Favorite mics for recording tom-tom's?

[junkstar]

Anyone care to share what their favorite mic's are for recording toms? I'm all set with snare and kick, and have been using 58's on my toms with decent results, but am curious what some of you would recommend. 609's work? 421's the way to go?

[brado32]

4 2 1

cant go wrong

-Brad

[aurelialuz]

i like the atm 25, or oktava 318s, ev 664's in a pinch.

alex

[Family Hoof]

421 ! Angled almost perpedicular to the ground, slightly inwards from the rim of the batter head.

[thecongostudio]

I personally like both the 609 and 421's on toms. For a more rocky kit I lean towards the 421, for more abstract and more technical drummers on a non-typical kit I prefer the 609s, they have a tendency to be more particular to pick up nuances of the dummer than the 421 IMO. I have both, and I use them for almost any practical application; they are both killer mics.

[raw-tracks]

421's are always good. I also like E/V 308/408/468's. They sound great, and are really easy to squeeze into those hard to reach places around a kit.

[stuntbutt]

421's for sure, but I have also used e604's when I didn't have enough 421's and I thought they sounded pretty good on the higher toms.

[Brett Siler]

I'm gonna have to check out those Sennheiser 421's. I hear nothing but good things about them.

[audiogeek1]

Beyer M88 on toms totally rule. Also the sennhieser md504s are really good for the rack toms. They sound better than the 604s. Also akg 414s sound really good on toms for some music.

mike

[New Orleans Steve]

For Years I did not have a flat dynamic, at least not a set for tom work. I really enjoyed EV 308 408s for this application, BUT alls SM57s.
I would eagerly use Senheiser 421s, but thought a trio of them was pricy.
Then I got a set of the Beyer M88s. Intended for vocals and horns. I never use them on kick drum and decided IF I did I would mark one for that purpose, but never did.
The first time I tried them on toms - WOW! It was a technical band that kinda played heavy stuff, but with real natural sound. A small kit with a 7" piccolo snare, 22" kick. But they still wanted 'presence'. They wouldn't say "Heavy", but I knew they wanted it. They just wanted a clean crisp sound that would really let you HEAR what they were playing. The M88s were just the trick.
Enormous proximity effect (no roll off) in a real good way for these guys. Also the hypercardiod really works - better isolation and the gates, if you use them Track a LOT better. More than isolation the drums kinda erupted from silence. Not so much isolation from the rest of the kit but Way less 'hashiness'.
Steve

Check us out on line www.frenchmenstreetrecords.com

[eeldip]

i second the ev 408/308/468. they are small, easy to position, hardy, and agressive sounding.

[Quest Poetics]

I have 2 421's I use so damn much but I'm always putting one on my snare these days...Sorry but it sounds so much better than 57's and I dont care what anyone says....Anyhow I've been forced to use my audix d4's and d2's lately and I must say that I'm liking what I'm hearing these days through those...Also, may try an akg 414 w/ the -20 pad on....Those are great all around mics....Oh and I read that Joel Hamilton really loves the oktava mc012's? on the toms...I have a pair but I'm using them for room mics right now so I cant spare them on toms yet...Try and see...Let us know...

[wing]

the only drums i've liked the SM57 on are toms... i usually don't like it on snare or any other drum. but for me, on toms, especially higher toms, it always does it for me great.

[denial]

An alternative to the 421 is a 441 which is a fantastic and versatile mic.
Also a special mic that has better hat rejection on a snare that works great on toms is a Beyer M201. Best of all the M201 is considerably cheaper than a 421.

[east3rdst]

The word tom-tom bothers me.