Greetings everyone,

I play hand drums (congas, djembe, tabla), cymbals, and misc. rattles, bells, shakers, etc. Lately, I've been experimenting with micing my kit so I can hear myself play over the guitars and also introduce some effects through a Lexicon multi-effects box. My pattern is about 2/3 live performance, and 1/3 studio (with some recording through a Mackie Onyx to a DAW)

I'm trying out two Audix D2 hypercardioid mics for the congas (close-miced, one on each drum using Audix's D-Clamps), and a Audix D4 on the djembe. Typically, I would not play both the congas and the tabla at the same session, so, for now, I plan to clip the D2 mics on the tabla set when needed. I have also tried putting the D4 down at the sound hole of the congas to pick up some low end, but didn't hear much of a change in the sound.

I think this setup is working pretty well, but since this is my first time running through an amp, I have nothing to compare it against.

Been wondering if I might need to add a small-diaphragm condenser mic (maybe a Shure SM81 or Crown CM700) to pick up cymbals, tree chime, bells, etc. that mount above the drums. Or even use those mics as a substitute for the close-miced Audix D series. Does that make any sense in a live situation? How about in the studio?

The folks at Audix suggested an alternative which is to use some Audix I-5 mics above the kit and forget about close-micing. My understanding is that there would be less feedback with close micing (which has been a problem in small rooms), on the other hand, I've noticed a few nasty vibration-induced sounds coming out of the amp when the mics are mounted right on the drums, instead of isolated on a mic stand.

My options, as I see it are:

1. Close-mic with the Audix D series (the current setup)
2. Add one or two condensers to pick up the cymbals, chimes and the overall kit.
3. Blow off the D mics and switch to overhead condensers for everything.
4. Blow off the D mics and use some inexpensive I-5's on mic stands.

Thoughts?

Tuco wrote:

Greetings everyone, I play hand drums (congas, djembe, tabla), cymbals, and misc. rattles, bells, shakers, etc. Lately, I've been experimenting with micing my kit so I can hear myself play over the guitars and also introduce some effects through a Lexicon multi-effects box. My pattern is about 2/3 live performance, and 1/3 studio (with some recording through a Mackie Onyx to a DAW) I'm trying out two Audix D2 hypercardioid mics for the congas (close-miced, one on each drum using Audix's D-Clamps), and a Audix D4 on the djembe. Typically, I would not play both the congas and the tabla at the same session, so, for now, I plan to clip the D2 mics on the tabla set when needed. I have also tried putting the D4 down at the sound hole of the congas to pick up some low end, but didn't hear much of a change in the sound. I think this setup is working pretty well, but since this is my first time running through an amp, I have nothing to compare it against. Been wondering if I might need to add a small-diaphragm condenser mic (maybe a Shure SM81 or Crown CM700) to pick up cymbals, tree chime, bells, etc. that mount above the drums. Or even use those mics as a substitute for the close-miced Audix D series. Does that make any sense in a live situation? How about in the studio? The folks at Audix suggested an alternative which is to use some Audix I-5 mics above the kit and forget about close-micing. My understanding is that there would be less feedback with close micing (which has been a problem in small rooms), on the other hand, I've noticed a few nasty vibration-induced sounds coming out of the amp when the mics are mounted right on the drums, instead of isolated on a mic stand. My options, as I see it are: 1. Close-mic with the Audix D series (the current setup) 2. Add one or two condensers to pick up the cymbals, chimes and the overall kit. 3. Blow off the D mics and switch to overhead condensers for everything. 4. Blow off the D mics and use some inexpensive I-5's on mic stands. Thoughts?

This is an interesting thread as you are coming at it from a musicians point of view. Often here it would be an engineer thinking about how to do this.

If you were on stage with that gear I'd probably use a pair of AKG 414s as overheads in an XY configuration, and possible close mic your congas with some Sennheizer 514s.

That would be for front of house, then I'd bleed some signal through a foldback wedge pointing up into your ears from the null points in the mics directivity pattern.

But you may not use a FOH engineer?

Hope that helps.
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Recording Studio Suntans