Drum Mic Kits

[RoyS]

I have been helping at my daughters school organizing the disorganized PA. One thing they could do with is a kit of drum mics, including associated clips to avoid a jungle of boom stands. The mics will be used not only for PA work but also for recording students for GCSE course & exam work. Money of course is restricted and the budget is about £100, but could possibly rise to £150m if well justified. Does anybody have any opinions on particular brands and suppliers?

I guess possible brands will include, Behringer, Sampson and T-Bone from Thomann. As regard supplier, I’ve had some good experiences with Blue Aran. I feel sure that Beyer, Shure, AKG, etc will fall outside of the budget…. Many thanks in anticipation for all advise.

[niall]

but could possibly rise to £150m if well justified.

 

I want that budget! :)

 

 

On the original question, I know you can actually buy drum kit sets for a little over £100, whether or not they are any good is a different question! I would ask around your local PA places, and find what they have on offer.

 

The next question is do you actually need a full set of mics? A proper noiseboy (I'm a lampie with some sound experience) will be able to help you with that, but factors that would have to be taken into consideration would be, number of drums in the set, and number of free channels on your desks. There's no point micing a full drum kit when you only have 5 channels left and you don't have the budget for an extra desk(s) to submix.

[Tregilibob]

For performance pieces, and also exam recording,2 decent overhead mic's would probably do the job just as well, and cheaper. They pick up the overall sound, so the mixing is easier, also less likely to get knocked off onto the drum kit which can give you some strange noises!

Examiners don't always want a fully miked mixed down drum kit either, its the complete sound they are interested in, not always how well can you mic a kit.

 

Just my humble opinion.

[stagemanagement]

What makes you think they require a drum kit set??

Especially if Budget is tight.

 

If it intended to use these mic's in live situations within the school and to do some general recording then I would suggest you don't need a "set" at all.

 

Get a good durable mic for the kick drum (D112), and a couple of reasonable quality condenser mics (C1000/ CK91).

Using just 3 mics with a better quality in various combo's (1 Kick, 2 overheads or Kick, Snare and 1 overhead) will allow you to get a better pick up and sound from any kit, than a complete set of Maplin branded clip on's etc.

 

Sometimes less is more.......

 

Like a single Neumann overhead is preferable to 6 Samson specials all over the kit!!

[Simon Lewis]

Like a single Neumann overhead is preferable to 6 Samson specials all over the kit!!

 

In a school, I suspect that once the £500+ mic is dropped, it won't be replaced. Sometimes buying a box of £30 copies has its place....

 

FWIW, I have used the Samson drum mics kit, as well as the Shure PG set. Both are reasonably good for the money. The AKG set (outside budget here) use the cute but ultimately useless 418 clip mics that break on the first direct stick hit, or have their long thin cables chopped off in the carry case.

[Simon MFR]

I'll agree with all the above - EV's wont be interested in your mic'ing technique, moreso the overall sound. Grab a kick mic and two condensors from Thomann, more than likely your best bet. Less to mix down, and will more than likely suit your students learning ability moreso than eight or more channels of percussion. If you really do want a full set of clips, the Samson 8 kit will fit your budget perfectly. 2 x WD condensors, 4 x clips, kick, and a HH mic. remember they are budget mics, but the sound they produce is accurate, I've used them a few times myself. The D112 alone will cost you nearer eighty quid alone, its a great mic, and will certainly take all your students have to throw (or kick) at it, but I'm guessing out of your budget too.

[paulears]

Examiners don't always want a fully miked mixed down drum kit either, its the complete sound they are interested in, not always how well can you mic a kit.

 

EV's wont be interested in your mic'ing technique, moreso the overall sound.

 

Er.... doesn't it rather pivot on what the exam/specification require?

 

If somebody is recording a heavy Rock/metal band (as is soooooo common in schools and colleges) you are not going to get a rock kit sound without close miking the drums, however, if you're recording light jazz, then a single overhead could work really well.

 

Having heard thousands of truly awful drum recordings over the years, I'd suggest that even a budget drum mic kit (there was an unbranded one in my local music shop for £60 yesterday) and some sensible balancing and mixing, the results will be much better than an overhead in anything that has one (or even two) kick pedals being beaten to death.

 

For GCSE, these kind of skills don't really get tested, but they do in BTEC Level 2 and 3, and in the AS and A2 music technology qualifications.

 

In a controlled environment, then simple overhead drum recording isn't really too bad, but most schools and colleges do not have much in the way of acoustic separation, or treatment which makes the drum sound rather poor.

 

For exam, coursework, or project work - there are rules and in general, poor quality 'playing' doesn't get penalised in a technology subject, nor does grotty guitar tuning or awful singing - however, the students are expected to use their technology skills and their ears to make it sound as good as it can.

 

 

As for an EV not being interested in the technique? Not so if that is what is being given grades - so wording such as "correct and appropriate use of microphone placement and techniques" does mean something. In the A level MT course, it's very common to hear a really bad sound, look at the documentation and see AKG414, Neumann U87 and be very confused until you see a photo included where the singer is singing into the END of the 87, not realising it's a side fire!

[StuRobson]

Money of course is restricted and the budget is about £100, but could possibly rise to £150m if well justified.

 

 

Get a good durable mic for the kick drum (D112), and a couple of reasonable quality condenser mics (C1000/ CK91).

Using just 3 mics with a better quality in various combo's (1 Kick, 2 overheads or Kick, Snare and 1 overhead) will allow you to get a better pick up and sound from any kit, than a complete set of Maplin branded clip on's etc.

 

Sometimes less is more.......

 

Like a single Neumann overhead is preferable to 6 Samson specials all over the kit!!

 

the op kindly gave us his ball park figure and you've managed to spend it on your first mic

[alex_kyuss]

Hi all, I have just bought this un - branded 7 piece mic set for £110, and although I haven't tested all of the mics yet the snare/tom mics sound pretty good recording guitars and the condensers came across well recording some vocals generally a worth while investment

(the same mics come under many brands)

Hope this helps

Alex

 

heres a ebay link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-PEICE-PROFFESIONAL...1QQcmdZViewItem

[paulears]

I rather like the 112 sound, but Stu's right! No budget of that kind, and to be fair - what is it being plugged into - and used for?

 

Most of the clip on mics I have heard are not bad at all - not going to sound like a Senn 421, but they don't need to sound like that. It needs putting into perspective. It may be the drum kit also came from a budget source and cost £250 - with polished dustbin lids for cymbals, and hardware that rattles. In this case, the mics will not be the key feature.

 

Sound on sound mag reviewed some cheap chinese drim mics a while back and concluded they were pretty good value for money.

 

I have some Sennheiser clip ons and they sound ok, I can do better with others, but the advantage is simple - quicker to put on, less likely to be smashed and they don't need such experienced ears to place properly.

[tom_the_LD]

http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?show...l=drum+kit+mics

 

Here is a thread which may help you a little. Some of the stuff in there is probably out of your budget, but have a look none the less :unsure:

 

 

P.S. Welcome to the BR

[jamesperrett]

[

If somebody is recording a heavy Rock/metal band (as is soooooo common in schools and colleges) you are not going to get a rock kit sound without close miking the drums, however, if you're recording light jazz, then a single overhead could work really well.

 

Try telling that to Glyn Johns or Steve Albini.

 

Recording drums with a single overhead mic is a good test of the drummer's playing technique. A good drummer will sound good with just one or two mics while a drummer with poor technique will require a mic on every drum in order to get the right balance.

 

Cheers

 

James.

[paulears]

Come on James, you're being a bit selective on Steve's technique.

 

How about this (his words)

Drums

Favourite microphones:

Bass drum front: AKG D112, EV RE20, Beyer M380.

Bass drum back: small condenser or dynamic mic, often Shure SM98.

Snare top: Altec 175, Sony C37p.

Snare bottom (occasionally): Shure SM98, Altec 165/175.

Toms: Josephson E22.

Cymbals: Neumann SM2, AKG C24.

Overheads: Coles STC4038, Beyer 160, Royer 122.

Ambient: small-diaphragm condensers like Altec 150, Neumann 582.

Steve Albini 6 Mic cupboard.s

Electrical Audio's well-stocked mic locker.

"I have miked drums in quite a few different ways. Sometimes I'll just have an overhead microphone and a bass drum microphone. Normally there are close mics on all the drums, as well as ambient microphones, and a stereo microphone in front of the drum kit for cymbals. It's hard to describe where I place them and it varies a lot. If the drummer plays very lightly, then there's a lot of attack and not a lot of tone, and I want the microphone to look at the contact point of the snare drum. If the drummer is playing very hard and he's exciting the whole drum, I usually have to back the microphone off a little bit so that it's not overloading. For the ambient mics I'll walk around the room and see where it sounds good, and I usually have them on the floor to take advantage of the boundary effect, and to minimise early reflections. "

 

 

There's little doubt that many people have made excellent recordings with just one mic, but it needs real skill in placement and a really good set of ears - something maybe not that guaranteed in a school - as in the OP's requirement.

[foh_al]

As has been said, your requirements will depend on the type of music, and close-miking most of the kit is the way to go for rock.

 

When it comes to budget drum mics, I haven't found anything better than the Samson drum kit series. Their 7kit is ideal for this kind of application, and seems to be fairly student- and drumstick-proof but it's almost twice your £100 budget.

 

If you don't need all the mics in the set, you could buy, for example, a Q-Kick, a Q-Snare, and a couple of C02s for overheads. Those 4 would be more than adequate for jazz and other less aggressive styles, and positioned well can make a decent job of most things - depending, of course, on the drummer. Going by Digital Village prices, they'd total about £130.

 

Other options, such as the budget offerings from Shure and AKG will cost a lot more, and I haven't been impressed with the Shure PG kit compared to the Samsons, especially considering the price difference.

 

I'll stop now - probably beginning to sound like a Samson rep!

 

Abs (back after a very long break!)