Drum Miking Problem

Skifree0813 · 11-20-2009, 06:12 PM

I'm gonna skip the background stuff; here's the problem I have. I have to record a band at the church I'm working at. Everything will be fine to do except the drums. The only mics available are a handful of knockoff SM58's. I messed around with them today, and couldn't get a good sound from the drums. I tried two overheads in different spots, with another on the snare/hi hat, and a fourth on the bass. I spent maybe 30 minutes moving them around as much as possible, and think I found a couple possibilities. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions though?

**Gustin** · 11-20-2009, 06:37 PM

How many people in the congregation? How big is the church? Are you having any specific problems hearing it un-miked?

Skifree0813 · 11-21-2009, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gustin

How many people in the congregation? How big is the church? Are you having any specific problems hearing it un-miked?

This is for recording, not live sound.

**Gustin** · 11-21-2009, 12:32 PM

Gotcha. You don't have any other mics you could borrow at all? For recording you're really gonna want at least some decent overheads and a dynamic on the kick and snare. Even that's pushing it, but it's doable.

Dynamic coil mics (58's and 57s) don't usually do well as overheads. At least not by themself (I've had some good luck with 57s in an XY as a supplement to condenser overheads)... You need some condensers to fill in the details..

**jamforchrist123** · 11-21-2009, 12:58 PM

With what you have, I imagine the best option would be two overheads, then one on the snare and one of the bass. That's not ideal, but for what your doing and what you have it should be decent.

ibanez_dude · 11-21-2009, 03:01 PM

+1, you're not really going to get a good overhead sound without a pair of condensers.

Skifree0813 · 11-21-2009, 04:10 PM

I know about the condensers; problem is they're not available. I've checked with a couple other churches in the area and they don't have any either. I might be able to buy one but I don't want to use just one as an overhead unless I can somehow get a better sound. I found that putting the two overhead dynamics together but facing apart got the best results so far. Fortunately the schedules didn't work out to record today so possibly this week sometime. Thanks for the thoughts!

**surferdude9375** · 11-21-2009, 06:36 PM

Take the pop filter off when you use them. SM58s do not have the same frequency curves as the SM57 but taking the pop filter off can help to capture some crispness for the snare/overheads.

If your comfortable with it, you might could tell us your location and someone around on the boards might be able to lend a hand/mic (if your in a populated area).

**Gustin** · 11-21-2009, 07:17 PM

Yeah.... an XY pair is probably your best bet with dynamics (for some reason these just capture the overheads better than a spaced pair with dynamics) (for a picture of an XY pair: http://www.pcmus.com/images/xy-stereo-mic.gif )

Skifree0813 · 11-22-2009, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surferdude9375

Take the pop filter off when you use them. SM58s do not have the same frequency curves as the SM57 but taking the pop filter off can help to capture some crispness for the snare/overheads.

If your comfortable with it, you might could tell us your location and someone around on the boards might be able to lend a hand/mic (if your in a populated area).

I'll definitely check that out, thanks. And unfortunately I'm not

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gustin

Yeah.... an XY pair is probably your best bet with dynamics (for some reason these just capture the overheads better than a spaced pair with dynamics) (for a picture of an XY pair: http://www.pcmus.com/images/xy-stereo-mic.gif )

That's about what I had; spaced mics gave me too much trouble avoiding sounds delay.