Shure SM57 Drum Mics

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:38 am

Im looking to start a studio sometime in the near / distant future. I was looking into getting the Shure SM57 drum mic kit, and I was hoping to get some opinions on the kit. I've done some reviews on the kits as is, and they seem to be pretty popular, but I was hoping to get the opinions of some seasoned veterans.

Any input would be greatly appreciated Smile

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:20 am

if that's the kit that i'm thinking of, it's the one with 3 sm57s and a beta 52, and if that's true, then you're good to go. almost everyone on this forum will agree that sm57s sound great on toms and snare. will they disagree on what sounds better??? yeah, but they won't say that the 57s are bad, cuz they're not. as far as if the beta 52 is better than other mics in it's category (akg d112, audix d6), my experience with that is the same as asking a group of people if coke is better than sprite: you'll get different answers for different reasons, but at the end of the day, they're both still very popular thirst quenchers.

i'm more of a root beer man myself.

-dave

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:21 am

oh yeah, one more thing...if that is the kit that i'm thinking of, it doesn't bring any condensers for the overheads, it's just the mics for the physical drums themselves. so you may wanna check out your budget and see if you're better off just gettting a nice kick mic and a nice pair of overheads, that way you get a good sound out of the kit as a whole and not just the individual drums.

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:28 am

yea i'm aware...i was planning on running 2 compressors for overheads - to be determined which kind they are.

I'm more of a Dr. Pepper man myself Smile

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:55 am

I have this kit.
I bought it because I wanted more SM57s, and sometimes need to record drums. The clamps in this kit are nice. You'll want to get some mic cables with right-angle connectors, otherwise it can be tough trying to stuff 57s into the middle of a kit. My experience with the Beta52 is that it's more of a THUD than a SMACK. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - you hear many different kick sounds in mixes. From what I've read, the D112 is smackier than the Beta52.

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:06 am

Have to say I like the smack....
of the D112 better.

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:04 pm

One thing to consider is what tyope of drummer/kit you're dealing with.
If it's a pop/rock gig, 57s tight on the drums is going to do OK. Personally, I'm really liking the Audix i5 and D6, but like another poster said, Coke vs. Sprite.
If you're dealing with a more "organic" drummer (i.e., jazz/big-band), a simple pair of OHs and a kick can do the kit great justice. I use a pair of SM81s and a Beyer M99 on the kick. Thud! Smack! Pow! Take that, Joker!

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:34 pm

i'm really wanting to get a good, deep sound out of the drum - I really love a beefy sounding bass drum. I do quite a bit of metal hardcore drumming so the beefier the better in my case Smile

any new advice with the new information?

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:09 pm

use two mics- A d112 for smack on the beater side and a BLue Ball or Subkick on the other side.
Oh and don't forget the phase!

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:47 pm

Metal, and atleast hardcore need alot of SMACK to make the brain realise there are alot of FWOOMP there aswell. You need the bright tones to "highlight" the lower..
Or something. I need a english course..

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:25 pm

The Shure 'kit' is all about the clamps. The mics can be bought individually at a lesser cost almost anywhere....just not with the clamps.

As far as a plus or minus on the mics as drum mics, this is, as has been demonstrated so far, a very very subjective call. Will these work well on drums? Absolutely! Will they work for my style of music? Without a doubt! Will it sound like my favorite records?.....Uh.......idunno.......

There are two main things that contribute 80% to a GREAT drum sound.

ONE: The drums themselves. Well tuned, properly tensioned heads.... drums with the bearing edges well done....the CORRECT head for the style of music......drums with ALL the hardware properly tightened,all rattles and sympathetic tones controlled........and a drummer that understands where the inpact of the stick makes the most tone and volume and is in control of this.

TWO: The room. Drums are creatures that are totally chained to the physics of the environment they placed in. They are ACOUSTIC instruments and any thought beyond this is pulling the plug on the ability to create a quality sound.

The other 20% is the mics, the electronics of the recording path, and whether or not the drummer can count to 3 or 4 without losing or gaining time.

So you CAN tailor the mics you use towards a particular sound or style, but without the rest of it, it doesnt really matter what you put up around the kit. Its gonna be a shot in the dark about the quality.

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:13 pm

Screw all of those microphone kits! They're OK and I love SM 57's. But if you want that big fat drum sound then what you should get is a bunch of Sennheiser's MD421's. My favorites! Bass drum, snare drum, toms and even as overheads. That's the bomb! I might stick AKG414's as overheads, my favorite, maybe Shure SM 81's for overheads, if I don't like the cymbals. SM 81 or AKG 451/452 on hat and bottom snare drum. With pads engaged. That's my personal favorite. That's what I have. That's what I use mostly.

If not that, I'll use all SM 57's on all of the drums including bass drum. I don't like them on overheads but I would use them if I had to. Frequently on hat also.

I have all of the popular bass drum microphones, D112, RE20, Beta 52 and I don't like any of them on bass drum. Rarely have I ever found them to sound as good as the MD421. Don't forget to flip the phase on the bass drum microphone if you want and even harder thud, with less flabbiness. Don't ask why not flip phase on all of the other drums instead of the bass drum. Just don't. You want a good sound right? Not a beginner sound.

I love big and fat even though I've lost 50 pounds
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:27 pm

Davedog wrote:

The Shure 'kit' is all about the clamps. The mics can be bought individually at a lesser cost almost anywhere....just not with the clamps.

I picked mine up for $360 new (about the same price as one MD421) - so I felt I got a pretty good deal. I was looking to buy (3) 57s, so I added the clamps and the Beta52 for pretty slim upcharge.

Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 7:08 am

RemyRAD wrote:

Don't ask why not flip phase on all of the other drums instead of the bass drum. Just don't. You want a good sound right? Not a beginner sound.

Why flip phase on the kick??

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:39 am

RemyRAD wrote:

Don't forget to flip the phase on the bass drum microphone if you want and even harder thud, with less flabbiness. Don't ask why not flip phase on all of the other drums instead of the bass drum. Just don't. You want a good sound right? Not a beginner sound.

I love big and fat even though I've lost 50 pounds
Ms. Remy Ann David

Sorry, but I am calling bullshit on this. The kick and snare bottom are about the only drums with the head moving towards the mic on impact ie positive polarity. Snare top, toms etc move away from the mic creating neg polarity. Look at the recorded wave of the various mics etc. its plain as day. By flipping the polarity of these mics you get everything in line with the initial attack of the drums driving the playback speaker at you for everything

Ultimately the difference either way is subtle at best 98% of the time. The exception being exceptionally poor mic placement to begin with. To suggest that one or the other is "beginner" is a bush league comment at best.

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