Sixteen Samples Of Mics On Snare

[bent]

Well now...
This is one I've been meaning to get to for quite some time.
I've put it off long enough, so here goes.

The gear:

Again, the mixer: Yamaha 01V96v2
Snare: Pearl Omar Hakim Signature 13x5"
Recorder: Tascam CDRW2000
The DAW (for normalizing): Sony Soundforge 7

All mics recorded at same basic angle - roughly 2-3 inches from top head, off to left side and aimed at the center.
75Hz HPF on mic channels. No other EQ. No Compression, gating, etc...

The mics:

1) Neumann KM84 (Switched to -10)
2) Audio Technica 4050 (Cardioid, -10, Flat)
3) Shure Beta98
4) AKG C480B with CK61/ULS (Cardioid) capsule (-10, Flat)
5) AKG D125 (Because it was in my way)
6) Shure SM77
7) AKG C535EB (0dB, Flat)
8 ) EV 468
9) Sennheiser e609 'Silver'
10) Sennheiser 409 (The real thing)
11) Shure SM57
12) Shure Beta57
13) Beyer M88
14) Sennheiser MD421 (M)
15) Audix D2 (For DaveDog)
16) Sennheiser MD441 (M, Flat)

Click here to access the trax.

Enjoy!

[rockstardave]

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[rockstardave]

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

+1

[Boswell]

Really instructive - thanks, Bent!

[BobRogers]

Ben- Thanks a million. On a quick listen, I liked the 57 and the 4050 best. Of course, the fact that a 57 can be safely placed in the path of a drummer is a huge consideration.

[EricWatkins]

Would I be wrong to sat that all/most of these sound really on the dark side? I'm just wondering if it's the streaming player or maybe just the snare itself. This isnt a criticism, I'm really just curious.

[TheFraz]

the audix really surprised me.
the 57 I think is the best, for me.
also I really liked the 4050, but i would have a hard time putting a 4050 in swinging range of a drummer.

thank allot for this.

[Davedog]

I would also say that the snare is a tad 'dark' but for this purpose suits just fine. A good test as there are a lot of dark sounding snares with the advent of the two-ply heads and the sometimes mad desire to get that calf-head sound. An under-snare mic will brighten this snares sound out a lot while retaining the 'thump' that this particular drum exhibits. Notice there is no 'ring' whatsoever.

Great job Ben.

So lets point out some of the aspects of the mics. Of course it goes without saying that each one would require a little tweek in placement and a touch up here and there on EQ to be perfect......and none would be the same.

I came up with three categories. These pertain to the mics themselves and nothing more.

I've got.....Natural, Accented, and Bens' bored and found yet another mic in the drawer.

Natural :

AT 4050. I would use this on a jazz player with no problem
C535EB. THIS is the perfect example of why we experiment. A predominately stage vocal mic that kiks serious ass on the snare.
SM77. I have always loved these . Most TV studios used them throughout the years.
Beta98. Almost as much as I like SM81's.....not quite...
KM84. Study this sound a bit before you dismiss it. It is very rich in tone and at first listen sounds a bit wonky. To me it sounds exactly like the drum and where its being struck.
C480. Another favorite. Its family includes the C451, and C460. All are great mics.


Accented: These all have an extended thud factor and would be great on many other sources as well. Guitar cabinets, kik drum percussion etc.

MD441. Love this mic.
Audix D2. See what I mean.........WHUMP galore!
MD421. No explanation needed. You can see why Remy has several.
SM57. Ditto.
Beta57. The SM with some upper mids.
MD409. While not a choice for snare per se, can you hear the mids just aching to get out? This is a guiat amp mic that cannot be beat.
E609. This is what they replaced the 409 with. A bit more highs but lacking in the guitar range. Still a good mic.

Ben's bored and found another mic in the drawer.

Well you get the picture.


Great job Hombre.

[bent]

Gracias Seņor!

Alrighty then...

My favorites of the bunch are the KM84, D2, and SM57.
The D125 was literally in my way when I grabbed the 535, so into the mix it went.

There were a few other mics that I wanted to slap up, but I felt 16 was ample - I feel I've captured a 50/50 mix of standard and atypical mics here.

The snare's top head is a Remo Coated Ambassador, and it did sound a bit dark in the room (4 wood panel walls, industrial carpet on the floor).

As I said earlier, there is nothing in the signal chain to color the sound, short of the 01V's pres (with 75Hz rolloff) and the CDRW2K's inputs - perhaps I should have run optical from the board to the CDR, but I chose the analog path instead...

I positioned the mics in such a manner to pick up a little room / a little strainer - my reasoning being that I feel this gives a better representation of the mics' frequency responses, which is ultimately the purpose behind the post.

I originally intended to follow this up with mics on toms, but after listening to this one I think that we can all hear the details of the mics (most of these would work on other percussion instruments in the same manner) and can correlate that to the response they would give, so it might be a moot point.

I'd much rather move on to either different mics / positioning on Overheads, or guitar - anyone object?

Anyway, I'm glad you guys enjoyed these. Sorry it took so long since the last post (Twelve Mics On Kik), and I'll try to get to the next round as soon as I am able!

-Ben

[bent]

Bumping this to keep it in the current list.