Drum OH's, only

[vvv]

Because tactical reasons - what wouldja's reco as a stereo pair to be drum OH's with no other drum mic's?
I'm kinda curious what ribbons might could do.

Also, assuming I can get 3' above the drummer's head and 10 feet in front - a living room - what pattern?
I'm thinkin' ORTF but I obviously have other options.

[joninc]

Coles are really nice and thick and capture surprising amounts of thump from toms/kick/snare

[vvv]

yeah ...

too much dosh for this eclectic

[kslight]

What about a mono OH and kick mic? I’ve had good results like that (especially if there are other live sources for drums to bleed into ).

[digitaldrummer]

a pair of any ribbons might work, but you'd have to experiment with placement because it will depend on the room, the drums, the player... You could try something like one overhead and a front of kit mic, or maybe a couple mics about 3-4 ft high and 4-5 feet in front of the kit (if you want winder/stereo image)? or do a ribbon and a cardioid mic for a M/S pair in front of kit (again would need to experiment with placement to get the right balance of the kit). It would be easier with 3 mics. Then I'd say do the Glyn Johns style setup. one in front of kick, one over snare, and the other pointing across the floor tom at the snare drum (of course with proper distances measured with a string or whatever). it works surprisingly well if the room doesn't totally suck (but would probably suck in a 8x8x8 bedroom).

[drumsound]

There's a million ways to go on this. What does the space sound like, what type of drum sound are you looking for and what kind of money do you want to spend?

Some inexpensive but good sounding options include sE X1R ribbons, Muro Acoustics AC-7 SDC (I've not tried their LDC the AC-8 but am tempted), Oktava MC012 SDC, which you can get one set of capsules to start and add other patterns later. (these are mics I own and trust).

I use ORTF most of the time and have even used the ribbons in that setup. I'm not sure I would go ORTF as often for a minimal setup as you describe, though. By nature, the are pointing somewhat outside the drums. That's actually a bit of what I like about that setup. It sounds wide and pleasing but feels more like a cymbal feature. It's not that there aren't drums in the picture, but close mics then bring beef to the sound.

I think a 'close' spaced pair might get you better coverage if you are in fact using your only 2 mics over the drums.

I do want to echo the above that suggests trying a single overhead and a mic somewhere in front of the drums, possibly a bass drum mic, and possibly a whole set mic that still has a good representation of the BD.

[Nick Sevilla]

I'd recommend some AKG 451s. Or AKG 414s.

The trick is to listen to the placement, so you get the kick and snare in the middle of your Stereo image. After that, you can EQ and compress a bit until the kit sounds balanced.

I don't like ribbons on percussions, they can and do tend to smush transients, and I'd rather do that, if I need to, afterwards.

[vvv]

Thanks, all y'all.

As it turned out I didn't need to rush set-up, went with the the usual Studio Projects C4's in X-Y, 3' out and 6' up, AKG D1000 (with the sintered head) on snare, Senn E602 on kick.

(We mic'd the Fender Bassbreaker 15 with a E609 - Mascis Jazzmaster and USA Tele; the PF50t into a 10" with an RE320 - EBMM V; vocal on SE V7 and a BV with a 635a.)

Re my original question, I thought we'd mebbe have 5 muso's but it turned out to be just 3.

That said, I have ribbons, LDC's, MDC's, and tube mic's - some matching, some similar - to try pairs of.

I sometimes find that the right room and placement and mic's can mean the OH's sound good enuff by themselves with some processing (AT4040's have always worked well for me) but also I thought bleed was gonna be a factor (and thought ribbons might minimize that), hence my plea for assistance.

I'll post something soon on the bandcamp.

[alexdingley]

Awesome! Looking forward to checking that out.

Also jumping on the “two ribbons” bandwagon, I’ve really gotten some super interesting results with a pair of beyerdynamic m160 ribbons. Sometimes putting them at just about the top Tom-rim height, in a downcast angle, as if they’re “ashamed to look the cymbals in the eyes”, and finding that I got plenty of body from the kick and snare /toms, and with enough cymbals for the situation.

[digitaldrummer]

I thought bleed was gonna be a factor (and thought ribbons might minimize that)

Fig8 ribbons can minimize bleed if you are able to position the other sound sources in their null. But if you have a very reflective or untreated room (where things are bouncing around from every direction) then you are probably better off using a very directional mic like a super/hyper-cardioid dynamic or something like that. The Beyerdynamic M160's mentioned above are not the typical fig8 ribbon - they are unidirectional (hyper-cardioid) - which is why they might also help in that situation.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

I've always gotten great results from an m160 over by the drummer's right shoulder, aimed at the snare. Gets a nice blend of the whole kit, a nice low mid thump from the kick. Takes compression and eq really well. That and a kick mic is a great two mic setup.

[Recycled_Brains]

I've always gotten great results from an m160 over by the drummer's right shoulder, aimed at the snare. Gets a nice blend of the whole kit, a nice low mid thump from the kick. Takes compression and eq really well. That and a kick mic is a great two mic setup.

yea, same. I love an M160 over the shoulder aimed in the middle of the kit (usually top rim of the kick drum is sorta my starting point) and one over the snare. If I want more floor tom, I'll angle the shoulder mic a little more to the right (drummer's perspective).

I've mixed records where I muted all but the kick mic with this setup.

[Recycled_Brains]

Coles are really nice and thick and capture surprising amounts of thump from toms/kick/snare

Probably best case scenario.

On the "cheaper" side of things, sE VR1's would probably be pretty sweet too. I use them as OHs a lot and love em for that.

[vvv]

the bassist only sang BV's on one song so I used the 635a as a crushed room mic, which is cool.

[markjazzbassist]

i like a mono electro voice 635a on overheads.