two mics on a snare drum...

These rock:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/R0DE-Matched-Pair-of-NT5-Microphones?sku= 271590

You could probably get them for a little cheaper on eBay.

X

Look up side chaining in the manual.

Basically, you put a gate on the channel you want to 'gate', in this case the snare top mic, and on the 'side chain' panel, select the track number that will be the source to trigger the gate. Adjust threshold settings until you get it working the way you like.

For what it's worth, I almost never gate the snare because you can usually hear the gating, and you almost always lose some of the more subtle stuff. Toms on the other hand... I gate those alot, but again - only when I'm going for the dryer, isolated "70's" sound.

And I've never heard that dynamics and condensers are inherently 'out of phase' with each other. Lots of great engineers tape a small diaphragm condensor and a dynamic together on the top snare, then blend to taste. I've never heard any mention of needing to flip the phase...

As I say though, phase is something you should always play with when it comes to recording/mixing drums. It can be a great creative tool (in the right hands n' ears).

Another small diaphragm mic to consider for overheads are the Oktava MC012's. Pretty decent and fairly cheap. I used to use'em a bunch before I moved up to the Gefell M300's...

Hi,

You might want to take alook at your polar response for both mics.

In order to minimise the leakage from your HiHat,you might want to try to have the Hihat be directly BEHIND the SM57,where the XLR plug is.Also,you might want to take a look at the following pic:

http://nicksevilla.com/images/YES26-WhiteDrumkit.jpg

Although I used this technique to isolate a tom from the ride cymbal,it can still help you out.
On this particular song the ride was used a lot in the chorus,so I had to do it only for that one song.(Yes,Deeper,Magnification,2001).It worked great!
This foam is placed on the mic itself,and you can use whatever foam,but the denser the better.
Auralex has now caught on to this idea,and now sells similar stuff starting this year.This picture is from the Yes Magnification sessions I recorded back in 2000/2001.

I hope this helps you out,
noeqplease

Christopher,

noeq's advice on the location of the snare mic is what I would suggest as well. But even before that... get different hi-hats! Don't waver here... this will make a significant difference in how well the drums record.

If the hi-hat is too loud in the room, it will be too loud on tape. Fix it at the source FIRST, then proceed with the micing techniques.

And I agree with tinkertoy about gating the top mic. You will more than likely lose most of the subtle ghost notes and "snare-isms" that make the snare part of the over all groove. I personally would advice against it.

Now gating the room mics off the snare and or toms might be more applicable, depending on the type of music of course. That's one way to control hi-hat volume on the room mics.

And I've never heard that dynamics and condensers are inherently 'out of phase' with each other. Lots of great engineers tape a small diaphragm condensor and a dynamic together on the top snare, then blend to taste. I've never heard any mention of needing to flip the phase...

tinkertoy, I don't recall anyone saying there were phase differences between condenser and dynamic mics (unless I missed a thread). We've been referring to the snare drums bottom mic phase being flipped from the top mic.

Hey there, just a note that I found a great (startup) Acoustics forum with LOADS of information and DIY tutorials. They show WHY rooms sound the way they do, how to build bass traps and all kinds of free information.

I think this is something that has been needed for a very long time:

Check it out here: http://www.basstraps.net


Good luck.


Joel

If you are want to test your mics for phase, Plug them both in and bring them both up to your mouth and talk.

You can hear it if they are out of phase, the level drops and it sounds weird.

Older AKG mics can be out of phase with some shure mics

There may be others.