You can use any mic you want. Some are better than others, but you have to use your ears.. Are you micing each drum individually along with the overheads or are you using a pair of overheads and maybe a Kick mic only?

These scenarios have a toatlly diffrent effect.

If you are close micing in addtion to Overheads, maybe the overheads are there to compliment the overall sound of the Close mics and maybe there to pick up the Cymbals..

Or
Maybe the Overheads are your main Sound mics, in that case greater care is needed to pick up every drum and cymbal without one totally overpowering the other...

Plan it out as best you can, also see what type of drummer they are as well, the room plays a part as well.

I can keep on going with this..

USE YOUR EARS - if something doesnt sound right move a mic...

Good luck..

Miking drums is as personal as a thing as one's underware.
Almost anything goes.
Things to consider: Can the mic handle high SPLs (most amb mics do not) and will it be in the drummers way (many good mics meet bad ends that way :? )

Most often each drum is miked separate, separate coverage over groups of cymbals/"toys", and a pair of overheads.
Most often omni and figure8's will not be used as you are atempting to isolate the pieces.

Of course, "ideal" and what-you-have-to-work-with are not always the same.

If so ?? Where more or less do you place the mic or mics ? by this I mean distance from the source and from the floor.

What mics do you use (brand & model) ? and how many. Do you use Omnis, figuer 8, cardiods ??

The main microphones I use for room microphones are a pair of Royer R121's, which are figure-8 ribbon microphones. I place them wherever they sound best...usually I'll have them a few feet out to either side of the kit, or I'll have one down low maybe five feet in front of the kit and another up higher maybe ten or fifteen feet back. I usually use them to add ambience and sometimes to smash with compression, although on several occasions I've wound up using them for a majority of the overall drum sound.

I also have a pair of Earthworks SRO omni's I've used on several occasions. I usually use them for overheads, but once in a while I'll try them in the room. They do a good job as well and pretty much give me exactly what I hear in the room. Again, I'll typically just move them around until I find the spot where they sound best.

-Duardo

Thanks Guys! Thanks Duardo!!! I will be close miking the whole set. I records lots of hard and heavy stuff, I was just wondering if they were at all needed, Ill need to run some test.

Duardo, good to see someone using the Royers.... I use the R-122's.... I like to run them thru the Sytek (without Brown Burr) and I think they sound great with the Sytek as Overheads. Cymbals sound great and are not mushy..

I would like to try them with the Great River Pre's or Api's as well..

....

For room mics, I use a pair of 414s in omni mode. They sound "rock" to me.

I've used other stuff, though, and it really doesn't matter too much. I was forced to use 57s once, and it turned out fine. The key is to point directional mics away from the kit (so as to record the room, not the kit).

One of the keys to the answer of your question lies in the question itself.

Do you use room mics to record drums ??

Room mics record the sound of the room. If the room sounds good, experiment with different mics and placement to capture the sound. If the room sound sucks, why waste your time?