I would like to know the members opinions and experiences with microphones on vintage drums. Maybe your "favorite" or "usual" configuration either live or in the studio.
I personally find that certain microphones work well on my vintage kits than others kits.
Any thoughts?
I will start. This would be a good "go to" configuration for most live and low to medium budgeted recordings.
[LIST]
[*]Bass - Shure Beta 52 & Electrovoice RE20
[*]Snare - SM57
[*]Toms - SM57, Beta 98, Sennhieser 421
[*]Overheads - SM81, C1000's
[*]Room - Nice tube (medium priced) Crown PZM,
[/LIST]
Again, I'm only thinking in terms of capturing the "Vintage" tone from the drums. I absolutely love "other" microphones, I just feel that these seem to capture the vintage tone accurately.
I will start. This would be a good "go to" configuration for most live and low to medium budgeted recordings.[LIST][*]Bass - Shure Beta 52 & Electrovoice RE20[*]Snare - SM57[*]Toms - SM57, Beta 98, Sennhieser 421[*]Overheads - SM81, C1000's [*]Room - Nice tube (medium priced) Crown PZM, [/LIST]Again, I'm only thinking in terms of capturing the "Vintage" tone from the drums. I absolutely love "other" microphones, I just feel that these seem to capture the vintage tone accurately.
^Randy nailed it
Some other choices
Bass-AKG D112 or Audix D6 (not a vintage mic)
Overheads-Audix 214 (less money, kicks ass)
The mic pre amp is also very important.
I like the Mackie 8 channel Onyx, easy on the budget
LA 610 pre for the room (worth every penny, can use it for everything)
^Too funny, I should have seen that Randy was the orignal thread starter. Sorry. I think you know what's going on.
I love the Universal Audio gear! I will look into the piece mentioned here. I'm very familiar with the LA-2A....but that's another story.
I'm not such a big fan of the D112 and the Audix. Don't get me wrong, they are great mic's for a modern bass drum tone....but my ears always lead me the other way.
Speaking of AKG microphones. Has anyone used the original AKG D12? IMO, it's a superior bass drum microphone....hard to find....but good.
it should be noted that when in doubt, I will stick a good ole' SM57 on the BD. And man it really confuses everyone that I do that....especially since I have "no hole" on my vintage kits.
The best answer i use when people ask why don't I have a port hole on the BD resonant head,... Hey man, I don't have a hole cut in any other head with a mic shoved in it?!!!
my main studio set up is:
D112 kick
57 snare (sometimes sennheiser 441)
neumann km 184 snare under (sometimes rode NT5)
HH km184 (sometimes AT4041) Never use this mic much...
Rack, Floor Shure KSM 32 (MAYBE 421...)
OH AT4050's
Rooms Peluso 2247LE
Kick out 10" speaker...
my main studio set up is:D112 kick57 snare (sometimes sennheiser 441)neumann km 184 snare under (sometimes rode NT5)HH km184 (sometimes AT4041) Never use this mic much...Rack, Floor Shure KSM 32 (MAYBE 421...)OH AT4050'sRooms Peluso 2247LEKick out 10" speaker...
NICE!
I just recently used the Rode NT5 on a session as overheads. I didn't hate them.
How does the Peluso hold up to a Nuemann? Dang thing is $2k+. Hope she sounds great!
My favorite overhead: AKG 414 stereo matched.
Yeah, NT5 are pretty good. Very bright. Kind of a good match if you use big dark cymbals like me. 2247le is really nice, not too similar to a 47, but what is...
overheads: Neumann KM84
snare: EV PL11
kick: Neumann U87
I put one overhead over my left shoulder (about 1-2" higher than my shoulder) and point it to where I normally hit my snare.
And the other overhead is about 2' above my floor toms, pointed at the same spot on the snare. I use a piece of string to make sure that the distances both overheads are from the snare are the same.
Not sure about actual mics per se, but in general, I personally prefer the sound of a small number of roomy mono mics picking the "overall" sound of the drums/cymbals as opposed a close mic on every drum kind of approach. Of course, every gig/recording is different and what works well for one session may not necessarily work for another. I just find this kind of micing technique to be more pleasing to my ear anyway ... kit sounds more "vintage "this way.
