Two questions;

What is your set-up? Mixer, DAW, phantom power availability, etc.

What is your budget?

:cool:

Whitey, if you don't have phantom power, you can buy individual channel supplies for this. You need phantom, of course to power a condenser mic. This is the first thing I would buy. Take your pick! I would consider rode, studio projects, or........avlex? Personally, I really like the two avlex avs80 large diaphragm condensers I own. The work great on vocals, overheads and on acoustic instruments. Also you should buy some sure sm-57's. maybe 4 if you can afford it. If not, at least get one. finally, something for the kick. As a startes mic the sure pg52 works ok. If you can afford it a beta 52(my fave) an akg d112, or a sennheiser 421. The 52 and 112 also do ok for certain guitar sounds.(no s*!t!)

With this setup you could put 1 or 2 condensers as overheads, a 57 on snare, a kick mic, go direct with bass and stick a 57 on guitars. Afterwards use the condensers for vocals, and if you take your time with setup and tuning etc. you will have a good souning recording.

Hope this helps.

Eric,
You didn't specify what your budget is so I will assume that cost is not an issue. With that in mind I will outline a bare bones set up that will be versatile. Here is what I would recommend.

Kick Drum D112 x2 .... Can be found for $160 new
Snare Drum SM57 ...... Can be found for $ 79 new

Toms x 4 (just in case)
Sennheiser 421 ......... Can be found for $299 new
Overheads
ATM 4033 x 2 ........... Can be found for $399 new
Hi Hat AKG 451 ......... Can be found for $399 new

Bass Amp
Countryman DI .......... Can be found for $150 new
AKG D112 ............... Can be found for $160 new
Guitar Amps x 4
SM57 .................. Can be found for $ 79 new
Vocal Neumann U87 Ai ... Can be found for $2600 new

So it adds up to this:
3 D112’s.............$ 480
5 SM57’s............$ 395
4 421’s..............$1196
2 4033’s.............$ 798
1 451................$ 399
1 Countryman.........$ 150
1 U87Ai..............$2600
TOTAL >>>>>>>>>>>>>> $6018

Now to some this may seem like overkill but it can be something to shoot for. These are all high quality, keep for life, won't ever have to replace, spend your money once mics. You should be able to negotiate a considerable discount if you purchase all these mics at once from the same dealer. I would not be surprised if you could get the whole package for $5000 (or even less!).

With this set up you will be able to tackle most live band set ups. You may need a few more direct boxes to accommodate a keyboard intensive set up but there shouldn't be too much more than that.. Kurt

I just got the Rode NT3.

I must say it's a brilliant mic. It's great on highhat, cymbals, vocals, percussion and as overhead/room.

I like it so much that i just blindly ordered a Rode NT1a :)

Kick-akg d112
Snare-SM57
overheads-audio technica pro7 (i think?), rode NT5, or octava mc012
bass amp-EV RE20
Guitar-well a royer r-122 would be nice but lets be cheap . . . sm57
vocal-Rode NTK (I cannot say enough good things about this mic. sounds fantastic, $500, and built to last)

lastly, consider a pair of room mics. and get creative, who says you cant use an omni on snare or kick? try some new stereo techniques and try to get the most out of your mics

good luck

Yeah an omni seems to be a nice thing to have, especially if you wanna have more fun and get creative. I've seen friends use an omni on the kick bass drum with great results. There is a very cheap Behringer ECM8000 mic which is about 40 bucks - might be worth it to look into.

Greetings,
I'm brand new to this forum. I wandered over from HR after a nice email from Alan Hyatt.
I can only comment on mic'ing
drums and I'm far from an expert, but I have a few suggestions.
First, it depends on what style of sound you want to get and what style of music you are recording. My taste is towards more jazz and traditional blues, so my mics are in accordance with that.
Yes the AKG D112 is the killer kick mic, but don't overlook the Audix D6, the Beta 52, and (although I haven't personally used it) the ATM25 (lots of drummers and sound engineers like that one). Cheaper varieties of kick mics are the Shure PG52 and the Samson Q3 and who knows, you might like them. A friend of mine that plays jazz has been getting great results with the Oktava MK219 (yes a condenser) and I only mention it because GC is currently selling them for $70.
On snare the industry standard is the SM57(about $70), a great little mic (I own one) but I don't use it on snare, it's currently my hi-hat mic. Probably not the best choice for sock but it's a real work horse of a mic, get one. For snare I've been using Sennheisser e835 ($70 at GC). That's an odd choice for most, but I like the way that it picks up my brushes on soft pieces and it still has plenty of guts for a crack on snare.
I'm currently using Sennheisser e604's (got a deal at GC for $60) and the Radio Shack knock-offs ($14.95 each) on my toms and they work fine, but this I'll be changing. I was recording in a friend's studio and he mic'd my toms with SP B1 on small toms and AKG D414 on floor toms. To my ear the B1 performed as well as the AKG.Another friend of mine purchased the SP B3 (on my reccommendation) for using in fig 8 between toms and cymbals and WOW! When I can afford it, this is the way I want to go. The SP B1 is available for just under $80 and the SP B3 is $150. That sure beats the $800 for a D414 (which is a great mic).
Because I am a man with limited funds, I've been getting by with ECM8000 as overheads. They're good and cheap ($70 a pair) but a bit noisy. When I can afford it I'll be using the SP C4's in a matched pair at about $350. I used these at my friend's studio and they rock.
BTW until I get my better kick mic, I have been using an ECM8000 on kick with a baffled tunnel and it works okay for now (yeah, it surprised me too.)
If your room is real good, you can get away with less mics and doubling up on toms. I've found that I need only one kick mic for my style(a D112 by personal choice, I just don't own one yet), but I sometimes need two mics on snare (one above, one below). In a fully equipped studio, you have the luxury of more fancy mics, but at home, you get by with what you've got until you can afford better .
-Jeff