software

basically i need a few decent mic's for recording drums. i would love to use sm-57's, but to buy a few of them are out of my price league unfortunately....

Drums mics really differ depending on what sound and techniques you want to apply-

If you want to go the time tested and economic diretly, fly a large diagpramh condinser over the top entire set with the face a bit off set from teh snare, and use a large diagrram dynamic on the bass and you have abotu teh least expensive versitial mix you'd ever want-

Takes quite a bit of tweakign to get most of the set into that condenser, but it's a very 'live' sound and never suffers from phase cancelation and mic leakage that so many other technigues require. The condensor gives you the frequesncy range and fast attack while the large dynamic gives you the dynamic range and SPL that kicks put out.

For the condensor go with the AKG 414 clone= AKG C3000 or AT's version of the same thing.

For the bass, you just cant beat the old EV re-20- Look for one on Ebay and you might get a really cheap, versital mic-

If you have to choose, keep the 57 on the bass- Actually a relateively good mic for the role

hope this helps!

I'm not sure if they're available in New York or not but a company called Sampson sell a few complete sets of drum mics that are about £200 for the set.

Either an AKG D112 or a Sennheiser D421 is great on the bass drum, but I'm not sure how much those go for on the used market.

Craig

Second the Sennheiser D421 - very good mic for bass

Sam ash has a 5 piece kit for $149 made by samson Sam Ash Mics Also Shure makes a Cheaper knock off of their 57 amp; 58.
I have a Mexican shure prologue I got for $40 new. It was dropped shouder
high into a puddle of water at my curb. The thing still WORKS ! and
don't sound bad?

A friend recently recommended Marshall mics to me. Picked up a couple and have been using them ever since. Check em' out. And the price is nice!

For low dollars, I'd stay with Marshall or RODE, and place an ad looking for used 57's. See if you can find people that will sell them for $40 or $50 a piece.

cool thakns guys!

I picked up a set of Nade drum mics about a year ago for about $150. The bass mic is a little anemic and I'd trade it in a second for a D112, but it's definitely useable as is the rest of the set.


Originally Posted by zionstratSecond the Sennheiser D421 - very good mic for bass

It's a good all round mic for pretty much everything.

In the past I've used them on bass amps, kick drums, toms, guitar amps and brass.

They're like SM57s in that you can use them on pretty much anything. They also don't have the high end of a 57, so they're warmer sounding

Craig

how about these? from the reviews they sound amazing.... from : localhost/www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/273166/

xerxes
This is a bit like the guitar market 5 years ago- Every vendor is jumping in here, so when I tell you that the AKG414 is probably one of the most used mics of all time for everything, it's like saying that LesPauls are one of the most popular electrics.

I don't know anything about MXL, but those reviews look interesting- But just like gtrs, there has to be a bottom end from a quality POV and I would suggest you do a little reading just as if you were compairing and unknow LP clone to the real thing- IT could be better for less money, or not-

Here's the main points to work though:
Use large diagrahm condesors to get room sounds, mixture sounds, and what I think of as very ambient sounds (voice to cymbals)

Use small head high SPL mics (usually dynamic) to deal with extreme transients like kicks

Personally, I wouldn't gp for 'drum' mic sets unless I was full time micing a single drum set- There are too many other good uses for good mics and if you plan well you can get by in a small studio wiht 4-7 mid priced mics-

And I may be off on the current number, but I woudln't expect to get a mid quality large diaghram condinseror for much less than $200 and a good dynamic much under $100-

Again, AKG414 remains the gold standard to me and these pupies (and their derivitiives) have really come down in price since I first used them in the 80s-