Depends on a lot of things:
- how hard does the drummer hit the cymbals compared to the drums?
- how loud are the cymbals (not the same as above!)
- do I feel wide crashes are going to enhance the music?
- am I going for a mono room sound?
- do I want to catch the entire kit or mostly the cymbals?
I agree with Slipperman: I can keep my brain occupied quite a bit thinking of what scenario of overhead placement and how it will effect everything else.
These days (i.e. the band I am working with now) I tend to like the total drumssound a little narrower. I tracked the overheads last week in ORTF and already think I should have opted for x/y because of the heavy compression on the drums I will be using (including a mono room) and the fact that it is still a bit too wide for my taste. Which means I probably be panning the overheads a little inwards which is not something I like doing
....
Another subject all by itself: how do you mix the overheads? Lot's of/no eq/compression/FX/relative volume compared to rest...
Regards,
Dirk