The Cymbals
These are basically covered by the overheads but you might find that the ride cymbal needs a
mike of it's own if the drummer rides it a lot through the chorus. Basically you want the crash
cymbals to have a loose sound yet the ride often is the main drive as it replaces the hihat for
the 8 a 16 feels. You must consider this factor when setting up the overheads. Drummers also
accent using the bell of the ride cymbal that can be extremely loud so beware of miking too
close to the bell of the ride cymbal or it will dominate the sound field. Some engineers mike the
ride from underneath. In a complex drum setup with lots of splash and crash cymbals you
might like to spot mike certain cymbals but I reckon that if you've setup your overheads
correctly they should cover the full cymbal range.
The Hihats
Like the overheads the hihat also requires a mike with a clean top end so it's usually a
condensor mike. I like to hide the hihat mike from the snare by placing it in a position that is pointed at where the drummer impacts it with his stick but the hihat is physically between the
hihat mike and the snare.
Good separation between the hihat and the snare is desirable so consider the snare when you
place the the hihat mike. Another factor of the hihat is the sound made when they are snapped
together. I like to aim the mike so it is pointing at a point that gets the stick impact as well as
the pointing at the edge of the hats as that is where the closing sound emanates. N.B. If you
get too close you will get wind distortion from the hats as they close.
One of the problems you can get is where the drummer has the hihat low to the snare and the
toms also low to the snare. This creates separation problems as well as making it hard to isolate
the snare from the tom. There's not much you can do other than ask the drummer to change.
This is not as awesome as it sounds, some drummers have never considered this aspect of their
kit layout and on making the change actually say it's OK and find they easily got used to it and
now prefer it. The same problem can occur with the ride cymbal - some drummers have their
ride cymbal almost touching the floor tom which makes separation hard - I recently had a
drummer like that and when I mentioned it he agreed to change. After the session he remarked
that he actually liked the change and would do it in future. Moral of this story? - don't be afraid
to ask!!