micing the hi-hats?

DaViDB112 · Post by **DaViDB112** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:50 am

is this very common? how many of you spend more than eight seperate feeds on a drum kit?
Do you mic underneath that snare?

Doublehelix · Post by **Doublehelix** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:20 am

This was just discussed wtihin the last couple of weeks...try a quick search.

Personally, I usually throw up a hat mic for the benefit of the drummer who swears he needs one, but rarely use it in the mix, at least not very loud in the mix. The OHs and the snare bleed usually give me *plenty* of hats!

I mic top and bottom snare all the time.

joninc · Post by **joninc** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:50 am

lately i have been getting sick of normal overheads and find myself liking
to mic the hihat. i have a akg 535 which actually sounds really good on it - i mic opposite where you'd hit it with the stick about 4 inches above pointing down steeply.

in the past year i have started micing btm snare too and find it helps get a better snare sound, again - without having to crank the overheads. so it kind of depends on the sound you are going for i think....

MichaelAlan · Post by **MichaelAlan** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:59 pm

I just about never use a mic on the hats. But I also rarely use an XY setup for OH.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:03 am

No hat mic here. Or under snare. Sometimes I use a snare schell mic though.

r0ck1r0ck2 · Post by **r0ck1r0ck2** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:09 am

oh i just throw the crassest cheapo el zorro mic on the hat and use it for freak appeal...but i've got the channels...it would be the first thing to go if i needed to...

DaViDB112 · Post by **DaViDB112** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 9:58 pm

i;ve tried it for a while now. i'm getting some worthwhile results.
i think it is worth it depending on the material of course.

BradG · Post by **BradG** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:07 pm

Take a measuring tape and measure 7' from the beater straight up in the air. Place one mic there facing down. Go to the front of the kick and measure from the inside head, back 7' and put your second mic there, about two feet off the floor. That's it.

Oh yeah, this only works with a great drummer but then... doesn't any technique?

billiamwalker · Post by **billiamwalker** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 6:35 am

i've always used hi hat micing in my recordings as well. but now when i go back and listen, the hi hats are cutting through too much. if you do mic the hi hat... use some bass roll off and tweak up the top hi's JUST a bit to get a nice shiny hi hat sound. but make sure it's very low so that in the mix it's not making the hi hat any louder.. it's only making it brighter.

and i use top and bottom snare as well.

But i've discovered i'm going to just try two overheads kick and snare. (professor made me do it) and if i can't get a good drum sound that way.. then i'll add what needs to be added to the kit to bring it out.

Oh, and a quick question.. if you're micing the hi hat opposite of the drummer then shouldn't the polarity be flipped (considering the OH are micing the inside of the drums)

MichaelAlan · Post by **MichaelAlan** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:10 am

drumsound wrote:No hat mic here. Or under snare. Sometimes I use a snare schell mic though.

What exactly are you going for with the shell mic?

billiamwalker · Post by **billiamwalker** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:18 am

MichaelAlan wrote:
drumsound wrote:No hat mic here. Or under snare. Sometimes I use a snare schell mic though.
What exactly are you going for with the shell mic?

you should try it. you get a nice, dry snare sound when you can't seem to get a balanced snare sound from micing the top. so you just pull the mic down a little bit, it'll put up a little more snare from the bottom.

surf's up · Post by **surf's up** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:34 am

i dont think ive ever used a hi hat mic. ive tried it out a few times, but never ended up using it. it just seems unnecessary when you can get a good balance of the kit from the overheads.

Dave-H · Post by **Dave-H** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:15 pm

I have used a Marshal 603 & got a pretty good hat sound.

cwileyriser · Post by **cwileyriser** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:27 pm

I usually don't, but a few times lately I've used an AKG C1000S and got a pretty hellacious (in a good way) hot sizzle.

stinkpot · Post by **stinkpot** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:53 pm

I generally only mic a hi hat if the drummer keeps a lot of time with his foot - not actually using sticks on it. Then I'll take it out when he/she's not stepping on it.
It all depends, but, generally I don't bother 'cause it just isn't necessary.

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