If you re in the market for a good floor tom mic the choices below are all viable options.
Best floor tom mic recording.
It s affordable has universally great reviews from home recording enthusiasts and professionals alike.
In general the best live tom mics and the best studio tom mics are the same thing which is one headache less for those who need microphones to do both.
These toms are suitable for jazz and not much else as they have a very distinct sound.
However navigating which brands and models are best for picking up the boomy low to mid range sound of a tom drum is a tough task made easier by our listing of the 4 top options for toms.
They are flexible enough to work in both live and studio applications.
Audio technica s atm25 is a highly capable dynamic microphone tailored for close range applications.
So each mic is positioned the same distance from the drum head as much as possible and pointing towards the centre of the drum.
But i am testing five mics that can be used on floor toms and i ve tried to make it as useful as possible.
This mic tackles loud sources with ease provides good off axis rejection thanks to its hypercardioid polar pattern and shows a frequency response from 30hz to 15khz with a notable presence boost in the upper mids that will give those toms a great level of detail.
This is the kit for loud edgy rock music.
August 31 2020 the best microphone for recording tom toms for most people is the sennheiser e604.
The tom toms sound best when using a dynamic mic.
One thing i learned from michael stavrou s book mixing with your mind about recording drums in general is to find the best placement for the set in a room by walking around banging on the floor tom until you find the most resonant spot easier to do with two people one to bang and one to listen then placing the floor.
If you use one mic place it between the two drums about 4 to 6 inches away from the heads figure 3 shows this placement option.
The e604s have clips which enable one to affix them directly to the rim of the drum.
Ok so to be open with you i m not necessarily finding out the best floor tom microphone.
I use three primary kits for recording.
2 the ubiquitous rock kit.
For the mounted toms the ones above the kick drum you can use one or two mics.
Like so many others i like the u87 on floor toms.
Mic comparison on dw 18 maple floor tom.
Mics designed for snares sometimes miss the rich lower frequencies making the sound thin and hollow.
If you use two mics place one above each drum about 1 to 3 inches above.