A question about the Shure SM81.

[GodslasheR]

hi there Mr Sneap and to anyone who can help me out with this again, i have a question about the Shure SM81, i was wondering if it's technically wrong to use the SM81 for recording the kick drums? i have done a few recordings using the SM 81 and it works really fine for me. i am able to get the 'triggered' kick drums using the SM 81, but i was told that since the SM 81 is a condenser mic, it will cause damage to the mic because of it's fragile characteristics.. can anyone share some insights about this?? thanxs a lot!

 

[97reb]

I personally don't know much about it, but the Shure website seems to indicate the SM 81 is not for use with snares.

 

[egan.]

Using a condenser mic in a kick drum is pretty typical. They generally do a better job of capturing the high end than dynamics. In fact the shure beta 91 and old sm91 are condensers designed expressly for kick drum. Whether or not you'll fry the mic depends on how sensitive the specific mic is. I remember the SM 81 being relatively tough but it never hurts to check the max dB specs. Generally though, if you're going to fry a mic with dB overages it will happen very quicky (as in the first time you try it).

 

[GodslasheR]

thanxs to Egan and 97reb who replied my post. yeah i alos totally agree that using a condenser mic to record the kick drum is not a wrong thing to do, depending on the mic's dB specs... i have an experienced recording engineer friend telling me to use the Shure SM81 to record the kick drum. but recently i have someone telling me that using the SM81 to record the kick drum is totally wrong. i still strongly feel that the SM 81 is built like a horse and it would not cause huge damages to it. hope anyone who had experiences with the SM81 can post some useful information here. thanks a lot.

 

[Andy Sneap]

if you like the way it sounds go for it, there's no rules really.

 

[GodslasheR]

Thanks a lot Andy! You've been a great help. I will continue using the SM81 to record kick drums until I have the chance to use the D112. I was wondering what kind of microphones do you guys use for recording for kick drums?