Real cymbals w/ e-kit & dynamic mics

[hurdy]

Greetings I got x2 Audix OM3 mics sitting around. I have tried them in the overhead position for the cymbals but they sound washy. I have looked around the forum & everyone seems to have the money to use matched Condenser mics (rode nt1a etc). Unfortunately, I am very poor & will be tracking with what I already have. Has anyone experimented with using Dynamic mics for cymbals? if so, what worked best for you? Like details on mic distance, technique, individually mic each cymbal?, room acoustics etc. I have looked around the forum for similar threads but I can't seem to find anything. If anyone could shine some light over here it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.

 

[guitarguru777]

A few guys suggested on a budget to use SM57's. I just picked up 2 Sterling Audio ST-31's and I like them. for $100 each I think they are tough to beat.

 

[hurdy]

Yea I've got bills coming out my ears mate, I can't even afford guitar strings at the moment lolz But I will look into getting some decent mics in the future
I guess my mics will be similar to the SM57s so has any1 tried close micing cymbals with them or are you using x2 for overheads/spaced-pair?

 

[if6was9]

I've tried using 57's and other similar mics on cymbals a couple of times and couldn't get it to sound nice. They were nice cymbals too. I'd much rather mic cymbals with cheap condensors than with dynamics. Even those cheap T bone mics or eqivilant would be preferable to dynamics to me

 

[Trevoire520]

If at all possible grab the cheapest condenser's you can from ebay/craigslist. Even something like Behringer C2's should do.

If not then you're just gonna have to experiment with mic placement using what you've got.

 

[hurdy]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll look into some cheap mics soon.

Though, I just found out that the Audix OM3 has a frequency range of 50Hz - 18kHz and it's a hyper-cardioid mic
On the other hand, the SM57 is a cardioid mic 40Hz - 15kHz (which explains why it would be hard to get a decent sound)
Still got a chance of getting most high freqs. in there, it'll probably come done to mic placement hopefully
I'm gona go wiki & find out the difference between hyper-cardioid & cardioid, i'm sure the hyper-cardioid will have a different pickup pattern?

 

[if6was9]

It's a tighter, more directional pickup pattern.
It's not just the pickup pattern that matters, transient response plays a huge role in how your miced cymbal will sound. Because of this, a condensor will be crisper and clearer. Almost faster at picking up the minute details if that makes sense