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What would people recommend in terms of microphones for a percussion set? I have a tumba, quinto, conga, timbales, bongos and a perc rack with cowbells and other small instruments. I'm trying to figure out the best, yet affordable way to mic these for a an upcoming gig.

Thanks,

songoSoul

The suggest SHURE SM57's they are made especially for percussion instruments. I see you have a large arsenal of percussion instruments. How many mic's are you planning on getting?

Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking one for each conga, one for the small percussion instruments, one for the bongos and one for timbales. Do you think that'd be sufficient?

How many congas do you play? I think that you could always double your timbale mic with the hand percussion, but overall I think should be sufficient. Good luck with your purchase

I play 3. I'll take a look at the SM57's.

Thanks,

Miguel

Miguel,
What kinda of gig is it? What kind of band? Indoor, outdoor? Is there going to be a engineer with equipment, or do you bring your own . Does you band have any equipment? Are the bongos on a stand or are you playing sitting?
You have to give more background for help.
Mics: If your'e on a tight budget SM57's will do for congas, get 2 or 3. If you have or plan to get mic stands, are you willing to move one from congas to bongos? If you rather not, better get another one + a stand. For timbales get a SD condensor for overhead capture.It should work for small ensembles, get into rock or heavy music and you will need to get a dynamic mic per timb and one for bells/or a stand to help get timbs and bells together. Perc table/rack get 1 or 2 SD condensor SM81, PG something or other Beta 4.1? You can look at Audio Technica's too.Audio Technica PRO37R or similar
And of course cables.

Tony

Either I have had really bad luck with 57's, or they just weren't built to handle my treatment of them.

Here's what I know: I like my mic's clipped to my drums. I play in a lot of small bars where space is never abundant. In those environments, stands are not an option. I also play drumset and I clip my mics to my toms/snare as well.

What has happened is that the heads on the 57's have grown more and more loose to the point that if you attatch it to something that vibrates (i.e. a drum/cymbal stand) the head resonates and it makes a horrible noise in the speakers. I know that the 57's were designed with a floating head, and when they were new it was not a problem. This issue has developed over a few months. Overall, I'd say I'm fairly dissapointed with 57's. I assume that all of my 57's probably sound fine if you use them on stands instead of clips. Also, Shure maintenance service will cost you almost as much as a new 57.

I have a Sennheiser e604 on order. The plastic clip looks like it might be a little cheesy, but the mic will thread onto my shure/lp claws if the clips don't work out. I got one new off of ebay for $90. Retail you can get a 3 pack for $300. I'll let you know how it goes.

BTW, has anyone ever seen/used a Carvin Drum Mic? You can get a snare/tom/conga mic for $50, so it is either junk or no one knows about them. I only know because all of our PA gear is Carvin and I have seen them in the catalog.

That's what I know...

KM

Too bad about the 57's, try tapping them somehow?
The e604's sound good on congas!!! I hear the clips are kinda funky, but it will go on a claw or stand.Don't know about Carvin, but they don't have much history for mics, so be careful, better to test them out first.\

Tony

I have applied tape in the past. Acording to Shure:

This will alter the polar pattern in a very negative manner. The pattern will be become "semi-omnidirectional" and the frequency response will become very rough and irregular. Placing tape on a directional microphone will always cause problems if the tape covers any acoustical opening, grill, or port.

However, I also found this:

You will need a toothpick and Duco Cement (available from a hardware store). Locate the black metal screen that is 1.25" below the SM57 grill. This screen is right below the band that says "Shure" and "SM57". In a strong light, look carefully through the screen. You will see four bright areas that are just below the screen. Each of these areas is 90 degrees apart from the next area. These four areas are the glue targets.

Stand the microphone upside down on its grill. Put a small dab of cement (the size of a pin head) on the toothpick. Place the cement on the first area. Let the cement flow downward and get between the black screen and the rotating plastic grill. Repeat for the remaining three areas. Let the cement dry thoroughly.

This technique should stop the rattling. Use the cement sparingly.

I'll give it a try.

KM

Thanks for the tips on the 57s, kmmurrdog. I have a couple for years now and noticed the heads are looser, but haven't yet had the rattling problem as I don't use them with clips - if I do, and if they rattle, now I'll know what to do.

I like the 57's best of any standard mic I know - the sound reproduction seems most accurate and they feedback much less than the 58's and other mics.

Maybe sometime I'll get to try out those e604's that you mentioned, Tonio.

Yoni

I don't know if they are stil used anymore but I remember using Barcus Berry pickups on my congas back in the 70's. they are taped to the top head of the conga and doesn't get in your way, and the sound was right there. 57's are more to todays sound and work well with perc. Also Akg's are also excellant for recording purposes. At your Service.. JC JOHNNY CONGA...

Hi,
I was using Audio Technica 57's, one in the middle between congas and bongos one over head pointed at bongos. Sounded ok til the rest of the band kicked in and couldn't hear a thing I did in the monitors. I positioned mics on side pointed down at congas and it was too akward with mic stands... So, I switched to a drum mic kit made by Nady it has 2 condensor mics and kit drum mic 4 reg mic's, off ebay $160 plus shipping. I only use half of the kit, but one on each conga and a condenser over the bongos and for shakers and other toys. Works for me. Also use a small mixer to connect mics to and run one line to PA equipment. This has made a big difference in how it sounds to me on monitors and what the audience hears is much better to. The extra mics I loan to drummer to add to his mics and we put all drums in mixer run one line to PA. This helps feed back issues and made my playing a whole lot easier.

I can recommend Nady drum mic's they are affordable and do the job if you are on a tight budget. I think a Shure drum kit with the same number of mics starts at $300? can't remember the price but it was out of my price range.

Hope this helps anyone shopping.

Peace,
Congabebe