Tom Mic Recommendations

I tried a whole bunch of mics, but I always come back to the Sennheiser MD 421 for toms.
Just watch out with this dreaded mic clip. I don't know how often I have adjusted the MD
and accidently released the microphone. It is always good fun to see the mic gliding over tom and snare to finally land on the floor. The best part of it: this clip costs about 58 $, here. It is quite a bit cheaper, though, in the USA, for what ever reason.
Anyway, there are other good mics, but this is my favourite for toms.

I like a mixture:
ATM25 low tom,
ATM35 mid and Hight
SM57 High and mid
D112 Low Tom
Rode NT2 any Tom
U87 and Tom
AKG C3000 mid and high tom.
RE20 low tom

md421

All of these recommendations are great, except for one of them:the A-T ATM25. This mic positively SUCKS at this type of application, don't even THINK about purchasing a couple of them for this, or any other drum mic'ing application! PLEASE and do yourself a favor, DON'T buy that mic! You will regret this
the rest of your life..."Oy! Why did spend half the amount of a Sennheiser 421 on this mic that sounds twice as good, err, NOT as good-repeat NOT as good - as a 421!?!?" LOL!!!!!!!!

Managing to drive the resell value of the ATM25 through the roof, Davedog and moonbaby (and now it looks like Link55) have unabashedly admitted a love fest with this lovely little morsel that the brainiacs at A-Tso brazenly and heartlessly removed from the planet.Bastards....

I usually use a 57 on the high tom, and the aforementioned 421s on mid and low toms.
Because I have only two 421s...

I am a total drum pleb and don't really think toms make much of a difference, so I use Audix d2s on hi/mid toms and a D4 on the floor tom, as they then have the nice neat integral clips and I can forget about them.

the nice part about 421's is they are soooo good at other things too. I love them on high gain amps, double kick is you run out of your normal kick drum mic, good for screaming to if you don't have a sm7b

Yes, Do not use the ATM25. It will enhance all those great frequencies on all your toms and kick, and you don't want that kind of build up.
Plus since it's a hypercardoid, it will reject the natural sound bleed from the rest of the kit.
Oh, sure, there's a few of us that live for that kind of stuff, but we're just hopelessly insane.

Secret Tip O' the day regarding the 421's stupid mic clip:
Since you will never use this mic without the clip, or with any other clip, and you will never use the clip with any other mic....
...Super Glue solves all your problems !

While I do love the MD421 for its great sound and wonderful versatility, it truly sucks for placement in a densely populated drum kit.

I love the sound of the Audix mics. I use D2's and D4's on the toms and a D1 for the under snare mic. Easy to place, great full-range response, and indestructible by drummers. They also sound great on guitars of all types, bass cabinets and leslies.

You really do want to avoid the ATM25. Its the kind of mic that will haunt you if you ever use it. If you run across any of them, please send them to me so I can recycle them as is appropriate.

Davedog, post: 357955 wrote: it truly sucks for placement in a densely populated drum kit.

so true, the size of it is its biggest downfall

"so true, the size of it is its biggest downfall".... That's what she said!!!

hahaha

Akg has some drum mics (ccs-d22) that the cheif engineer at the studio i work @ likes. he said they are about 1/3the price of 421's and sounded remarkably simlar when he a/b 'em. they are about half the size. One place i never though i'd see 421's was for room mics, but they actually sound nice, so nice i haven't used a digital verb in 3 months on the drums.

I'm not saying the Senn e604 sounds just like a 421, but it gives you the sound you're usually trying to get from your 421 on a rack tom.
I also like the D112 or D12e on a deep floor tom. I've also used the AKG CCS-D22 kmetal is referring to live and wasn't disappointed with them on a well tuned kit.

Yeah I had the 604's for a while, very good mics for the price, if I was to start a studio again I would probably go that route in the beginning.

I have 4 604's on my toms and really like them. the clips are nice and solid too.

natural, post: 357945 wrote:
Secret Tip O' the day regarding the 421's stupid mic clip:
Since you will never use this mic without the clip, or with any other clip, and you will never use the clip with any other mic....
...Super Glue solves all your problems !

.....................................................................................................

What a jolly good idea...

And what, if this fragile looking clip goes bust, which it does at least once in the lifetime of the MD?
How are you going to poke the remainders out of the MD's glide rails for the new clip??
You are somewhat over optimistic when it comes to longevity and handling of mics and their components in a studio.
Btw, a thin slice of rubber band can help, here. But it gets lost very easily and, therefore, it is not too practical, either.
Tape could solve the problem, as well, but does not look very nice... Maybe blocking the release switch would be it.....
Many ways... Still, the clip is a rather stupid solution for a mic that is so versatile. I also use it often for brass ( ska ) and higain guitar recordings.
Its size is a problem with some drum setups, but up to now I always found a gap to place it right.

Big K, post: 358080 wrote: .....................................................................................................

What a jolly good idea...

And what, if this fragile looking clip goes bust, which it does at least once in the lifetime of the MD?
How are you going to poke the remainders out of the MD's glide rails for the new clip??
You are somewhat over optimistic when it comes to longevity and handling of mics and their components in a studio.
Btw, a thin slice of rubber band can help, here. But it gets lost very easily and, therefore, it is not too practical, either.
Tape could solve the problem, as well, but does not look very nice... Maybe blocking the release switch would be it.....
Many ways... Still, the clip is a rather stupid solution for a mic that is so versatile. I also use it often for brass ( ska ) and higain guitar recordings.
Its size is a problem with some drum setups, but up to now I always found a gap to place it right.

Weigh up your options and plan your life accordingly.
I started with rubber bands then moved to Black duct tape, The tape worked better, but only for a year or so.(i'm slightly more concerned about function than cosmetics) Eventually the mic still slides out in the middle of the best take.
Super Glue has been on there for over 15 years now. Never had a clip break and seems the least likely scenario in a controlled recording environment. (if you're dealing with live on location performances or unruly animals, all bets are off)
It's more likely that the super glue will eventually give way. (which has happened because there's not a big area there to glue- so the plastic of the clip should be stronger than the torque that's inherent on the clip)
But I do have an answer to your question:

SECRET TIP O' THE DAY #2
Back in the day when we used to have a rehearsal studio, (secret tip #3- Don't ever, ever, own a rehearsal studio)
those cheap mic clips for sm 58's took an abusive beating and would break all the time. (rehearsal musicians ARE unruly animals)
Keeping only the base of the clip that screws on the the stand, I would unscrew the clip part, and replace it with a piece of leather strap from an old belt. You can make the loop as big as you want for whatever sized mic. The leather will really hold the mic well. It never breaks. And it looks surprisingly cool, if you have nice old belts.
enjoy.
t

Is anybody familiar with these [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.amazon.c…"]421 shockmounts[/]="http://www.amazon.c…"]421 shockmounts[/]? If so, does the round hole in the middle accept a common thread?

Nice, ... Never seen those before..

Well, it doesn't look like you could put an XLR through it...
Maybe you can use it to mount the MD on a stand without the clip...

421's all-around, snare, kick, toms. And I've even used them as overheads on some rare occasions. Fat fat fat! All the punch snap & bang you need. I personally only own a couple and I'd like to increase that to a total of six. All for the drums and just the drums so help me God.

421's are positively reverent
Mx. Remy Ann David

I have a pair of the shock mounts. You can screw them down on a boom arm if you want. I never have but could imagine it with a 7" clutch arm from Onstage Stands.

I rigged my two older grey 421's with a hose clamp strap, a couple of tom mount 90's, threaded extensions, (threaded the tom mount pieces with a die set) and a couple of short knuckles from a big atlas boom. They were versatile enough for angle with the knuckles but still a pain to place occasionally. Wish I still had em though. They were GREAT vocal mics.

421's are superb, the 604's are very very nice as well, heck i've even used the CAD Trion 8000 tubes mics on toms (YES!) use what ever you want man. theres a guy here in our area that just loves using sm57's on the entire kit.

You mean there is only one guy in Chicago that does that? Use 57's on the entire kit?? Oh the humanity....

I know more than one guy that does that in the BW Metro area. But I guess that's Chicago for you?

I have to be honest, I've used 57's on entire kits. Oh! Including overheads.

Exceptionally ordinary
Mx. Remy Ann David

md421 for sure, plus they are nearly indestructible hehe