Best Floor Tom Mic Recording

Like so many others i like the u87 on floor toms.

Best floor tom mic recording.

These toms are suitable for jazz and not much else as they have a very distinct sound. Floor toms can be tricky to mic because of their frequency range. The e604s have clips which enable one to affix them directly to the rim of the drum. This is the kit for loud edgy rock music.

But i am testing five mics that can be used on floor toms and i ve tried to make it as useful as possible. Audio technica s atm25 is a highly capable dynamic microphone tailored for close range applications. Mics designed for snares sometimes miss the rich lower frequencies making the sound thin and hollow. If you use one mic place it between the two drums about 4 to 6 inches away from the heads figure 3 shows this placement option.

In general the best live tom mics and the best studio tom mics are the same thing which is one headache less for those who need microphones to do both. So each mic is positioned the same distance from the drum head as much as possible and pointing towards the centre of the drum. One thing i learned from michael stavrou s book mixing with your mind about recording drums in general is to find the best placement for the set in a room by walking around banging on the floor tom until you find the most resonant spot easier to do with two people one to bang and one to listen then placing the floor. The tom toms sound best when using a dynamic mic.

Ok so to be open with you i m not necessarily finding out the best floor tom microphone. I use three primary kits for recording. If you re in the market for a good floor tom mic the choices below are all viable options. 1 a bebop kit with its toms tuned up high 10 tom tom and 14 floor tom.

Mics meant for kick drums can have the opposite problem. This mic tackles loud sources with ease provides good off axis rejection thanks to its hypercardioid polar pattern and shows a frequency response from 30hz to 15khz with a notable presence boost in the upper mids that will give those toms a great level of detail. They are flexible enough to work in both live and studio applications. August 31 2020 the best microphone for recording tom toms for most people is the sennheiser e604.

If you use two mics place one above each drum about 1 to 3 inches above. 2 the ubiquitous rock kit. It s affordable has universally great reviews from home recording enthusiasts and professionals alike.