ride spot mic - 57 or LDC?

[joninc]

i am using my SDCs on the room and i want a spot on the ride. i am trying a 57 - it's okay but not great. i know lots of guys like SDC but i don't have one.

i have a tlm 103/nt2/stapes omni/57 as choices....

[firesine]

TLM 103 would be my choice, then again I would probably already have it up somewhere else.

[mattwhritenour]

I feel like any of those should work fine, when it comes to hihat and ride mics (i do have SDCs for them) I eq them quite a bit and only have them in the mix very lightly letting the OHs do most of the work, but just having them there slightly makes a huge difference.

[cgarges]

I haven't specifically used a spot mic on a ride cymbal in about 7 years, but you can put those Stapes mics INCREDIBLY close to cymbals without the weird kind of tone that you can get from many other mics. Maybe it's the omni pattern. I'm not sure.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[firesine]

Maybe the weird tone is proximity effect in action. Doesn't seem like something you would want on cymbals.

[cgarges]

Maybe the weird tone is proximity effect in action.

Well, sometimes it's extended low frequency information, but sometimes, it's just an odd harshness. I generally don't like mics close to cymbals at all, especially if they're played loudly.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[firesine]

Agreed.

The main thing I worry about is how much cymbals can move from one hit to the next, depending on the player. It's so lovely to hear the ride cymbal bash the spot mic in the middle of a keeper take when the drummer gets excited.

[ckeene]

Every time i tried spot micing cymbals it sounds weird to me - too present and artificial. But, I think if I were in a situation where having more ride definition was important, and I decided to go the close-mic route, I'd try and take advantage of the sensitivity and fast response typical of SDC mics.