hi hat mic

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:44 pm

Hi everyone,

what do you use as a hi hat mic.

This is my current mic closet:

AT4033 (2)
AKG C414 (1)
AKGD112(1)
SM57(2)
AKG C1000(2)
SM58 (1)
MD421 (2)

I use the 4033 as OH, d112 BDRUM, 57´s for Snare top &bottom, md421´s for toms. This leaves me with C414, C1000´s (I don´t really like these) and an Sm58 for hi-hat. However I dont agree that much in using any of these for picking up the hi-hat.

What would you recommend. what mic do you use for this purpose??

thanks

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 1:28 pm

Well if I do use a hi hat mic which isnt very often it is an akg 451, beyer m500 ribbon mic, or you could try the peluso small condenser or josephson small condenser, or shure sm81, my favs out of those are the akg's and the beyer. My 2 cents

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 3:11 pm

If those were my mics and I was in the habit of mic'ing hi-hat, I would be using the c1000. You're right it isn't great, but the 414 you can use for a lot of other things in the drum setup than hat. Like bottom snare, outside kick, room, whatever else.

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 4:16 pm

if you don't mike the hats, how do you pick 'em up, with the snar mike? how do you guy's do it?

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 4:26 pm

Hi,

You could try Audix - they make excellent mics for drum-kits at affordable prices:

http://www.audixusa.com/products.html

The D1 or F15 (Condenser) are suitable for a high-hat but you can also use an i5 which apparently works quite well with drum-kits.

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:05 pm

I never mic the HH, but then I usually record drums with only 5 or 6 mics. I use 2 overheads, and a room mic (the Glyn Johns method or a variation like recorderman's) and that gives me 80-90% of my sound most of the time.

The high hat is usually dominant enough in these mics that I never need to mic it separately.

Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 11:57 pm

I generally don't mic the high hat either but when I do want to augment it more, I'm like most everybody else here. My first choice is an AKG451 with pad, SM 81 and sometimes my Beyer M160 ribbon. Although I have been known on occasion to use an SM 57! A little equalization on that is quite helpful.

My motorcycle helmet is a low hat!
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 1:14 pm

Thanks for your replies, like most of you, I don´t usually mic the hats, however sometimes there are some exceptions. I did use a 57 once and was ok, but it´s not what you should consider as for hats mic. I guess a 451 should be the most suitable for this use, ive heard they´re great as OH as well, however Im quite happy with my 4033´s.

Quote:

if you don't mike the hats, how do you pick 'em up, with the snar mike? how do you guy's do it?

The OH´s are usually enough to pick up the hats, however sometimes you just need to mic the hats separately depending on what sound you want to get.

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 8:50 am

Not the sm58, its top end frequency response is inaproriate for hats... leaving u with the C1000 and 414. Given this choice it'd have to be the 414, if only becuase its 6 times the price. But the smart choice is C1000, and then the 414 elsewhere- probably in the room, (set to omni?), but outside kick also good. If the song has lots of delicate snare work, i'd get it under there insterad of the 57.

Hopefully a lot of your hi hat sound comes thru the overheads (nice stereo), you may even want to carefully tape a styrofoam cup around the top snare mic to keep the hat out of it.

have fun, experiment

Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:00 pm

Regarding the paper cup method: Wouldn't there be a minor phase issue? I'm thinking of when you put your ear to the mouth of a cup or a shell and you "hear the ocean" due to crazy phasing of the sounds within the cup/shell. Would a similar effect take place with the cupped microphone? I mean it would probably be minor due to the fact that the mic trim would be pretty low because of the high transience and SPL of the snare, so leakage from other parts of the kit would be minimal but it would exist nevertheless, non? c'est vrai ou faux?

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 10:44 am

what about popping the top off of that sm58 to boost its top end response?

i don't necessarily buy the theory that the difference between an sm57 and an sm58 is solely that cap, but i think removing that padding could give you a pretty stellar result?

regards,
cheatingatmath

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 11:01 am

cheatingatmath, the only difference between a 57 and a 58 IS the additional pop filter. And the 58/57 is a totally appropriate mic to use on a high hat. What makes it inappropriate? What, you don't think it has enough high frequency response? Too much coloration? Not directional enough? Only goes up to 18,000 cycles per second? If they were so inappropriate we wouldn't use them at all and neither would the President of the United States but what does he know any how, after all he got us into a war like Vietnam? (the microphones were not of his choosing, he didn't want anything that could provide an abortion as they do so often on this site)

Those microphones are always a Shure bet
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 11:07 am

use the c1000 and do a little eq. works like a champ. that mic sucks, but it has it's uses. make sure to point it AWAY from the snare though as it's response is not very tight at all.

also, use the 414 as a room directly in front of the kit about 6' high or as a close room about 3' behind and to the right of the drummer pointed at the kick and about 12" off the ground. compress it to all hell going in, and you get a really snappy kick and snare sound when blended correctly.

if you had 2 i would say use them as overheads over the 4033's any day. some people hate them, but i think they are great overhead mics.

steve

Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 9:11 am

Ive only ever had the oppertunity to use 57's on the Hihat, if i needed to. I've never been dissapointed, with some eq, it can sound quite nice.

Sidhu

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:54 pm

From the mics you currently have, I'd go with the 414... But personally, I think that the Shure SM81 is about the best mic you could use for recording hi-hats. They aren't cheap (we sell em for $349 at GC) but it's an amazing mic for cymbals/overheads as well as acoustic guitars and pianos...

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