rack tom mics

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:49 pm

Hi all. I know, I know, "UTFSF". I just want to get your opinions, though- fresh, new, and pulsating with nubile passion.

Mics for rack toms. I know in the high what I WOULD like, but presently I'm tired of using 57s and sich on my hitom and floor and am thinking of things in the $150-250 range. ATM-25s seem like a good bet, but is it really that much of a step up from an $80 57?

Help!

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:54 pm

MC012. Oktava.

My first choice tom mics for more than 5 years solid now.

Quest Poetics · Post by **Quest Poetics** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:00 pm

If you're ok w/ bleed from the other drums and are looking for tom mics try out the oktava mc012's...I read about them from Joel Hamilton's suggestion and they really work out nice...I'd been using audix d2's which are pretty decent along w/ sennheiser 421's and akg 414's...The mc012's really make the toms aggresive and in your face...However if you usually like to gate your toms it'll be difficult w/ these...On my floor toms I'm still sticking w/ the audix d4's and sennheiser 421's but the 1st 2 toms are usually mc012's these days...Oh and as an added bonus if you ever want to put these as room mics they work really well at that...I'll usually put them at opposite ends of the drum kit and point them away from the kit and pointing at the wall and ground...It's an awesome sound! If you hit up Guitar Center at the right time they blow these out alot and you can find them 2 for $100...But like I said it's only sometimes that they will do that....

Peace!

John Jeffers · Post by **John Jeffers** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:04 pm

joel hamilton wrote:MC012. Oktava.

My first choice tom mics for more than 5 years solid now.

Seconded.

I bought one about 4 years ago, and one day put it on a tom because I was so sick of the sound I was getting from my Senn e602's and wanted to try some of my other mics. Loved it, bought three more the next day.

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:12 pm

hmm...those MC012s are condensers, right? Yeah, I don't mind bleed, and I do throw gates on a lot of the time, but my gating plugs aren't great and I don't have any outboard for that, so in some ways maybe it would be wiser to go with dynamics.

I usually like to match mics for the floor and tom (I don't generally find myself recording a set with three toms), but that's because my mic collection doesn't have a lot of "in betweeners", and I don't know if a really bright condenser on one tom and a thuddy dynamic on another is going to be weird in the mix. I'm trying to change my old ways of processing every track into oblivion.

I do a distant room mic with a large condenser now and then- it's a great sound- I like to squash the hell out of it and put it slightly off center image-wise as a stereo track.

What about the MC012s as overheads? Any word on the ATR25s?

thanks for all your help!

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:21 pm

oops, I meant the ATM-25s.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:45 pm

why bother with gates on toms in a DAW?

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:47 pm

do you mean when I can just edit them out? I do that sometimes, but frankly, it's not always practical time-wise for me.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:55 pm

I know what you mean.. but, I've never found a plug-in gate that was worth a crap. Which ones are you using?

sorry for the departure from the topic of tom mics. I also use mc012's.

I've also been using this tiny "lapel" type mic on rack toms lately... I think that it might be a Sony. I'll have to ask the studio owner what it is. I like it a lot.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:00 pm

I dont have any bleed problems. I had more bleed problems with something like a 421, as i had to blaze the gain just to get them to sound like anything. The oktavas are so frikkin hot on toms, that they barely need a pre

That way, the gain structure is kind of thechnically "wrong" but it makes for very exciting drums IMO. You just have to use placement as EQ. Proximity gives me SO much low end on the rack AND floor that i have to high pass both toms!

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:03 pm

You're right- so far, gating is the thing plugins have fallen shortest on, in my experience. I was using Logic's gate and Apple's dynamics processor and now I'm using Digital Fishphone's- floorfish, I think. All freeware, basically. I can't afford to invest in much software right now, and feel like better hardware is always the wiser investment anyway.

No problem on the off-topicness. Actually it's something I should be thinking about more. I might just starting commiting to editing instead of gating. It's a pain in the ass on Logic, depending on the drummer, but it's a better way to go, sound-wise.

Everyone seems to swear by those Octavas! Anyone on the ATM25s?

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:05 pm

joel hamilton wrote:I dont have any bleed problems. I had more bleed problems with something like a 421, as i had to blaze the gain just to get them to sound like anything.

same here.

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:06 pm

So I'm thinking maybe an Octava for hitom and a large dynamic on the floor? Thoughts on that? Again, something about the idea of using two different mics on the toms rubs me the wrong way, but I'm not sure my thinking is right on this.

Before I could do more than 4 simultaneous tracks with my DAW, pass filters and the like WERE my tracks 5, 6, and 7!

workshed · Post by **workshed** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:08 pm

jeddypoo wrote:What about the MC012s as overheads? Any word on the ATR25s?

thanks for all your help!

I used my MC012s as overheads recently, which was my first time recording a drum kit, but I was pretty happy with them through my Aphex 107. I probably should have raised them little, but they got a nice sizzling sound and captured the cymbals very well. They didn't do such a great job capturing the rest of the kit, but I'm chalking that up to my lack of experience and poor positioning. I'd like to try them for tom mics though.

Oh, and for tom mics, I used some cheap Superlux dynamic drum mics (FT-4 tom mic on 13" rack tom, FK-2 kick mic on floor tom) and they didn't suck. Definitely not great, but had I been able to use a better preamp, I'll bet they would have had more power. The kick mic actually sounded great on my floor tom, FWIW.

-Bret

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:14 pm

I had a cheap CAD kick mic but I gave it to a friend recently. I should have thought to try that on the floor. I'm going to try some wacky shit tonight with my weirder mics and see what happens. I've got these two little Sony mics that came with an old 1/4" tape machine of my grandfather's that I bet sound like fever dreams on the ears.

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