Favorite mics for recording tom-tom's?

[Kilroy]

beta 98s are pretty cool on toms

[Zeppelin4Life]

actually my favorite mic is the overheads, and they are MXL603s..a well isolated room, and low overheads..great stereo image, great resonance.

[Shawn Simmons]

I've used 421's and M-88's for years, with the occasional 57 on a rack tom. After hearing Joel (forum guru) talk about using Octava MC-012's on toms, I tried them out and now I can't go back to 421's. Get some Octava's from Guitar Center, they're cheap (so you won't care if the drummer hits them and if they do, you can take them back) and they ROCK! on toms. I've always had to EQ the crap out of toms to make them jump out of a mix (when using a 421 or M-88 ), not anymore with the Octavas. Plus they're smaller than 421's, they don't get in the way as much.

I've also used Soundelux U-195's, AT 4047's, Octava 219's (on the bottoms, they sound good there). I also like to get a good amount of toms in the overheads so I make sure I've got some good mics for OH.

By the way, "toms" in Swedish is "puks" (pronounced "pooks"). Just thought you should know.

shawn

[J.B.Horns]

I've used 421's and M-88's for years, with the occasional 57 on a rack tom. After hearing Joel (forum guru) talk about using Octava MC-012's on toms, I tried them out and now I can't go back to 421's. Get some Octava's from Guitar Center, they're cheap (so you won't care if the drummer hits them and if they do, you can take them back) and they ROCK! on toms. I've always had to EQ the crap out of toms to make them jump out of a mix (when using a 421 or M-88), not anymore with the Octavas. Plus they're smaller than 421's, they don't get in the way as much.


shawn

Wow, that's exactly what I was going to say. I've had a few Oktava mc012s for a while. I bought them because everyone raved about them for overheads. I hated them on overheads so they seldom got used. Joel mentioned somewhere that he likes them on toms, so I tried them. They sound awesome, and their size is a definite plus. I was using sennheiser 441s, but nowadays I ususally go with the oktavas. I usually use the pad and the hyper cap.

[Slider]

414's, 57's 421's NT1000's. almost always one of these.
I'm also another person who prefers the way toms sound through the overheads.

[Leopold]

as of late it's been either beyer 201s or oktava MC012 and even D112 on low toms. M88 and Senn. 421 sound great as well.

L

[joel hamilton]

I was just recording a heavy rock/noise band (like jesus lizard with a girl singer) and I was freaking out about how well the MC012's work on toms. I have tried frikkin everything to get the Thwack/boom ratio I wanted without EQ, and these are the things I have found to kick total ass every time. The proximity bump is so nice, and really sensitive to proximity means my "eq" is a 1" move towards the head, and the "thwack" is from simply aiming these little things more towards the center of the drum. Awesome. They are so cheap I dont mind them being in close and right near a flying piece of wood....

Like I have said before, "the oktava 012 does what I always wished 421's would do, but dont ever."

I am glad some people are digging these little cheap things. The best thing guitar center sells for under 500 dollars IMO.

[wing]

The proximity bump is so nice, and really sensitive to proximity means my "eq" is a 1" move towards the head,

forgive me for sounding really dumb, but i wish i could understand this language. in other words, what does all of this mean? i understand the "eq" part sort of, but what i mean is the proximity bump. what are we talking about here?

[junkstar]

In regard to the Oktava mc-012...

I see there are a number of options when buying. Any favored configuration? Is the standard, single capsule version (the cheapest version) the most commonly used by you guys?

[joel hamilton]

Wing,

"proximity" produces more low end. Moving the mic an inch towards the head is like turning up the low end across a pleasing number of frequencies.

"proximity to the source."

[Ajpulzetti]

The word tom-tom bothers me.

I'm glad someone said it.

[Red Rockets Glare]

I use an Audix D3 that I got for free from musicians friend on the rack tom and either a 421 or a condenser on the floor, depending on what the drummer is doing with the drum.
Suprising how nice the D3 sounds on the rack tom, cos it sounds like trash on anything else.

[wing]

has anyone rocked the Senn MD521's with good results? i have one but can't seem to really find it to be very good on any source... i see it used on toms a lot in live applications though. but when i've tried em... i don't know. kinda too thuddy and thin for me.

[cgarges]

Wing,

Do you mean the MD504 or the e604? I've got a few of them and like them just fine although there are other things I like better.

I really really dig Neumann KM84s, but it's hard to find studios that have a lot of them around. Do not make the mistake of considering the KM184 a substitute. They are totally different mics. The closest thing I can find to the sound of KM84s on toms is the Oktava MC012 with a hypercardioid cap. The cardioid caps work great, too, but having recently acquired a pair of hypercardioid caps, I just can't get over them on toms. Joel's entirely right. I usually have to back them off a bit farther then other mics I have used on toms, but there's a huge range of sounds available just by moving them a little bit. They're also great because they would be inexpensinve to replace if a drummer whacked them into oblivion, but at least one of mine has taken a good hit and still sounds fine.

In the past, I've also enjoyed Sennheiser MD421s (I prefer the 421IIs), EV 408s, Beyer M201s, AT 4031s, AT 4050s, Neumann KM86s, Neumann U89s, AKG 451s, Shure Beta 98s, and on floor toms in particular, Neumann FET 47s, AT 4047s, AKG D112s, and RE20s. For certain things SM57s and SM77s work well, too. I have also used, with somewhat unexciting results, U87s and the BLUE Bottle (not the Baby Bottle).

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[matthewbarnhart]

In order of preference:

Rack tom: top/bottom pairs of Sony C17, Neumann KM84, AKG C451, Octava MC012
Floor tom: top/bottom pair of Sony C48p, AKG C414

Since I started doing top/bottom pairs, I haven't been able to go back to anything else.

For live work, I like the Shure SM98 or Beta 98 on toms. They never sound right to me in the studio, though.

mb