you should buy condensors you can buy a pair of cheap MXL 550s for under $150 and they're well worth it they take a lot of shit and they sound great=) use you're 57's for your snare and toms

another approach using just what you have.
Use the one condensor as an overhead to capture the cymbals. There's no law that says you need stereo overheads. You can use a pair of 57's as room mics. (not too far away, less than 5 or 6 feet should be fine to give you a good sound on the drums and also provide a little stereo action.) roll off all the low end- maybe from about 500 or 1K on down.
The AT25 on the kick and 57 on the snare, any whatever you have left on the toms should get you into the ball park. I'm assuming this is strictly a demo or practice recording right?

Thanks for the replies guys. It's for a free demo I'm doing for some high school kids. They play on the praise and worship team with me at church, and they also have thier own screamo band. In a way it's practice for me too but I'm really serious about getting a good sound. I know I'll have to experiment alot and I've read alot of people have had success with the tri-mic system so I was curious.
Are 57's not hot enough to be overheads or not good enough at high frequency stuff like cymbals?

Yeah, basically it's a Hi Freq thing with the 57's.
The condensor should give more clarity.
The 57's are smoother in the mids.
But in the grand scheme of things, it's only one small part of the picture. At this stage you probably have more important details to attend to. What you have sounds like a decent setup for doing demos and the like. Perfect the rest of the drum sound and the rest of the band first. You can revisit the overhead setup down the road.

Thanks alot.

Cheap condensors anyday. I Recorded with my Behringer B-1 and my friends MXL 990 or whatever as overheads. I would defnitely recommend a pair of the Behringer B-1's. $100 a piece new. Amazing mics. Really really smooth on vocals and acoustic guitar also. When I a/bed the Behringer and MXL there is no comparison.

No cheap condensers anyday! They hype the top end too much (just like your AKG C1000 ), and are MUCH more susceptible to breakage. If the 57 doesn't have enough top end extension to your liking ( I agree with that), for $100 a pop, the Audix i5 may well suit your needs. That is one tough dynamic that DOES have the top end for OH's, and is versatile enough for many other applications.

Get an APEX condenser. Even if you can only afford one, I think that would work better as an overhead than an SM57. Keep those for the toms and snare, or even kick.

Are the Audix's really that good? I have a friend who just bought some for his PA. Thanks for all the replies guys.

Here's the thing. First, you dont want to simply throw money at a problem you dont have.

Use the 57's on the toms and the snare....or a 58 on the snare...either will work. Use the C3000 AKG as your overhead. Use the AT Pro25 on the kick. Problem solved.

IF you want to spend some money on a couple of budget condensers, get something you wont outgrow after the first session. Your idea of the AT2020's is sound thinking. Those little mics eat up and spit out most of the mics in their price range. Including the MXL and B*****ger stuff.

Or, borrow your friends' Audix mics he got for his PA. If they are any of the OM series they'll sound great on anything, including drum overheads.

And in answer to your question about Audix mics.....YES they're really good. All of em.

I think I'll try borrowing the Audix's and comparing them to the AKG. I really wanted my next mic purchace to be on an AT 40 series. Thanks Dave.

Moonbaby and Dave give great advise on the i5's.
I bought one because all the praise around here.
They do live up to all the hipe.

But for overheads............Just my opion. If you can swing alittle more money. A pair of Studio Projects C4's are around 360.00. They are a very good bang-for-the-buck small diaphragm condenser
that comes with interchangeable capsules.

I use them for OH's sometime in a live recording.
They pick up the whole kit verywell. They would work fine in a 3 mic set-up. Alot of other use's also.

Peace..........Scoobie