Best overhead mics for drums?

There really is no such thing as "best". If you take the time search through the archives, you can find many opinions and suggestions on drum mics.

Personally, I love the AKG 414's. They are my first choice, followed by my Rode NT5's. I mainly record Rock/Punk/Blues stuff, and get great results with either pair.

There are many, many choices however as AG points out. I know that the Neumann KM184's are popular choices as well.

As far as the water pump sound, I can't help help you there!

The Royer 122's have been my staple OH's since I got them. The Coles are great for a darker sound. But if your place has low ceilings, they might not work very good. The 414TLII's work great for me too, the ULS not so much (although great on toms).

All of that stuff is trivial if your live room isn't sound isolated IMO. HPF can only do so much.

Can you turn the pump off while tracking? If not, try to find a small capsule cardioid condenser mic, at least you'll get some off axis rejection. How about putting some type of partition in front of the pump or drumkit?

I use a matched pair of AKG C451b's but I primarily use them only to capture cymbals.

Ditto on the Royers...especially with digital.

If there's tape first (before the hard drive) AND if I can get 'em...I LOVE a pair of U67's on OH.

We were all talking about OH mics in the gearslutz chatroom this morning and the U67's came up.

Also, if I had access to them, I use the C12's before the 414's.

Oktava mc012's.

i like to use AKG C460B's as overheads. to be honest, the only reason i bought them was because the drummer for karate used'em in a drum recording article, lol, but i've been pretty happy with them.

this may have just been a combination of having a good tape machine to track to with a great board but i got fantastic results with a pair of Rode NT-2's on a session. HUGE sound. was so great we only slightly mixed in a few of the isolated mics. just a thought for ya.

Originally posted by Raised Under Reagan:
this may have just been a combination of having a good tape machine to track to with a great board but i got fantastic results with a pair of Rode NT-2's on a session. HUGE sound. was so great we only slightly mixed in a few of the isolated mics. just a thought for ya.

Funny you bring this up, because I just used an NT2 (omni) as a drum room mic, and it was really amazing! I bought this mic a few years ago, and really don't use it much any more for vocals due to its high tendancy towards silibance, but as a second distance guitar amp mic, and as a drum room mic, it works a treat! I was ready to sell it about 2 years ago...glad I didn't!

What about SM-81's? I'm suprised no one mentioned them. Am I missing something? Am I behind the curve?

Yes, there was a time they were popular.
I like 451's for cymbals. Also tried C1000's with good results.
But I'm still preferring 414's.

I like the C1000's as well, as long as they're placed for proper balance between drums and cymbals. Otherwise they sizzle a bit too much. Great hi hat mic, by the way.

Originally posted by Ron.G:
What about SM-81's? I'm suprised no one mentioned them. Am I missing something? Am I behind the curve?

SM81's are kickass mic's. I see them used live all the time as OH's. For me, I use one as my hi hat mic. If you are totally against mic'ing your hat, they'll probably work real good. I just like the way the 81 on hat's blend with the other stuff I use on OH's. I also mic my ride cymbals with a 451 (which I've used as OH's before and loved for that app) but I usually only use it when doing a ballad or something ride dependant. Forest, not the tree's. Yah dig?

For what I do my favs so far are the Royer 121s. I've liked the VP-88 EV Stereo mic. Used that a lot. I just used the Okava MK012, but they were way too bright. Pretty good, but just unusually/unnaturally bright. I record jazz almost exclusively so the cymblas are crucial. They're the main drive from the kit. So in many ways the OHs are the most important element for jazz drums.

I've also had good luck with ther 414s. Next I'm going to try out a pair of AT4050s. Then, just for yuks, a pair of MXLV69s.

speaking about jazz...
henry, if you like the r-121 on your OHs you should defenetly try some beyer M160s, the old ones if possible (M160n).
I do like the Royers but the M160s have more "air" and presence...they make the kit naturally shine.

Cheers

Akg 451s, 414 or U87s always worked for me