for a good price ha ha! I considered replacing my Opus 88s with a few more e904s, but I do prefer the Opuses, even though they grab more cymbal wash.

The Sennheiser "e" vocal mics are really nice too.

I do prefer the e902, but I actually really like the Beta 52. I think it's a great general purpose mic. Ideally, in the studio, I'll have an SM7 inside and a nice tube\ribbon o n the outside. I abhor the D112, and haven't tried the D6, but get the impression it's the wrong mic for the type of tone I prefer.

[Mike Foreman]

Between the Beyerdynamics and Sennheiser's for me (and obviously Neumanns, which I've recorded into plenty), the Deutschlanders sure seem to know their microphones! I really like all of the "e" series Sennheisers. I've never really AB'd the e604 and e904, although the e604 seems to be the go-to tom microphone for most live engineers. I never get to hear it out front, but I get the impression they are great. The 904 just popped up on Craigslist for a good price ha ha! I considered replacing my Opus 88s with a few more e904s, but I do prefer the Opuses, even though they grab more cymbal wash.

The Sennheiser "e" vocal mics are really nice too.

I do prefer the e902, but I actually really like the Beta 52. I think it's a great general purpose mic. Ideally, in the studio, I'll have an SM7 inside and a nice tube\ribbon o n the outside. I abhor the D112, and haven't tried the D6, but get the impression it's the wrong mic for the type of tone I prefer.

The D6 is VERY scooped so if you like a sustained boom in your kick sound, it's no good for that. It works incredibly well on floor toms, surprisingly. The difference between e904s and 604s is so slight that unless you hear them side by side (as I did when comparing recordings during my testing), you'd never know the difference.

You mentioned the SM7. That reminds me that I have heard many good things about using an SM7B on hi hat. I've wanted to try that with 1 of my SM7Bs but keep forgetting to do that. Maybe I should try it this week.

[Johnboy]

The D6 is VERY scooped so if you like a sustained boom in your kick sound, it's no good for that. It works incredibly well on floor toms, surprisingly. The difference between e904s and 604s is so slight that unless you hear them side by side (as I did when comparing recordings during my testing), you'd never know the difference.

You mentioned the SM7. That reminds me that I have heard many good things about using an SM7B on hi hat. I've wanted to try that with 1 of my SM7Bs but keep forgetting to do that. Maybe I should try it this week.

Yeah the D6 I find requires a kick out to supplement more body/low end.

Mics I used on my last album:

SN TOP: Shure Beta 57a
SN BOT: Shure SM57 or AKG C1000
OH: Line Audio CM3 x2 stereo pair
Toms: Shure PG181
KICK IN: Audix D6
KICK OUT: AKG D112
MONO ROOM: AKG P220 or CAD M179
STEREO ROOM A/B: ISK Pearl Condenser x2

[Tommy_D]

I thought the title of this thread was "SHOW us your drum mics" Not "TELL us about your drum mics". Here are mine:



Audix D6 on the bass drum (not shown)
Audix I5 on the snare
Audix ADX51 Overheads (not shown)
ElectroVoice N/D 468 on the 10" and 12" rack toms
CAD M179 on the 14" and 16" floor toms

All of it runs in to a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Super affordable, very nice sounding mics that are readily available.

[MilesAway]

I thought the title of this thread was "SHOW us your drum mics" Not "TELL us about your drum mics". Here are mine:



Audix D6 on the bass drum (not shown)
Audix I5 on the snare
Audix ADX51 Overheads (not shown)
ElectroVoice N/D 468 on the 10" and 12" rack toms
CAD M179 on the 14" and 16" floor toms

All of it runs in to a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Super affordable, very nice sounding mics that are readily available.

Well luckily my i5 looks just like your i5, so you won't need to see that one...

[Plsantana86]

Overheads: shure ksm137
Ride/HH: beyerdynamic tg153c
TT10, TT12, FT14: shure sm57
FT16, FT18: shure beta 52A
Bass drum: Beta52A mixed with roland rt30k on sm2 module.
Snare: Sm57 on tom, beyerdynamic tg d57c on bottom.
Rocket toms: beyerdynamic tg d57c
Find some pics below and a quick video exemplifying the captured audio.
mixing tips are SO welcome. Cheers and happy 2022.






https://youtu.be/xmslxo8JLGY

[singleflammedmill]

Oriollo Bakar Miked

[Josh Conover]

Seeing this pic reminded me that I watched a ton of your videos awhile back. You have mad chops and your drums and cymbals sound great!!!

I did however watch the video’s reflection while listening to it to better understand how you were playing. Haha

[singleflammedmill]

Seeing this pic reminded me that I watched a ton of your videos awhile back. You have mad chops and your drums and cymbals sound great!!!

I did however watch the video’s reflection while listening to it to better understand how you were playing. Haha

Thanks!