Page 22 - Drum Tyme Advertising Book February 15th Updated to Slide Version June 17th 2020

IN THIS ARTICLE March 18, 2020

How to Mic a Drum Kit

By Lynn Fuston

There are lots of ways to mic a drum set. Let’s walk through how to mic a drum kit,
all the way from kick and snare to toms, overheads and rooms, including mic
recommendations and placement.

Kick Drum

Kick drums come in lots of sizes, from big, wide Bonham-style 14″ x 26″ bass drums
to much smaller kick drums. There are lots of mic techniques for getting a great kick
drum sound. Here are some miking options you might want to try.

* One mic outside the front (resonant) head

Putting a mic in front of the outer head is the most
common kick drum mic placement, but there are still plenty
of variables. Whether you put an E-V RE20, AKG D112, or

Shure Beta 52A on the outside of the kick, you’ll find lots of
variability in the sound depending on where on the head
you position it and the distance away from the head. For
live sound on a kick with no hole in the head, I find that
positioning the mic in the lower half of the head about
one-third of the drum’s diameter away from the rim will

work well. Put the mic between 1″–3″ off the outer head.