How would you mic drums using the following mics?

[Gary Gray]

I've never recorded drums in my home studio. I've either used drum loops or, in a couple of rare instances, had them recorded elsewhere then flown them in to my DAW. I have an opportunity to record drums for a project I'm working on, and would like some advice.

Drums: Standard set. Kick, snare, 1 mounted tom, 1 floor tom, hi-hat, ride and crash.

Available mics: KSM27, AT3035, SM57(x2), SM58 (x2) and a dynamic AT mic which model number I can't recall right now.

So, I'm thinking this.

SM57 above the snare (get hi-hat and snare together? maybe not)
SM58 in kick drum
SM57 on mounted tom
SM58 on floor tom
AT dynamic under snare
Condensor mics overhead, right and left.

Am I on the right track? This is for rock tunes.

[pc]

If it were me, I'd put the AT dynamic mic on the hat alone. An SM-57 is far too directional to successfully pick up the snare and hat if aimed at the snare. If aimed in between, it will service neither particularly well.

In general, LDC mics for overheads (esp if not matched, are asking for a world of problems with the toms and possible phase problems. You really want a matched set of SDC mics for overhead.

In your situation, I'd consider just using the AT3035 for a single overhead and using the KSM27 (with a pad engaged) for the kick.

If the snare is a hard-rock basher, I'd use the 57 on it. If it's a nicer drum with some harmonic content you want to capture, the 58 would be better as it has a larger frequency response.

I played with a drummer who recorded our live shows using only 58s on all his toms and snare. I was suprised that they did the toms quite well, but the snare always sounded like crap to me. It really depends on the drum.

Or, spend a little bit more $$ and get a LDD mic for the kick.

Or, if stereo is important to you (as it is to me)...Again, trusting to your ears, I might even suggest trying a 57 on the two toms, doing an XY with the 58s above the kit, the KSM on the kick, the AT3035 above the snare and hat (more above the hat) and then the AT dynamic on the snare itself.

Overall it really depends on the sound you're going for. There's another thread about miking drums with only a few mics with some excellent suggestions for using just a couple mics for a whole kit. However, remember that if you use miking techniques from the 50s and 60s, that's what your kit will sound like. If you like the more modern sound (and extended control), individual miking is the way to go, but IMO you don't have quite the right mics to do it with appreciable results.