Hey Mike! thanks for the comments. As I stated in the setup - FOR ME - (and I was really only doing this for craig and myself) listening to a mic without it being in the final "context", is worthless. Well, not worthless, but not much help. If you are not hearing much difference in the big picture, then I would conclude that the difference between the mic/mics really is minimal and not that big of a deal. Grab whatever's close. A complete and FAIR drum mic shootout is about as close to impossible as anything I can think of. Everything effects everything else. It's all interactive. I would have loved to hit the EQ, but that would have raised the complexity of things exponentially. Then compression, to the third power....
Even as the shootout sits now, I think a WHOLE lot of people took one look at it and said.....thanks, PASS!!
I'll presume your comments are mostly towards the snare clips since the OH mics play a lot less of a part on the Kick. I see your point, and certainly it's a valid one. I could have done it with NO overheads, but for me, the overheads are at least 70% of my snare sound. The close instrument mic is just for whooomph. Not much else. So taking out the OH would really sound weird to me.
Like I said in the setup, if I get enough interest, I'll make these all available in Pro Tools Format so that people can adjust the mix levels to suit their own esthetic. Really, that's the only way for critical listening anyway, because slight level balances between mics make ALL the difference in the world.
I guess it's all in measures. If I ever have time, I'll try to go back and reduce the amount of OH on the snare clips if it seems right when I get in the session. Thanks again!
BTW, your comments would lead one to believe that the OH mics are the most important drum mics you have. And I'd have to agree with that. thumbsup
Thanks Richard!! That's what I was after. I think we'd all do the test a little different. I know next time I'd do it different still, but ultimately you have to do something or end up with nothing. I did spend a substantial amount of time thinking about how to present the clips, and still....I know it could be better.
Thanks dan. I loved doing the piano ribbon clips, but this was a lot more challenging as far as "listening" is concerned.
Although at first all the mics may sound very similar, critical listening on good monitors in a decent envrionment (ie: NOT at your computer) will reveal the subtlties of how the mic affects the other drum mics, the punch, the overall timbre. etc.. My wife would say a mic sounds like a mic. I think we all know different. This shootout is all about seeing if more than one set of tom mics is necessary. Or if a condenser is better than a dynamic on the snare. Etc. I hope that with repeated listenings and the reveal of the mics, you'll know for sure - or at least have an educated guess whether a mic will work for your drum application.
Here's an interesting thought for everyone. One of the reasons I like my favorite tom mics is because of how the BLEED from other drums sounds in them. Musical, not muddy, thuddy or muffled. THAT makes all the difference to me.
Results are going to be a few days away I think. There's a lot for people to listen thru and I don't want to ruin it with the preconceived notions that we all have. I know that there's a $29.00 mic in there that ABSOLUTELY floored me, that had been sitting in my mic closet for 2 years unused. LOL
For what it's worth, the Tom mics were really different for me......
Cheers,
bp