Overheads!?!?

[SwambA]

I got a set of cheap drum mics from CAD

http://www.guitarcenter.com/CAD-Premium-7-Piece-Drum-Microphone-Pack-271264-i1126882.gc

I'm using slate trigger for kick/snare and toms, But the OH's that came with the mic kit are very harsh! So I'm wondering do I just EQ them and try to deal with it or would it make a huge difference if I bought some other OH mics. I only have about 300 dollars to spend. I also already have a Rode nt2a, should I just get another Rode to use as overheads?

 

[BLUElightCory]

How are your cymbals? And is your room treated and/or does it have low (less that 8-9 feet) ceilings? These things can go a really long way towards harsh sounding overheads.

As far as mics go, I'd probably do a second NT2A over a $300 pair, but you'd be even better off saving just a little more and grabbing a used pair of Shure SM81s or Oktava MK012s.

 

[SwambA]

Cymbals are good Zildjians. 6 feet ceilings and the mics are as high as they will go, Room and ceilings are not treated. The floor has carpet and the and the walls have curtains on them. Do you think if I treat the ceiling it would cut down on the harshness? Or is it just the crappy mics?

 

[BLUElightCory]

Cymbals are good Zildjians. 6 feet ceilings and the mics are as high as they will go, Room and ceilings are not treated. The floor has carpet and the and the walls have curtains on them. Do you think if I treat the ceiling it would cut down on the harshness? Or is it just the crappy mics?

Good Zildjians like As or Ks? Those will work fine. Zs are generally terrible recording cymbals, they're too thick and loud for most applications (and I'd think certainly in such a small space).

Treating the ceilings will certainly help, but 6 feet is REALLY low. What happens is, sound from the cymbals reflects off the ceiling (as well as the walls and floors) and back into the mic, which gives you nasty stutter echoes (which wash out the sound) as well as a lot of phase cancellation, which hollows out the sound quite a bit. In that environment, no mics on earth will sound very good when a drummer is bashing away.

I would advise trying to track in a space with higher ceilings, at least for drums. You'll be surprised at how much the sound will improve. If you can't do that, acoustic treatment will definitely help but probably won't completely solve your problem.

 

[Sloan]

staple pillows to the ceiling above the drums. this might help cut down on all that nasty cymbal shit reflecting everywhere.