uuummmmmm....what is proper mic placement when it comes to drums anyways?

trimph1


I'm just pondering this right now. 

I have a rather basic kind of drumset now, and, of course, have been mucking around with the mics, such as I have here, and am thinking more in terms of getting this thing mic'ed up...what does one need to properly mic a drum kit up? And what positioning is used where?

Really it depends on your budget.

Get the core right first, starting with a pair of cardoid pattern condensers (even Behringer C1's at £60 a pair will be a good enough starting point) for the overheads an inside kick that can cope with the high SPL of that function an AKG 112 would be ideal there, the ubiquitous SM57 for the snare no point trying to save a few pennies on that one because the 57 is cheap enough and is ideal. Optionally any spare mic you've got to serve as a room mic, mono is fine for that and whether it is dynamic or a condensor is down to taste.

Once you've worked out the basics from that set-up you will find where you'd like to beef up your sound with additional close mics, that's the time to start spending $000's on mics, once you've worked out what if anything is lacking.

Once you've experimented and made some placement choices, figured out that a good sound starts at tuning phase, and got good mixes out of those basic 4 mics you will be adept enough at making any kit sound good with what ever else you want to add.  It seems less of a mystery when you work out that your basic overall stereo image is coming from the overheads on any complex multi-mic setup.  Spend time getting those where you want them, everything else is for emphasis and getting complete control of the mix and as such is an option.

Here's a good link to start off at.

http://www.soundonsound.c.../dec97/drumiking1.html