Floor tom mics?

[The Unavoidable]

I'm looking into getting a basic drum-micing setup going, and for tom mics I'm pretty sure I'll be going with Sennheiser 604s. I'm not sure about what to get for the floor tom though. My thought was to just go with a 604 on that one as well, but I've noticed quite alot of people going with a different mic on the floor tom(s), like a AKG d112 or a similar type of mic.

So, since the floor tom has some different acoustic properties than the other toms, would it be wise (or even necessary) to get a different mic for those? And if so, which one? Keep in mind that this is a hella-budget setup, so keep it cheap!

 

[ahjteam]

What type of music are you going to record and how do you want the toms to sound?

 

[The Unavoidable]

Hah, stupid me. Well, most of the stuff I'll be doing is Death Metal and other "extreme" stuff. I'll be doing some rock/pop stuff in the future, but that is not a priority atm. At this point it's more about recording my own band and making that sound as good as possible. (And that's pretty much basic Swedish Death Metal, like early Fredman type of stuff)


As for the actual sound of the toms, I 've always dug the low/dry 'THUD' type of sound, like the latest In Flames record, and Bloodbaths "Ressurection Through Carnage" album. Very "mute" and dry sounding, with little to no ring. Pretty much all low-end SMACK and very little tone in the toms.

 

[Trevoire520]

Normally when I see studio photo's people are pairing up 604's on the racks with 421's on the floors.

Its something I kinda struggle with aswell, as alot of mic's don't have the low end extension you need for a floor tom, but kick mic's are normally way too pre-eq'd for floor toms. Trying to get something that doesn't sound too different from the rack tom mic's is pretty hard too.

I've got 57s, 58's, a couple of I5's, a couple of M179's, a 904 and a 906, so I'm pretty good if the drummer has 2 toms, but once I'm recording drummers with 3 or 4 I'm either mixing mic's or just sticking with 57's which don't really have the low end extension for floor toms.

I might just get another couple of M179's as they're pretty good for everything and beast on tom's. Need cash though! lol

 

[ahjteam]

As for the actual sound of the toms, I 've always dug the low/dry 'THUD' type of sound, like the latest In Flames record, and Bloodbaths "Ressurection Through Carnage" album. Very "mute" and dry sounding, with little to no ring. Pretty much all low-end SMACK and very little tone in the toms.

Something like this or even deeper?

http://www.ahjteam.com/upload/bigtoms.mp3

 

[Soundlurker]

IMO your best bet would be audix d4. Audix d2 should work great as well. I've tried a beta 52 and it sounded alwful, while an oktava mk012 sounded way better. Actually I'll just post the samples for you to compare them:
link

edit: I forgot to say the floor tom had old heads and should have been tuned better but you get the idea.

 

[The Unavoidable]

Something like this or even deeper?

http://www.ahjteam.com/upload/bigtoms.mp3

That sounds killer, if I could get a sound like that then I would be way happy. I'd prefer it being slightly dryer though, with even less ring but I guess that comes alot more down to the drum/head/tuning.


Shadow_Walker: Thanks, I'm looking into the d2/d4s right now. They seem like a good deal, in the right price range and everything.

 

[ahjteam]

anyways, I used e604's on that clip

 

[darthjujuu]

budget extreme metal, ey? pop the bottom head off, shove any cheap karaoke mic in there, aptrigga =p

edit: no but seriously, are you really gonna be doing extreme/death without replacing? do your drums sound good enough that that makes sense? o_0 i traded my firepod for a single md421, and have been using 57's on rack(s) and 421 on floor, if there's only one floortom. i still need to get used to it. is just doing 57's across the board out of your price range? ya can't ever go wrong that way with some careful EQ'ing, and lawd knows you can never have enough 57's

 

[gabriel g.]

I have 3 e604 they are great!!!
You could also buy 3 sm57 and you are fine!!!

 

[KeithTidd]

421, re20, 414, beta52, etc. are all good on floor toms.

 

[greyskull]

421, 604, 57, 902, RE 20, D112 all work for me

 

[Glenn Fricker]

421, atm25

 

[colonel kurtz]

i've used D4's, 421's, and 57's

all work well - the heads and tuning will make a much larger difference than the mic!

 

[SymbolicSV]

I've used SM 7 on Floor tom sound very gooood

 

[The Unavoidable]

budget extreme metal, ey? pop the bottom head off, shove any cheap karaoke mic in there, aptrigga =p

edit: no but seriously, are you really gonna be doing extreme/death without replacing? do your drums sound good enough that that makes sense? o_0 i traded my firepod for a single md421, and have been using 57's on rack(s) and 421 on floor, if there's only one floortom. i still need to get used to it. is just doing 57's across the board out of your price range? ya can't ever go wrong that way with some careful EQ'ing, and lawd knows you can never have enough 57's

Hah, I've been replacing my ass of with just about every project I've done in the last year, and while it has been pretty sweet I really want to get better at micing toms/snare. Kick will always be replaced anyway, but replacing toms is such a pain in the ass and it's something I really want to get good at. And I can never get the drums to sound "good enough" if I don't start somewhere, now can I?

But yeah, the choice is between 57s and 604s pretty much. They are about the same price where I'm getting them, and I tend to prefer 604s for toms from what I've heard. Right now it looks like I'll be getting either a D2 or a D4 since it could double as a decent kick drum mic in other situations and is in the right price range. Thanks alot for the suggestions everyone, appreciate it!