Favorite mics for recording tom-tom's?

[joel hamilton]

I used to do the top/bottom thing, but I never got it to kick my ass. I would rather get a straight shot at tape (or HD) than buss two channels to tape anyway.

Wing:

The only place I have liked those sennheiser things that you posted a picture of was on bottom snare, because it was easy to clip onto the rim, and i dont use much bottom anyway for rock...

[cactus]

like someone else said, i (for rock) tend to let the OH mics get the attack (XY above the kit) and have atm25 or 421 on the bottom head - that's my best sound yet.

but damn if you don't have to have sturdy stands to hold those 421s up....

[junkstar]

I got derailed on my intended "pair of rack Tom mic" purchasing & research... Hoping I can open this for discussion again.

From reading through this string again, and looking into what I can afford, my best bet's seem to be (I'm covered on the floor tom mic) a pair of 012's or a pair of M201's. Seems you guys generally prefer the 012's (or 421's which might just be too expensive), but thought I'd get some last thoughts before I start hunting with dollars in hand. Thanks guys.

[Dave Nutz]

dbl post, sorry.

[Dave Nutz]

ive got a short list of mics that suck on toms, if that helps any

mxl2003's just plain sound stupid. they are missing all the essential drum frequencies and pick up too much cymbal bleed.
same thing for v67's
V67's are in the same boat

the berry ECM8000 makes a cool mono room mic, but a crappy close drum mic.
it sounds compressed right out of the box.....it needs a fair amount of gain though, and it gets noisy. it actually sound pretty good on hats and ride.

MXL990's suck on toms, but they are good for thickening up a snare drum or outside of a kick drum...

i really dislike beta57's on toms. the grill assembly sits the capsule to far away so there is no saturation....all thwack.

[joel hamilton]

I got derailed on my intended "pair of rack Tom mic" purchasing & research... Hoping I can open this for discussion again.

From reading through this string again, and looking into what I can afford, my best bet's seem to be (I'm covered on the floor tom mic) a pair of 012's or a pair of M201's. Seems you guys generally prefer the 012's (or 421's which might just be too expensive), but thought I'd get some last thoughts before I start hunting with dollars in hand. Thanks guys.

Junkstar,

Regardless of price, I always use the 012's these days. I like them better than 414's which would be my second choice. I have liked the altec "lipstick" mics as well. I tried the oktava's years ago and that was when I had a pair of KM84's to try as well, and the oktava's sounded better on toms to me than the KM84's.
I have plenty of microphones to try, either at my studio or other places I go do stuff, and the oktava's have won, hands down almost every single time regardless of genre. That is an endorsement, yes.

I like them. I think you would as well. They are a perfect example of "the right mic for the job doesnt need EQ." 421's on toms have never given me that, so i gave up on them a long time ago.

[Spark]

I recently tried AKG C535EB's on the toms and what can I say... Im really falling in love with those mics for a lot of souces.

[ValveTone Mastering]

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."

Just to add a little bit; promimity effect mostly applies to directional mics/polar patterns. Cardiods for example. Other patterns exhibit far less (or no) effect.

Damon

[Devlars]

Well I generally don't use tom mics however for the past couple of bands I've recorded the request was for a "closer sounding kit". I've used SM58s to good response as well as PG56s. I think my favourite yet though was using Oktava MK219s placed about 5" away from the toms to tremendous results. The kit, player and room all played as large a role in the sound as the mic if not more so mind you. Again all that the mic does is capture the sound source. The other factors in the equation are what determine a good sound, as can be seen by the fact that there are so many different responses and tools that people swear by to get the job done.

[junkstar]

Yes, understood and I agree. I guess I should have mentioned that 4 out of 5 times, I'm doing loud rock where the bands want in your face sounds on every single instrument involved. Toms included.

With a great drummer and a great kit, I will back off and try to add some air and variety, but if I keep recording clubbers with ego problems and a penchant for smashing their cheap cymbals to death, I think I need some dedicated close tom mics to try out (beyond the 2 SM58's which are my only current option).

[Devlars]

I recently tried AKG C535EB's on the toms and what can I say... Im really falling in love with those mics for a lot of souces.

Yeah those are a decent set of mics. I've used them as overheads and rooms mics from time to time as well and been pleased with the sound I captured using them. I like the roll off and boost switches also, gives a few more options within the one mic though I usually just leave it flat.

[8th_note]

Santa gave me a pair of AT 37R sd condensers specifically for this purpose. I've only done two sessions with them so far, both on the same drummer/kit but they did exactly what I was hoping they would do. Much better attack and better rejection of the cymbals. They definately make the toms stand out better in the mix.

I went with the 37Rs instead of the Oktava 012s (in spite of all the board recommendations) because they appear to have a similar frequency response and I'm very comfortable with the quality of AT mics. I haven't compared them to 012s but I can say that, so far, they sound much better than the dynamics I was using (SM57, etc.).

[Zeppelin4Life]

the SM57 works nice on my toms. I tried the 421s once. they are great. also check out some of thoes little Shure condensor mics that are like clip-ons. they sound amazing and they are wicked small. I think they are $ tho. great for a live show tho

[blabgoo]

I just did a test with 4 Mics for myself. I have a large kit with 6 Toms so I had been using 3 Rode NT1's positioned between the toms. This had been working pretty well, but had too much cymbal bleed at times.
I tested:
Audix F-90 condensor - Crapola (maybe it was bad?)
Shure Beta 980/S Condenser - OK but a bit odd and seemed mid heavy
AKG C419 Condenser - Very nice but way too bright. Really did bring out the sound of the toms but hard to place on a small tom as they really needed to hang out to the center to get the best sound. Also had too much mic bleed.
Sennheiser E604 - I bought (2) 3 packs of these after my test. Had a good warm tone and very very good isolation. Easy to place even on my small toms. Wasn't too bad either on my largest toms.
I also tried the oktavia 219's to compare to the Rode's and they lacked the detail of the rode's but perhaps woudl have been great on the toms. But again they woudl be hard to place on smaller toms.

I would like to know what recording hardware people were using with there reccomendations as well as what OverHeads they were pairing them with. I am using a Motu 896 and the MXL 903's for overheads but am not satisfied. That is to be my next purchase.

[Slider]

think you should get the MC012's,
For the money nothing can beat them.
They really do blow away a 57 on toms.
There's a pretty big bump on the low end which surprised me.
It a very flattering bump though.
I still use the 414's on toms, but when I'm scared someone's gonna hit em I put up the MC012's.
And they're great on the bottom of the snare too.