If the drums sound good and the room sounds good and a natural sound works for the song then 52 on kick, 57 on snare and the NT5s in X-Y overhead. Maybe put the ribbon out in the room.

For a more processed style it becomes a matter of divide and conquer, in a dead room with close mics on everything. The NT5s would become cymbal mics instead of overheads. The 57s and the 58 would be distributed between the snare and toms. I would normally use a SDC for hihat but I guess you could try a LDC or dynamic and try to eq it.

watch your levels on the nt5's. they have no internal pad, and can be overloaded as overhead, and spot mics on the hats/ride. if you (drummer) are not a basher, it shouldn't be a problem. if you are, maybe the 2020 would be your best bet overhead.

as far a the pre, the eureaka is very nice, you'll probably wind up wanting 2, lol. my first pref would be for overhead(s). or a room mic if you have just one.

you've cited alot of different drums sounds, so i'd keep the kit 'fully' mic'd, and pick and choose on a per song basis. the reggae and funk is gonna be real tight w/ little room, and mostly close/oh's. the indie/rock will be somewhere in the middle, and the RCP's ala blood sugar sex magic, have a pretty room heavy ambiance, that sounds fantastic.

i love room mics. if you find the right place, in the right room, you'll never wannna use an artificial reverb again.

try this place a mic like 20 or thrity feet away, or in the next adjacent room, just past the door. face the mic at a reflective (brick, concrete) wall about 6 inches or so away. the more open the door, the less reverb, the more closed the door, the more reverb gets created. move it around, but this is a general recipe for a huge drum verb.

bouldersound, post: 404861 wrote: I would normally use a SDC for hihat but I guess you could try a LDC or dynamic and try to eq it.

And then 9 times out of ten you won't use it right? Coz there's too much hat in the OHs... at least that's what happens for me :)

Kik Front - Beta52 (yuk)
Kik In - Cheap Nady
Snare top - SM57 [="http://www.shure.co…"]
[/]Hat - Cheap Nady
Rack Tom - SM57
Floor Tom - SM57
Ride Cym - Cheap Nady or NT1 (use your ears)
OH's - NT5 (Watch the gain and 4kHz)
Front of Kit - AT2020
Room - Ribbon

MadMax, post: 405028 wrote: Kik Front - Beta52 (yuk)
Kik In - Cheap Nady
Snare top - SM57 [="http://www.shure.co…"]
[/]Hat - Cheap Nady
Rack Tom - SM57
Floor Tom - SM57
Ride Cym - Cheap Nady or NT1 (use your ears)
OH's - NT5 (Watch the gain and 4kHz)
Front of Kit - AT2020
Room - Ribbon

Yep. PAD the bejesus outta the NT5's and cut the 4k as was said.

Here's my alternate detail.

beta 52 on kick just at the hole if you insist on a front resonant head. Elsewise, take it off ESPECIALLY for 70's rock. Or you can go inside deep with the 52 and put the NT1 outside the kick about a foot off-center. HAVE A PAD for it (NT1). Be ready to angle the diaphragm so it doesnt get the direct blast.

57's and the tops of every other drum. No questions asked. You dont have an alternate for this. You can do the set with overheads only if you want but the style of music indicates close micing toms.....UNLESS you NEVER hit them. In that case dont mic or even put them up.

If the hats are a soft blend and arent clangy, mic them with the cheapest mic you have. EQ the crap outta of that mic until you like the sound of the hats. I'm serious about the EQ and cheap mic. Aim it away from everything else and angle it so you get the 'chik' if you happen to keep time with your left foot. (are you a righty?)

NT5's are a decent mic. No pad on them though and they tend to be real hot. If you have the budget, buy a couple of inline pads for them. I dont think you'll have a problem with overloading the the capsule, but you will get a big ole peak at the mixer. Don't X/Y this mic. And get them up far enough where you start to have control of their outputs physically. Dont look at them as a stereo pair. Find their pattern range...ie: how big is their coverage....and place them with a small amount of overlap. They are better as spot mics than true overheads. With the inline pad, you could do the ride and the hat with these and use the 2020 as the overhead mic.

2020 as over head and the CR14 as room mic. Or if you spot mic with the NT5's do a front and back room mics with the Avantone and the 2020 with the 2020 being above and behind the kit and the CR14 out front.

Throw the rest of the mics back in the drawer and forget you ever looked at them as recording devices.