Must-Have Mics for Metal & Rock Engineers 

Good advice here. I've been recording music for years, our specialty is capturing signature guitar and drum sounds here at Soundhammer Studio. What would you say if I told you I replaced 20 SM57's with cheap 39.00 mics? Well, I did. I did it because they actually sounded better than my 57's. There's SO many situations where unknown or obscure cheap mics actually sound better for the application you're intending. Now, I have AKG 414EB's (sliver vintage), I have 1969 U87, I have Sennheiser U441s, 421's, Audio Technica's, Shure's, Tube mics, FET mics, Cascades with Lindahl transformers...you name it I probably got it. What I'm wanting you to understand is this, a manufacturer's main concern is to sell their label to you and get you to buy into the belief that they own your sound more than you do. When you think of a manufacturer building a microphone with buckets of parts that each have plus or minus certain level of tolerances, you can understand how two mics from the same manufacturer can haves striking difference. Is it good difference or bad? Says who? Our concern as engineers should always be to produce THE sound, the one the client wants. If you can do that with a 17.00 piezo...you've succeeded. I bought thousands of dollars worth of gear over my years of recording, but when I hear those recordings....I couldn't tell you if it was a 10k Les Paul or a 300.00 Epiphone, a U87 or my 39.00 Chinese mic, an Ampeg SVT or Peavey TNT. All I know is, the recording Absolutly rocked and the client was happy. Sure, you will have clients that throw out the requirements, and for those guys you have to do what they want even when you now it matters little. But...never lose the perspective that "sound" is not owned by any manufacturer or label. This video is a great start to the deprogramming of everything many of us have read on the popular mags and seen in "those" videos. The main message I try to implant in my fellow engineers is to ALAYES keep your head on the results and less on how you got there. Everybody judges music on the results, not the process or gear. And if you embrace that results are more of what you do than the gear, you're going to be a whole lot more confident and successful than you imagined. Great job on this vid my friend.

Hi Jordan, thank you for all your videos and mails, they help a lot

Very helpful! Keep up the awesome work.

Thanks Jordan, have been eying a pair of 451s and a SM7B. Great to know they are recommended as you suggested, thanks 🙏 again. You have a new sub.

I have been using these mics in my studio and it sounds fantastic! Gets the job done and you truly don't need to look anywhere else. Also, I don't record heavy music unlike Jordan and it's worth mentioning these mics works great even for non heavy indie folk music as well. Thank you for all the help and assistance, Jordan!

I think you have a video on it, but would you show your vocal chain and how to gain stage screams on the way in? Thanks, man! You rule!

Saving me a lot time and money. Thank you.

I was really pleasantly surprised to find that a pair of audio technica AT2020’s are excellent as drum overheads !! They are a medium diaphragm condenser and they give you a nice smoothe brightness on the cymbals and add a nice roundness to the rest of the kit.... and you can’t go wrong for $200 a pair

Sm7b also is a pretty cool mic on guitars. Brings out the top end a bit and because you can only put it so close the the grill cloth, it gives a tiny bit of room reflections being a few inches away from the capsule. I like blending this with the sm57

One of your best videos!

I picked up the Avantone drum mic kit with the 8 mics. Those mics cover a good chunk of your recommendations, other than the vocal mic.

Good choices...pretty much what i would go with for all those as well. A great Large Diaphragm for female vox is my original Rode NT 2...LOVE it on any vox (except screaming rock...yeah go with Sm7B or a 58 there) but it really shines on female vox

Thanks Jordan!

d112 is a fave of mine but thoughts on beta52 and re20 on kick and metal vocals?

The absolute must have mic and what should be your first make as a beginning recording home studio engineer should a shure 57 that's it

What's your opinion on Earthworks DM20 for toms, snare and Electric guitars?

The Lewitt LCT440 pure, The Sennheiser MK4 and the Stellar X3 are excellent microphones the will stand up to any Neumann mic.

For drums room mic, just try ECM8000 . 60$ for a pair. Yes... it's measurement microphone, but it sounds great on "far room" set up

Good stuff! Not crazy about the D112 anymore. It sounded good for me in 1 bass drum but it's pretty scooped. Not quite as scooped as an Audix d6, which is also really clicky. I've been using a Shure SM7 for bass drums with excellent results because it allows me to choose which, if any, frequencies that need cutting or boosting depending on the drum. For SDCs I have been using some Oktava MC 012s that I got for a deal several years ago. Also for vocals and overheads I have been using some kit mics from MicrophoneParts.com. They have a T-84 kit based on a K84 Neumann circuit but uses a K47 style capsule and a very nice transformer. This has become my go to vocal mic. All in with a donor mic (MXL Marshall MCA SP-1) plus the kit is just over $300 and requires a little soldering experience. The instructions are great and detailed. They also have kits for a variety of other transformerless mics that I have built using the same 47 style capsule. I too have worked in studios with million dollar mic lockers. My go to VO mic used to be an m149 or an 87 and have had experiences with 251s and other old German mics. The MicParts mics can compete with those old mics any day of the week. Highly recommended!

How about the WA 87 R2 Mic for tenor/crooner?

Definitely helps things a lot to add a second mic to guitar recordings. 57 is great combined with lots of different mics, even a second 57. Ribbon mic combo is pretty much standard issue in most studios. Also if I were starting out I would buy all of beyerdynamics classic mics (a little more expensive but worth it) and not have to worry that I'm ever going to replace them because they are some of the best. M88, m201, m160 btw.

SM7b sounds surprisingly good on acoustic too.

I like to use a pair of MXL 990s as my drum overheads as I find SDCs too harsh. I tend to get the whole kit sounding good through them, then reinforce with the close mics. But then, I'm not a huge fan of the super separated, modern kit sound.

What about the Thoman stuff? They got a relatively good sm 57 and sm 7b clone... That cousts a third or halb the price? Glen fricker did demos if these. So you could do a Room mic I'd Fred man technic with them

I had Sennheiser MD 421's on toms for a while and they would always get whacked by drumsticks and end up falling apart (heavily dented screens, etc.). e604's are GREAT on toms: no need for stands (they clip on), they're small, they take a beating, they're cheap and they sound fairly similar to the MD 421. Win.

Solid picks for most things but I'm personally not a big fan of the Shure SM7b. It sounds fine, but I feel like it lacks character and much prefer the Rode NT1A. I've gotten quiet clean female vocals and brutal death growls to come through that mic beautifully (and it's cheaper). It also sounds good on guitar amps but it can be unforgiving when not placed properly.

akg d112 is better than shure beta 52? what is the difference and which is better for kick drum and bass?

I recommend the Slate ML-2 for all instruments and ML-1 for vocals. I have switched over to using those exclusively and absolutely love it.

I always have problems with my noise floor on my SM7b.. I really love my Aston Origin for most applications though

Hi Jordan, couldn't agree more with your choices. Which setup do you prefer for overheads in rock and metal, spaced pair, x/y or??

You said that you prefer DI on bass… is there a DI that you recommend?

I really dig audio technical atm-25s on Toms.

Sounds like Hardcore Tracking is about to roll ;)

Will a pair of AKG C1000S be good for overheads (and acoustic guitars)?

I need a good pair of mics for stereo acoustic guitar and stereo acoustic cello and stereo vocal quartet (soprano tenor alto bass)

How well does the SM7b work with the mic preamps on budget interfaces? I sometimes see people online say that you need a pretty high gain preamp to get a decent signal out of it.

Do you use a cloudlifter for the SM7B?

I LOVE the Rode NT5's, for the price bracket they're in you can't go wrong with them!

Was wondering about coupling a MD421 with a 57 for the guitars... Would a c414 instead of a 421 do the same kind of job ? Actually say that because of the squarish shape of both mics so it must be dumb... but anyway i'm still curious about the answer ^^ (I don't own those mics yet) Oh ! And as a first comment, I must thay thank you for all the information. That's reaaally precious. Never thought I could be able to mix properly before checking your channel and accessing all the knowledge you share. That's some tremendous share, thank you again ;)

How different is an SM57 from an SM58 in terms of sound?

Tried using an SM7b but hated it. You gotta use a ridiculous amount of gain to get any sound out of it. I think a Beta58 is a way better mic for less than half the price

Still using this setup?

The problem with all of this is it's about sonic flavors and just like food flavors it's about how they work together and context. I love pepperoni on pizza but not on my Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I hate 57's but on Dual Recto's with v30's they sound good because that amp I find too round and the v30's have weird mid's so the 57 and the combination of everything seems to hide some of he weaknesses of the amp and cab (and mic). One mic might be great on a particular drum or amp but terrible on another which is why you see good studios having lots of options. Applying the same gear to everything is fine when you're starting out but when I see "producers" pulling out their go-to gear it gets a big one-dimensional but then again maybe that's why the band hired that producer so that might be fine. I'd much prefer to meet the band where they're at and come up with something to bring out their best rather than a one size fits all stamp.

i completely disagree about LDCs for heavy vox. That's almost all I use. and most of what i do is heavy stuff.

AURAS 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

I think a U47 clone and C12 clone are the way to go for vocals….

3:33 whats this Mike?

Dont you think the neumann TLM 103 is better then the AKG 414, i dont really care about all those features, i do everything in post.

Fuckin thank you

Sm7b= Lana Delray mic

This is an old post so I don't know if you or anyone else will see this but I have two Sennheiser 421's, two AKG D-112's, an SM57 and SM58, and two matched AKG C1000S's. These are microphones I bought at least 20 years ago or maybe longer. They are all in great condition because I kept them in their boxes and rarely used them. I'm a drummer asn I want to integrate as many as I can for a live IEM, hybrid drum system I'm putting together. I also want to use them for recording. So the 421's are on the toms. The SM57 on the snare. The AKG D112 in the bass drum. The only mics I have a question about is the AKG C1000's and the SM58. Will the AKG 1000's work well as overheads and will I be able to use the SM58 on my hi hats?

How can he say toms are not a focal point in production & you don’t need good tom mics? Toms may not be a focal point most of the time, but you better have good tom tone or the kit is going to suffer big time. Guessing this guy triggers everything. That is a ridiculous statement to make as a recording engineer. Use Audix D series or the best, in my opinion, is the Sennheiser MD421, which is classic. LEARN TO MIC TOMS WELL!!! Don’t listen to this guy.