Here's my unofficial cheep-o's guide to a good drum sound:
The bottom line is that the room is a big deal for drums.
- Do
you like the sound of your drum kit in your room?
- To your ears, does the kit in the room sound the way that you would want it to sound on a recording?
If "yes" then I wouldn't worry about room dividers and such. Get some of the mics already listed in this thread, and then go to
THIS thread and see what other people are doing with which kinds of mics.
If "no" then re-tune elements of the kit, swap out cymbals for different ones, switch snare drums, go to the local music shop and rent/buy some new drum gear (yahoo) etc., If you still can't get the right sound then try moving the kit to different parts of the room. You may want to get a friend to come over to bang away at the drums as you walk around and listen to it in different spots. If the kit sounds good but the room is too echo-y drag over a couch, put some bookshelves (with books) closer to the kit, tack up some heavy blankets between a couple spare mic stands.
So once the kit is sounding good in the room to your ears, THEN you can start placing your microphones and work hard with what you got because, assuming that your current microphones are at least at a Shure 57 level, I doubt you really have to buy anything
at all.
If you still are having problems then report back here. Post up some audio clips and pictures of your miked-up kit