Mounting Mics To Drum Rims

[kslight]

Most of the bands I work with have large, crowded drum kits and 9/10 times I end up sticking to my trusty set of Audix mics and D-Vice clips for snare and toms. I don't have any objection to the sound, I won't get heartbroken if they suffer a few good whacks, but the D-Vice clips in particular are either a poor design or are simply worn out (I've had them since 2006)...if you are not familiar they use a gooseneck that is screwed in and you adjust that to get your mic position. Over the course of a session its not uncommon for the mics to droop or otherwise get out of position...whether or not the drummer whacks them. However, due to the size and complexity of these drum kits its usually not practical to shoe in a ton of mic stands, and I like the relatively clean appearance of this setup, as well as minimizing the amount of extras I have to carry with me. For the genre I often work with, individual mics is important so I can't get away with just my overheads..

Is this a problem with all drum mic clips, or is there one that works better? Or do I need to look at some tiny/light weight clip on condenser mics and ditch the Audix altogether?

This looks like one option for a different clip: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... one-holder

Also this one by Shure looks like a good design: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... shure-a56d

[drumsound]

Are you doing FOH? I know the LP claws were quite popular for a long while when I was playing a lot in Chicago year ago. I can't remember what type they had at the new club here, but the may be those Shures you linked.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... n-mic-claw

The thing that always seemed good about the Claw was that the arms seemed long enough to be very adaptable to how the player sets up. The 'horizontal' portion was long enough to mount on my suspension mounts and still get the mic where the engineers wanted it.

[kslight]

Are you doing FOH? I know the LP claws were quite popular for a long while when I was playing a lot in Chicago year ago. I can't remember what type they had at the new club here, but the may be those Shures you linked.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... n-mic-claw

The thing that always seemed good about the Claw was that the arms seemed long enough to be very adaptable to how the player sets up. The 'horizontal' portion was long enough to mount on my suspension mounts and still get the mic where the engineers wanted it.

Sometimes FOH for concert recording, but usually in studio or in a makeshift recording environment. The studio I go to is short of quality stands so any time I can use clips means I can use the stands on something else...and I only have so many of my own stands/don’t want to carry a lot. I’m not a full time recording person so looking to keep costs down and setup convenient/quick as possible.

The claw looks good, similar setup as the shure I think. I ended up finding a really super deal on a shure mic kit that includes those above mounts (as Sweetwater wants too much for the mounts by themselves) so I’m going to see how those are.

Maybe there’s a way I can rig up the Audix D vice clips I already have a little better on the cheap...maybe I can replace the gooseneck with a tube or something..

[losthighway]

I've been using those Sennheiser tom mics (e604) for ages and have resorted to using the clips they come with when I'm short on stands. They work great other than when drummers have that weird suspension hardware. But I suppose that's more of an endorsement for the whole package, as opposed to just the clip.

[kslight]

I've been using those Sennheiser tom mics (e604) for ages and have resorted to using the clips they come with when I'm short on stands. They work great other than when drummers have that weird suspension hardware. But I suppose that's more of an endorsement for the whole package, as opposed to just the clip.

Its funny you mention the weird suspension hardware. I am not a drummer so not versed in all that stuff, but this band I did a few weeks ago has this super fancy giant SJC kit with I think a big Gibraltar rack...it was weird because of the way it was configured I couldn't mount right to the rims, I basically had to mount to the mount..something I've not encountered before...was definitely less secure than usual.

I'm probably going to end up recording this band a lot so will get to explore what works/doesn't for that in particular.

[kslight]

This is basically the same kit that I am referring to (though this is a stock photo online). In the photo it looks like he has some kind of permanent mic mounts setup on the touring kit that mount to the rack itself not the rims, but the drummer I am recording does not have those. Unless I am mistaken those mounts would not be ideal for me to own, but I could probably convince this drummer to purchase those mounts for himself if I knew for sure what to tell him to buy.

[losthighway]

I would start by asking the drummer to subtract one of each kind of thing in the picture, except the snare of course. And maybe the splash and chinas, you can get rid of all of those.

[kslight]

I would start by asking the drummer to subtract one of each kind of thing in the picture, except the snare of course. And maybe the splash and chinas, you can get rid of all of those.

Double bass kits are back, man, haven't you checked metal bands lately?

In all seriousness though, that's who he wants to be so I at least need to get him up to that level where he has the microphone mounts too.. Its not my place to tell a teenager that his setup is not practical, he can make that decision for himself when he starts gigging it.

[drumsound]

I've been using those Sennheiser tom mics (e604) for ages and have resorted to using the clips they come with when I'm short on stands. They work great other than when drummers have that weird suspension hardware. But I suppose that's more of an endorsement for the whole package, as opposed to just the clip.

Its funny you mention the weird suspension hardware. I am not a drummer so not versed in all that stuff, but this band I did a few weeks ago has this super fancy giant SJC kit with I think a big Gibraltar rack...it was weird because of the way it was configured I couldn't mount right to the rims, I basically had to mount to the mount..something I've not encountered before...was definitely less secure than usual.

I'm probably going to end up recording this band a lot so will get to explore what works/doesn't for that in particular.

The LP Claws that I mentioned work great when attached to suspension mounts.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Oh how I hate those kits! If the drummer doesn’t have mic clips installed it’s next to impossible to get a mic stand anywhere near the snare.

[losthighway]

In all seriousness though, that's who he wants to be so I at least need to get him up to that level where he has the microphone mounts too.. Its not my place to tell a teenager that his setup is not practical, he can make that decision for himself when he starts gigging it.

You're a good guy, or maybe an enabler. Probably both, but being an enabler is kind of part of being a studio engineer.

I seriously love at a multi-band gig when the other bands see a drummer setting up the giant suspension rack with like 8 toms on it and everyone goes "Oh nooooo" as the band takes 45 minutes to setup.

[kslight]

In all seriousness though, that's who he wants to be so I at least need to get him up to that level where he has the microphone mounts too.. Its not my place to tell a teenager that his setup is not practical, he can make that decision for himself when he starts gigging it.

You're a good guy, or maybe an enabler. Probably both, but being an enabler is kind of part of being a studio engineer.

I seriously love at a multi-band gig when the other bands see a drummer setting up the giant suspension rack with like 8 toms on it and everyone goes "Oh nooooo" as the band takes 45 minutes to setup.

His dad is the enabler, haha. But I don't feel like its ever productive for the engineer to be a stick in the mud...

The band also hired me to drive the U Haul van (was like a Transit van so pretty big) to the studio which was totally loaded with this kit and their gear. I can assume that this would get old in a hurry playing shows...but they'll figure that out I bet... I've never been a big fan of the local bands that take an hour to load in...there's one band local to me that brings in this really shitty lighting/projection rig and a bunch of stands with what appears to be white bed sheets stretched across them...I guess they think they are like a low budget NIN or something but I just think you're pretty arrogant if you show up with that as the local opener.

[kslight]

The LP Claws that I mentioned work great when attached to suspension mounts.

I guess its hard for me to tell online how well it would attach to the suspension mounts (googled that I guess that is what this drummer has?)...the clips I have used seem to clip securely on to rims (though can get droopy), but are not as easy to get on the suspension mounts.

[permanent hearing damage]

am I the only one who had issues with those LP percussion claws resonating? I still use them on occasion, but always mounted to another mic stand.

[drumsound]

The LP Claws that I mentioned work great when attached to suspension mounts.

I guess its hard for me to tell online how well it would attach to the suspension mounts (googled that I guess that is what this drummer has?)...the clips I have used seem to clip securely on to rims (though can get droopy), but are not as easy to get on the suspension mounts.

When I was playing a lot in Chicago, most of the clubs had them and most FOH guys attached them to my RIMS mounts. There's a good amount of travel available in the claw part.

am I the only one who had issues with those LP percussion claws resonating? I still use them on occasion, but always mounted to another mic stand.

I was the player, not the engineer when I used them. I really can't say.