Microphone Floor Tom

Floor toms can be tricky to mic because of their frequency range.

Microphone floor tom.

This dynamic cardioid microphone is known for handling high sound pressure levels spl with ease while keeping its characteristics mostly unaffected presenting a frequency response that s nearly flat from 30hz to 17khz. If you have more than one floor tom you can place one mic between them or mic them individually. Like so many others i like the u87 on floor toms. They are flexible enough to work in both live and studio applications.

Place a single mic a couple of inches away from the head near the rim. Floor tom mic shootout drum. Considered a go to microphone when it comes to recording toms the sennheiser md 421 ii is one of this community s favourites microphones constantly recommended for many applications. Ok so to be open with you i m not necessarily finding out the best floor tom microphone.

A dedicated mic directly on the floor tom lets you adjust the balance giving you a richer more complex overall sound. 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. Evans ec2 clear reso. Some people claim that their drum overheads pick up all the tom they need and some amazing drum recordings have been made with minimal gear but the safest option is to mic up.

So each mic is positioned the same distance from the drum head as much as possible and pointing towards the centre of the drum. If you use a microphone on a tom and choose not to use it in the mix that isn t a problem but if your tom goes missing and you have no way of boosting it it really is a problem. It s affordable has universally great reviews from home recording enthusiasts and professionals alike. Mics designed for snares sometimes miss the rich lower frequencies making the sound thin and hollow.

Floor toms are miked the same way as the mounted tom toms. The standard microphone used on toms is the sennheiser md421 but you are not limited to using only this mic. But i am testing five mics that can be used on floor toms and i ve tried to make it as useful as possible. Mics meant for kick drums can have the opposite problem.

Some points to consider. G1 clear no muff mics. The best microphone for recording tom toms for most people is the sennheiser e604.