Members onelife Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 I know it's not the best choice, but in today's world of inexpensive microphones, is the SM57 a reasonable choice for kick drum? In this case I am comparing to alternatives such as the Apex125. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 in an emergency it will work. i wouldnt use this as standard practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 ditto. Emergency only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 Is that because the low frequency cutoff is at 40Hz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 Could you please elaborate. Diaphragm size perhaps or is it just because there are better choices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 Diaphragm size has nothing to do with capabilities of a microphone. Some of the best mics available are VERY small diameter. Look at Earthworks mics for example.... It has to do with sonic character, frequency response, etc. An SM57 will work for kick, but not sound NEARLY as good as a mic meant for a kick drum or other low frequency signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 It's totally worth trying someday if you have extra time during soundcheck. It might sound amazing in your situation. A "kick" microphone doesn't have to be some big specialty product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 1, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 I am not a live sound "engineer" but I do have to setup systems from time to time and I've always liked 58s and 57s for live work. I like to keep all the vocal mics the same - it just seems to make things easier. When people come to me with a complete set of six or eight drum mics that are made in china and cost the same as a couple of 58s, I question the quality of sound that comes from them. Sometimes the kick mic visually resemble a D112 but does not seem to me to sound very good. I would be more inclined to use a 57 in that case. Perhaps I should just buy a D112 to go with my 57s and leave it at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monkeyland Posted August 1, 2010 Members Share Posted August 1, 2010 Sometimes the kick mic visually resemble a D112 but does not seem to me to sound very good. I would be more inclined to use a 57 in that case. often time they sound bad BECAUSE they look like a D112.:poke: you won't find much love for that one around here really. Audix D6 is in my opinion the easiest kick mic to use. it tends to sound right on just about any system. if i had a D112 i would use it for bass guitar when the DI doesn't want to cooperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 OOO a d112. there's a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 2, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 in an emergency it will work. i wouldnt use this as standard practice. What would be your choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 What would be your choice? Audix D6 (my favourite), Shure Beta 52, Audio-Technica ATM-250, and Sennheiser e602 are all high quality microphones for kick drums. An SM57 would work in a pinch but not what I would choose. I would reach for one long before I pull a D112 out of the mic box, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 B52, B91, D6, EV nd868, ATM25, ATM250, AE2500, e902, M179, hell i even got great sound out of an NT1000 a few times. D6 is not my goto mic, mog and i and many others have bashed this out before. its ok we dont all agree. i'll agree its a mic, and it goes on kick, but i dont believe its my savior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 An SM58 laid on the pillow was somewhat the standard for bar bands 30 years ago. Doing that with an SM57 might block the ports on the side of the mic and mess up it's sound? Dunno ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 There are some ok kick mics for cheap. My favorite I use is the EWI 464, Ialso have a 1st gen EWI kick mic. The CAD mic is pretty good as is the cheaper Audix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MainEventSound Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 Audix D6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phil Clark Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 I like to keep all the vocal mics the same - it just seems to make things easier. Actually, keeping all the vocal mics the same can make things MUCH more difficult. Every singer is different. Some sound best on a SM58, some sound best on a Beta 58, some sound best with an Audix OM7, some on an EV mic... it all depends on the singers voice, what instrument they play (so you can factor in bleed of their instrument in the mic). If you always use the same mic you could be making it harder to get a particular singers vocal into the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monkeyland Posted August 2, 2010 Members Share Posted August 2, 2010 If you always use the same mic you could be making it harder to get a particular singers vocal into the mix. agreed if you always are mixing the same people. then you can choose what works best for them. if you are often in situations where someone is performing in 20 minutes that you have never worked with before then i find that it's best to keep the mics consistent and know your channel strip EQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 I am not a live sound "engineer" but I do have to setup systems from time to time and I've always liked 58s and 57s for live work. I like to keep all the vocal mics the same - it just seems to make things easier.When people come to me with a complete set of six or eight drum mics that are made in china and cost the same as a couple of 58s, I question the quality of sound that comes from them.Sometimes the kick mic visually resemble a D112 but does not seem to me to sound very good. I would be more inclined to use a 57 in that case.Perhaps I should just buy a D112 to go with my 57s and leave it at that. The much maligned D112. Not everybody hates them though. There's a club in my town that uses a D112 on their kick and it sounds great. Of course it's a four way Adamson system so maybe that has something to do with it... and the drummers are usually all great (the drummer on the video below plays with Chilliwack). Anyway I stumbled onto this clip of some muso friends of mine, playing with an SRV style guitar picker. I'm pretty sure that's a D112 'cause they had it for years, and still do - I just played there a couple of weeks ago. BTW don't get the Apex - worked with a guy that had one (not good). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jesse G Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 SM57 sounds like balls on a kick. Seriously, not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gordon Sound Posted August 3, 2010 Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 back in the day when Kick micks were really expensive, like the D12, the RE 20 and the 421. We used a sm57 for Kick with a graphic eq. Tweek anything enough and its usable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 3, 2010 Author Members Share Posted August 3, 2010 Thanks to all who have responded - it's good to hear from people who do this kind of work a lot and have learned from their experience. Actually, keeping all the vocal mics the same can make things MUCH more difficult. Every singer is different. Some sound best on a SM58, some sound best on a Beta 58, some sound best with an Audix OM7, some on an EV mic... it all depends on the singers voice, what instrument they play (so you can factor in bleed of their instrument in the mic). If you always use the same mic you could be making it harder to get a particular singers vocal into the mix. I recall seeing/hearing a Beatles tribute band and noticing the three singers were using different types of mics. I thought this could be an effort to get as close as possible to the vocal sounds they were trying to emulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 4, 2010 Members Share Posted August 4, 2010 Actually, keeping all the vocal mics the same can make things MUCH more difficult. Every singer is different. Some sound best on a SM58, some sound best on a Beta 58, some sound best with an Audix OM7, some on an EV mic... it all depends on the singers voice, what instrument they play (so you can factor in bleed of their instrument in the mic). If you always use the same mic you could be making it harder to get a particular singers vocal into the mix. I disagree for the most part. Having uniform vocal mics can make monitor eq more consistent and this can have a great impact on improving FOH. It also means that the differences in the vocalists rather than the differences in mics is what's being heard in the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 4, 2010 Members Share Posted August 4, 2010 The 57 can be an excellent kick mic under many circumstances. It may not be the best but it will most likely be acceptable when compared with many of the budget alternatives. Those that disagree and immediately diss. the 57 or 58 clearly lack the long term experiences that some of us older guys have here. That means mixing many different bands and different kits on a wide variety of different systems in different rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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