Rack tom with 3 mics

[FAT]

I mean seriously?

The best tom sound will come through overhead and room mics. Just get the drummer to be a little more gentle on the cymbals and hats, and you're in business!

The two micing toms idea sounds interesting, as long as those toms are a massive feature of the song - if not, what's the point?

All the best,

FAT

[Steffmo]

Did someone here suggest 3 mics on a tom?????

Or was it all a bad dream.

[FAT]

However, if I was putting 3 mics on the rack tom I'd put:

A D112 on top
A 57 underneath (out of phase)
A lapel mic attached and taped down on the end of the drum stick, opening gated by the 421 mic signal.

An overhead would probably end up sound gruntier though, as long as the cymbals aren't too abused!

Tell the drummer their cymbals will sound louder if they don't hit them so hard - it's true!

[FAT]

Originally Posted by Steffmo

Did someone here suggest 3 mics on a tom?????

Or was it all a bad dream.

It's ok, just a bad dream - go back to sleep dude, you need it!

[Steffmo]

True...I do need it....

[tINY]

A CAD M179 on top,

An MD409 on the bottom,

...and a contact mic next to the air vent on the tom body.




-tINY

[vincentvangogo]

You mean three for the bottom skin right?

[danbronson]

Just three? It takes at least four mics to get a properly recorded tom. Four on each tom, six on snare, five on the kick, eight overheads, twelve in the room...

...and fifty years to get the phase relationships correct. Only then can you hit record.

[Drumsound]

Originally Posted by FAT

I mean seriously?

The best tom sound will come through overhead and room mics. Just get the drummer to be a little more gentle on the cymbals and hats, and you're in business!

The two micing toms idea sounds interesting, as long as those toms are a massive feature of the song - if not, what's the point?

All the best,

FAT

Even if the toms aren't the feature of the tune, micing them might be appropriate. For one the tone of close miced toms is different then the tone of toms in OH and Room mics, and of course blends differently when they are there. The question of what other sounds will be on the track also comes into play. Will there be big thick guitars, broad thick organ chords, tons of backing vocals and percussion? If the tracks is densely populated mics on the toms might be necessary to make them speak, even if they are not saying a lot of things, what they say might be important.

And, some people just like the sound of close miced toms.