Reduce mic stand clutter with this handy mic mount kit

By Phil O'Keefe

The area around a typical drum kit is usually quite cluttered due to the numerous stand bases that are required to support the drums and cymbals. When miking up a kit, the traditional approach of using multiple mic stands not only makes this situation worse, but it can also prove challenging from a mic placement and positioning standpoint due to the space required for tripod leg mic stand bases; even round base microphone stands can sometimes be difficult to position around all the other stands that the kit itself requires. 

One alternative is to use mounts that clip to the drums themselves to support the microphones. While not ideal for every mic you may wish to place around your kit, they can significantly reduce the floor clutter and number of traditional stands needed to fully mike up your drums. Unfortunately, some individual clip mounts can cost nearly as much as traditional boom stands, and that's where the Musician's Gear Drum Microphone 5-piece Mount Kit comes in. This affordable package provides four drum rim mounts as well as a kick drum stand at a very attractive price. Let's take a look at the details. 

What You Need To Know

• There are two types of units included with this kit - a low profile kick drum stand, and four mounts that attach directly to the drum rim.

• These rim mounts and the kick mic stand are designed to work with standard 5/8" 27 thread mic clips.

• The kick drum stand features a compact but relatively heavy cast iron base that extends further in one direction from the stand's vertical pole. The kick drum stand's boom arm works best when pointed in that same direction, as it provides the best support for the mic's weight with this orientation. 

• The center pole can be adjusted to raise the boom from 12.5 inches to about 17 inches when the boom is horizontal relative to the floor. By angling the boom arm, it's possible to raise the position of the mic even higher if desired - up to 29 inches with the boom arm in the fully vertical position. 

• The kick stand's boom arm is about 19.5 inches in length, and is non-telescoping. While it's not possible to change the overall length, it can be adjusted at the center of the stand so that the arm extends to a greater or lesser degree in either direction from the center of the stand. This is helpful not only for positioning, but also to help balance the stand, which is useful when using heavier microphones.  

• The rim mounts are designed to hook under the drum rim, with an adjustment screw and rubber coated V-shaped clamp that can be tightened down to the top of the rim to hold the mount firmly in place. Once they're in place, they're quite sturdy and stable. 

• Two different types of rubber are used on the clip's contact points to keep the mounts from marring the drum rims and to help minimize mechanical coupling and transfer of vibration from the drum to the mic. In use, I noticed no significant issues with this sort of interference compared to using standard mic stands. 

• A three inch slot in the curved part of the mount allows for adjustment in the placement of the mic clip so that you can move the mic up and back away from the drum a bit, or down and in towards the drum head for optimal placement. The mic clip itself allows you to angle the mic relative to the drum head. 

Limitations

• The suspension mounts on the toms of my Pacific FS series kit made placing the mounts in the location I wanted to use a bit challenging. I had to slightly loosen a few lugs on my toms in order to get enough clearance to insert the bottom of the mounts between the tom's suspension mount and the underside of the drum rim, then retighten them after the mounts were in place. 

• Even when set to the fully open position, there's just barely enough clearance (approximately 1 1/8") for the mounts to fit onto my drum rims, and it took a bit of careful angling and firm pressure to get them over the rim's top edge. The bottom edge of the clip could possibly be bent down slightly to provide a bit of extra clearance if you need it, but that would probably take a vise and some effort due to the heavy gauge steel used. The upside to that is that the mounts are beefy and not likely to be bent accidentally. 

• Extending the kick drum stand's boom arm too far can result in instability, especially with heavier microphones. The flat top of the stand's iron base makes a great location for setting a weight such as a brick or sandbag, which can help the stability when extending a heavier mic (such as my well-loved E/V RE20) further into the kick drum.

• Very large microphones are not a great "fit" for these mounts. They work fine with smaller drum mics such as the Audix D series, Sennheiser e604 and Audio-Technica ATM25 and ATM250, and they also work very well with things like the Shure SM57, A-T ATM650 and Audix i5, but very large and long microphones like the E/V RE20 and Sennheiser MD421 are too big for use with these mounts.  

• If you're into somewhat unconventional mic placements such as miking the side of the snare drum instead of the top (or bottom) head, you may find yourself needing to use a traditional boom stand for those purposes. The mounts are designed for more traditional placement, with the mic aimed towards the drum head. 

• No stands for overhead / cymbal mikes are included with this kit - you'll need to provide your own. 

Conclusions

The price is certainly attractive - with the exceptions I've already noted, you get everything you need to place mikes on a 5-piece kit, and for well under a hundred dollars. A similar number of traditional boom stands would normally cost appreciably more. 

The stands are all reasonably sturdy and seem to be built from quality materials; they're not likely to bend or break under normal use, and occasional stick hits to them are probably more likely to damage your sticks than the mounts. You do need to re-tighten them occasionally, but they stay in place fairly well. I like the fact that they don't seem to transmit much in the way of vibration via mechanical coupling, and they definitely cut down the amount of floor clutter around the kit. Placement and mounting can be a bit tricky when using them with some suspension mounts, they're not suited for use with huge mikes, and you may have issues if your drum rims are thicker than usual, but outside of that, I have no major concerns that would prevent me from recommending them. They've been working well for me and they do what I wanted them to do - I'm happy that I purchased them. 

Resources

Musician's Friend Musician's Gear Drum Microphone Mount 5-Pack online catalog page ($150.00 MSRP, $69.99 "street")

Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.