which LDC or ribbon for mono overhead drum tracking?

[oneflightup]

Hi Dave,

Yeah they're great! I used one in the "Wurst" position the other day.... absolutely amazing!

Nick

[cgarges]

But oh so many of my favorite records were recorded with what must be smeared, and phucked transients given the tube and ribbon mic usage on the drums!

Yeah, 4038s over the drums really didn't seem to hurt the sales of "Every Breath You Take," Dark Side of The Moon, or anything The Beatles did prior to Revolver and Val Garay made a freaking career out of miking toms with 251s.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[I'm Painting Again]

I've got an apogee duet with no external pre-amps and am looking to begin tracking some drums with two mics, one for the kick and one as an overhead. I currently don't own any but would like to get two that I could use in other applications beyond tracking drums, if/when I decide to expand my set up. Budget is around $800 for the two mics.

Some people recommended I get an RE-20 for the kick rather than a bass drum specific mic -- makes sense to me.

As for an overhead, an oktavamod NT1 was suggested as was the AKG 414 UBS. Seems like the different polarity patterns offered by the 414 makes it an obvious choice in terms of flexibility for future applications.

I was also considering the beyerdynamic MC834 - it came up in an old tape-op article.

Does anyone have suggestions for lesser known but quality LDCs that can be had for less money? I'm looking to buy something that will hold it's value rather than something cheap that I'll outgrow.


Thanks for your help!

best kick mic I've used extensively is the Soundelux U195 which works on OH and plenty of places really well. But on Kicks it just rules.

The Mk012 Oktava matched pair I use on OH sometimes and they work well if you position/process/etc. good but not the easiest way to record smooth cymbals..

the beyerdynamic m160's are great ribbons for OH smoth cymbals and give the snare body from that position unlike anything else I've tried. Coupled with the m130 you can do a very nice mid side stereo thing.

inexpensive LDC's I've liked both the budget KSM series from Shure and the Audio- Technica LDC's over a drumset. great mics but like the 012 you have to work to get a good sound..

I like the Studio Projects T-3 (with NOS GE tube in it) for a mono room mic to smash with a comp/limiter..doing that really gives a character to the drums..this mic distorts in that fizzy tube mic way and is full range with a huge bottom..worth looking into..that one mic in a good room with a compressor can give you a complete drumsound..but if you don't like the fizz it might not be for you..

I have RE-20 and it's good but never WOWs me.

hope this info helps in some way..

[Trick Fall]

[quote=

The Mk012 Oktava matched pair I use on OH sometimes and they work well if you position/process/etc. good but not the easiest way to record smooth cymbals..

.[/quote]

These are the only OH drum mics I have and my drummer has cheap trashy cymbals and the cymbal sound was making me kind of crazy. I just got one of those ART MPA preamps and that actually seems to help compared to the pre I was using before which is more of an in your face kind of sound. I'd love to hear any other suggestions for minimizing the cymbal pain though.

Thanks

[vvv]

If I can't get the drummer to hit 'em softer/less, I move the OH's out in front of the kit - actually my preferred location in spaced-pair is out in front - then use height positioning and aim to reduce 'em.

They say de-essing can help - never tried it, me.

[I'm Painting Again]

good suggestions on taming the 012 cymbal sound..I sometimes just cover them with foam windscreen or the like as I use them to pick up tom toms at the same time and they need to be in recorderman or johns to work the way I like..

I mean there is no sub for good sounding cymbals really though so you might find nothing works to fix that completely to your desired sound..

[Trick Fall]

Thanks, will give these suggestions a try.

[Zacharia Matilda]

I have used sticky gels and even taped paper towels to cymbals to tame crash and excess sizzle. I always try to get the source to sound like I want it to. I'm not that good at mic placement!

[trodden]

I've been using 012's on OH's (XY or ORTF) for over 10 years. Mine have been modded by OktavaMod, so that may be helping out.. But I love them there and on toms. I do find myself doing some surgical cutting from the OH's though on a regular basis.

[I'm Painting Again]

it's also the style you do I'd imagine..heavy heavy where the guitars are really distorted and the mix is dense..you want the Oh to be a tad more bright, etc. to sound correct in the final mix..