Hi!

So, since I´m planning to do some semi-professional homerecording, I´m looking for a decent microphone set for recording drumsets.

There are loads of sets out there, but I do´nt really know which one is good and which one isn´t...

So, any recommendations would be helpful.
With the mic´s I at least want to get a quality like this one:
http://www.myspace.com/tdoamusic
(just an example).

But I guess that a few of you already have experiences with homerecording/drum recording...so please recommend me some stuff (sound samlpes are always welcome).

By the way: don´t recommend me 2000 dollar set or something.

Drum mics are troube. There are so many different mics out there for drums and if you don't have access to test-driving a few, its hard to find what you like. Its also hard to really hear what a mic can do because of how much a good mixing can alter the real quality of a mic, so when you're listening to samples make sure they are dry!

I use the Audix Fusion Series drum pack and a Shure-57 (for snare). It comes with 3 tom, 1 kick, and 2 condenser (overhead) mics and it only ran me about 300$. They're nothing great, but for the price range they get the job done (and I find the condenser mics to work great for acoustic guitars). If you have more money to put into your mics, I strongly recommend it because the better the mic, the better the recording; mixing can only get you so far. If you want to hear the mic setup I use, you can hear it here.

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Thanks for your answer...I already told you in an other thread that I liked the recordings of the band...I dig the quality as well.

So...for such cheap mic´s thats a really good quality (imo).

Btw...I never recorded any drums...so would you recommend to buy some cheap mic´s (for the beginning) or not?
I mean...I could buy better mic´s later...even though I would somehow pay "twice" then.
Or will I loose motivation fast with cheap/bad mic´s? :/

I got a cheap ass set of drum mics off ebay. I think the brand is Samson. They work fine for me, but I've only used them for live applications. Sorry, don't have any recordings.

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Thanks. If you're serious about recording then there is no reason why you'd buy really cheap mics and then re-buy expensive mics. Its best to save up for something that will last you, if not forever, a very long time. Mics are very important so its best not to halfass them. I don't think you would lose motivation, but you'd definitely be kicking yourself for blowing a few hundred on shitty mics when an extra 1-2 hundred could have gotten you where you wanted. Mics are very important so its best not to halfass them. If you live anywhere near a Guitar Center, they have a 30-day warrenty that you should take advantage of. Buy two different mic kits (simultaneously or one after the other), test them, decide, then buy what works best. Then again, if you're just going to do some simple recordings, a cheap set will work just fine.

How big is your kit and what kind of recording equipment/software do you use? Mic sets will jump up in price for every mic added, so if you have a large kit and want to mic every drum and symbol with a good set, that will get pretty expensive.

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I thought about 6-8 mic´s for now...I´m not a drummer, but I want to do some homerecording...record my own band and other bands...

I dont know which software I will use yet...most people are using cubase as far as I know, so I will probably go with this one as well.

We have some shops here which have this 30-day warrenty...I think I will just have to buy a few sets (or single mic´s) and see what works best for me.

Some other people told me that the most mic sets aren´t really good and I should rather buy single mic´s ...that´s more expensive though but you have more possibilities there. Some people also told me that it´s better to buy about 4 good mic´s instead of like 8 bad ones...but I just can´t imagine that it´s possible to record a drumset (good) with 4 mic´s only. :S

Audix D6, and maybe a condensor for the outside of the kick
57 for snare
Over heads... I'm not sure. Maybe Rhode NT5 matched pair.
Sennheizer MD421 for toms.

To me, the best mics would be:

Shure SM-57's: snare and toms
Shure Beta 52: Kick
AKG C1000's: Overheads
Sennheiser MD147: Floor Tom

Those work well for me. The hardest drum to mic IMO is the kick, becuase it's hard to make it sound full without being to bassy, and also have the right attack. Eq and either a compressor or more likely a limiter is mandatory in the mixing stage for me to get the kick and snare levels pretty consistent, since these change constantly. I try to never use much eq or any effect when actually tracking though. Get it from the mic.

My thought is, if the drums sound good in the room, they'll be easy to mic, if your mic selection is good. I don't personally like those clip mics for the toms....they sound a little thin, but it's just my opinion obviously. I just use 57's on 'em. But try to get the drums sounding great in the room, and half the work is done! Hope this was useful.

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How would you mic the kick drum with the 57?

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Hahaha I just noticed that I had an error in my post....it's been fixed. So yeah 57's on the toms and snare, Beta 52 on the kick. I usually angle it slightly off the center of the beater, inside the drum. You can also mic the beater side of it too if you need more articulate "snap", for lack of a better word. But if it's inside, get it about 5" away from the front head, straight on, and then move it to the side until you get the sound you like. It takes a while....they are a bitch to mic properly.

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Are the C1000's large diaphragm condensors? Don't those boost low end? I havn't seen the frequency response for those mics. heh.

A lot of good recordings were made using minimal amounts of mics. Led Zeppelin are a great example of that. And many jazz drummers only mic their sets (at least that I know of) with one mic as an overhead. Previous bands I've been in have been able to get a decent quality drum track recorded with two SM-57s (one overhead, one on the bass drum)

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