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Budget Drum Mic Kits


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The reality of
doing sound for kids
is that stuff will get abused and they can't usually afford to pay $100 bucks for a bad hit. This part of my sound gig is a non profit venture to give young bands an opportunity to play on a decent stage with decent sound. For some, it's their first time on stage and they get a little over amped. I remember those days myself. I don't know most of them and don't know what I'm getting into before they start to play. I always tell them to be careful but to have fun. They always respect me because they know I used to be a big fish in this little pond (actually, it's kind of pathetic that I'm still working in the clubs I was 20+ years ago, but anyway...) The kids and their parents respect what I'm doing for them. I try to teach them a little without preaching, but accidents happen and I'm just trying to minimize the collateral damage.

 

 

oh hell this is for KIDS? i tell ya what i dont indy mic drums for KIDS.

 

this works EXCELLENT and protects my mics, two 57 in pseudo OH. its good enough for who its for, and these kids did real well and sounded decent as well.

 

 

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Well, I picked up a 3 pack of e604's for the toms and I'm going to use a BETA 57 for the snare. So now, I'm looking for a kick mic...

 

 

This is the 2nd post mentioning using a Beta 57 for snare. A Beta 57 is a big honkin' mic around a snare, do you mean (& I recommend) a Beta 56? A Beta 57 is quite different from a SM57, pattern-wise and frequency-wise. Matter of fact, many have used the Beta 57 for a vocal mic, with or without changing the screen out for a ball.

 

Boomerweps

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The reality of doing sound for kids is that stuff will get abused and they can't usually afford to pay $100 bucks for a bad hit. This part of my sound gig is a non profit venture to give young bands an opportunity to play on a decent stage with decent sound. For some, it's their first time on stage and they get a little over amped. I remember those days myself. I don't know most of them and don't know what I'm getting into before they start to play. I always tell them to be careful but to have fun. They always respect me because they know I used to be a big fish in this little pond (actually, it's kind of pathetic that I'm still working in the clubs I was 20+ years ago, but anyway...) The kids and their parents respect what I'm doing for them. I try to teach them a little without preaching, but accidents happen and I'm just trying to minimize the collateral damage.

 

 

That's cool, helping out the younger bands.

I was wondering why you were replacing your own drum mics that other drummers were beating the crap out of.

Rookies

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2) Second...what good is replacing the mics with 'specifically made for drums' ones going to do? If your drummer is hitting 57s, he'll hit other mics too.


3) Third...aside from an SM58, which is even larger at the business end, there's probably NOT a mic I'd want in place for a drummer who couldn't stop hitting mics. At least the 57 is made solidly. You think a tiny little drum capsule is going to stand up to a drummer who abuses 57s?

 

I was going to say, if his drummer is hitting the drum mic's, it isn't the mic's that need to be replaced.

:cop:

 

The SM57 is one of the best tom mic's out there if you like dynamic mic's on the drums. I use MXL 602's (They are a thin, almost "pencil" type of cardioid condenser) on LP claws on the toms, a D112 on the kick (Mounted inside on a MAYEA Internal Mount. $100 new and worth every penny.) and an SM57 on the snare.

The Claws are turned, so the mic mount is on the far side away from the drum, with the mic aimed back toward the center of the tom. Gives me a killer tom sound - I just scoop out the mids exactly the same on all three tom channels (750hz. on a Mackie 1604VLZ Pro)

 

In all honesty, in most places I was playing, we mic'd the kick and the snare....and sometimes used 1 of the 602's as an overhead. I've had these mic's for YEARS - since they first came out, and I have had ZERO problems with them.... for a cheap condenser, they have served me well.

 

I do understand wanting "tom mic's" but the reality is, any mic that works well on a guitar amp or voice, should work well on a tom. Heck, I used a 57 or 58 for years on kick drums and never had a single issue with it. Sure, it lacks some of the "oomph" that a D112, or Beta98 have - but they work just fine in a pinch.

 

 

Ed

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D6 on the kick. And if you're worried about mics getting smackd I really don't understand such a big mic on the snare. Especially a Beta. I much rather have a regular 57 get whomped than a Beta.

 

 

AND, you can actually just aim the mic at the shell from the side - you don't HAVE to mic the top head!

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AND, you can actually just aim the mic at the shell from the side - you don't HAVE to mic the top head!

 

 

Ouch! What kind of bleed do you get?

 

Plus, I need to close mic the snare so I can grease it up. I enjoy making bands sound good, not adequate. In fact, that's why I do it, for my own enjoyment. It feels good when a clueless parent or friend of the band tells me they didn't know the band was that good. Or one of the parents (usually Mom) says "What did you do? When they rehearse in the garage, it sounds like a plane crash but here they sound like a real band!"

I don't get paid for these gigs, but the deal is the bands have to help load in and load out. And usually the parents buy me a few beers.

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Ouch! What kind of bleed do you get?


Plus, I need to close mic the snare so I can grease it up. I enjoy making bands sound good, not adequate. In fact, that's why I do it, for my own enjoyment. It feels good when a clueless parent or friend of the band tells me they didn't know the band was that good. Or one of the parents (usually Mom) says "What did you do? When they rehearse in the garage, it sounds like a plane crash but here they sound like a real band!"

I don't get paid for these gigs, but the deal is the bands have to help load in and load out. And usually the parents buy me a few beers.

 

 

 

Try it some time.

I first heard about Zappa doing it at one point, I tried it out, and it was definitely usable. Just have it outside of the snare's top rim and aim in the direction of the drummer's kick drum knee, but pointed/aimed at the hoop/shell area of the snare drum.

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If by 'sounds like a conversation with your ex wife' you mean to say that my suggestion solves the PROBLEM, not the symptoms, then sure, I guess.


Again, as a drummer who had to learn how to hit the round noisy thing in the center and not all over the place like everyone else should, I just feel the solution lies in getting the poor technique/bad behavior fixed, not in figuring out a work-around for it.

Or at the very least making those responsible for the poor technique
...responsible
for it
.

 

 

All well and good advice, but doesn't exactly address the OP's problem with providing for battle of bands type events and unknown drummers where poor technique is the norm rather than the exception...... 604s are the choice I made for a reasonably priced durable drum mic that doesn't need a stand.

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I have the audix fusion 4 mics , and i couldn't be any happier , have had them a long time and only had to replace the bass drum mic once last year. but i have had the mic for a long long time. the other mics in the set are still going strong. If i had to buy drum mics again , it would be with these , they are small and give the drummer ample room on the head of the drum. but you have to get the clips. but other than that they are great little mics.

 

 

Got the same mics. I know it may sound like like BS, but I really could barely tell the difference between the old fusion Bass drum mic (F12) and the Audix D6 on my system. EQ'ed both flat and really had a hard time telling them apart.

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