# Microphones.. that will ship to Canada!



## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Hey everybody, researching microphones for my drum kit and am very annoyed with the amount of "we do not ship outside US" companies out there. for example, the GLS ES-57 have been getting great reviews for drums.They are an sm57 clone and are under 100$ for three.Yet, no Canada shipping. What are some good microphones that are available for this that can be found in Canada? I've got two condensers (not the best) and an sm57 but another 100+$ 3 times for my toms is kind of a dent in the ol wallet.


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Apex. The Apex 125 is a great Kick drum mic. The tom mics are 126's. I use a 120 for the floor tom sometimes. They sound good, but they do tend to go sour after about a year or two of use (I use them live, just about every week-end).

I don't use them for the snare drum or the hi-hat or any other cymbols though.

You can get these at almost any music store in Canada, and they are pretty cheap.

-- Looks like Paul just posting the same recomendation


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Yeah I like the Apex mics as well.

They don't stand up to a drumstick as well as a 57 but sound just fine.

I use a combination of Apex and Shure for the kit.

If you can't get a great drum sound with them it's probably not the mic.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Thanks guys, I'll check out Apex. I was also looking at Avantone mics.. they have a kick mic called the mondo that goes for just over 100$ but being relatively new on the market, I can't find anyone who has tried one. I'm mainly recording at home and would like a decent sound to put on tape.. with three mics as it is, my sm57 in the kick sounds wimpy and i hear too much snare coming through oddly enough (yeah it is right inside the kick!) I really want to round out the set with some tom mics so that i can turn the overheads down as well. (which is good to keep the cymbals in the background) 

Do any of you have sound clips of your setups so i can compare?


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Just won an ebay auction- 330$ US , used Shure drum mic pack: 1 beta 52, 3 sm57's with clamps. I'd say that is pretty damn good! 500+ with tax new here.. after shipping and some customs though, I am still hoping to have made out with a good deal at around 400$ canadian.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2007)

That's a good set of work horse mics for all kinds of things. I find 57's bleed like crazy on kits. I gave up fighting it and learned to live with it. I'll bandpass each mic in the post-processing, pre-mix steps to cut down on some of the bleed.

Last session I did before I left Toronto the engineer put two large ribbon mics in an X configuration directly over the drummer's head for overheads, one big capsule mic on the kick, and a 57 aimed at the snare and hat and it worked pretty well. Had a big, open, Bonham-type sound to it.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Oh great, NOW you tell me! lol.. i figure if they don't work out for me i can sell them for 75$ a pop and buy two decent overheads... The thing I really wanted was the 52 on the kick. They were going to sell me one used for 180 + tax or 240+ new so i figured man, why not spend extra and get the toms covered too? I am having huge problems right now... i want the cymbals turned down and the best way to do this is to mic everything independently and then turn down your overheads... and yeah, there is some bleed, but in theory this is where the noise gate/expander "should" do the trick. ..hopefully. Either way it will be fun to play and practice with a mic kit. Already recording what i have, i've noticed how badly out of time i am.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2007)

Sorry man! First time I paid attention to this thread! Even gated I find 57's bleed a lot. Some of that has to do with how hard yer banging them bongos. But I find a 57 aimed right up against the bottom of a high tom picks up that snare loud and clear -- too loud to be gated. Maybe jroberts or one of the other guys with more engineering experience can help demystify bleed and the process to eliminate it.

I'll try and draw a 3D picture of how the guy did the overheads. It was pretty cool. The X patter basically gets you nice cymbal and room ambiance.


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## RIFF WRATH (Jan 22, 2007)

check out Robbo"s "garage sale", I believe he had a few drum mikes for sale
cheers
RIFF


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

If you search gearslutz and prorec you'll find all sorts of 3 and 4 mic techniques. I did an album with only 3 mics and the drum sound is wonderful....but if you're looking for the big heavy "let's put the audience in the kick" sound, you might be a bit disappointed. FWIW, the mics used were a Blue Mouse and 2 AT4033, good stuff but not mega dollar mics either. I did use world class pres and comps. 

You may want to have more mics for impact but if you start by assuring that 3-4 mics capture all the essence and image of the drums and then add the spot mics in a way that they don't destroy anything (in a bad way).

as a mixer, I have little nice to say about many of the budget mics that have come out of late.....(audix d's excepted) if you paying by the hour for mixing, the extra time needed will buy you some smokin' mics that will be worth exactly what you paid in x years from now. Not just my opinion, take it fwiw.

Andy


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## fretman57 (Nov 9, 2007)

*Query regarding drum microphones.*

Dear Friend,
Samson has just released a line of 8 mic drum kit called the "8KIT" which looks impressive for a reasonable retail price of $429.00 Canadian. There are also kits with a lesser number of mics. You can check it out by going to samsontech.com to view the whole line. :smilie_flagge17:sdsre

Sincerely,

Scotty

[email protected]


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