Tom mics type & placement

Microphone Setup for Drum Recording

Tom Microphones

• Type: Sennheiser
• Quantity: 2

Placement Tips:

• Position the tom mics fairly close to the drum.
• Ensure minimal bleed from other drums and cymbals.
• Check that the cymbal doesn't hit the mic when it moves.

Important Detail for Tom Microphones:

• There is a selector switch on the mic.
  • M: Music
  • S: Speech

Recommendation:

• Ensure the switch is set to M to roll off the low end, capturing the full frequency range.

Floor Tom Microphone

• Same guidelines apply as with the rack drum:
  • Ensure the cymbals can move without hitting the mic.
  • Position the mic fairly close to the drum to capture its sound clearly.

Knee Microphone

Setup Requirements:

• Use a good stand that can hold the mic's weight.

Placement Tips:

• If recording a drum kit with a tom nearby, positioning can be tricky. Alternatives include:
  • Mic placed behind the kit or underneath the drum stool for similar effects.
  • If you have the chance, it's best to place the mic near the edge of the rim, angled towards the knee of the leg that's playing the kick drum.

Adjusting the Mic:

• Experiment with the angle of the mic to balance the sound:
  • If too much kick or snare is captured, adjust the mic's direction to blend the signal.

Final Setup

• Ensure an equal balance of kick and snare sounds.

Next Steps:

• Plug in the mics.
• Review the preamps settings:
  • Adjust the gain for a clean signal that is neither overloaded nor too quiet.

Goal:

• Achieve a nice clean signal for further sound processing in the computer.