Microphone for percussion

[orest]

Hi!
I'm looking for a ribbon or dynamic microphone for percussion.
Congas, hand cymbals, djembe and so on.

It's mainly for live gigs and I want a warm and round sound, not a metallic modern sound.

Any suggestions? Price range from 500 - 1500 dollars.

[mojobone]

Electro-Voice RE20 or Sennheiser MD421 are probably the most useful all-rounders for the stage. The EV is nice on kick drum, Leslie low rotor, djembe and miscellaneous percussion, but can be difficult to position on things like tom-toms, due to its size. The MD421 is a common choice with Latin percussionists' timbale rigs and is also great around the drumkit. I'd avoid ribbon mics altogether, except for the newer, active models, because in the heat of the moment at sometimes hectic shows, I wouldn't want to worry about popping a ribbon if phantom power were to be inadvertently applied to a $500+ microphone. Nearly all ribbons are bi-directional, which can cause issues with bleed/spill in a stage setting. If you want something for double-duty in stage and studio, and already have The EV and Sennheisers, as many do, I'd look at the Beyerdynamic M160 dual ribbon, which is a classic for drum overheads and many other applications, (Queen used them on guitar cabs and piano) and Royer R-101. The Royers are particularly robust, compared to older ribbon designs. (they'll withstand higher SPL's but phantom power from a mixer will still kill them instantly, same as the Beyerdynamics and nearly all other ribbon mics) There's also an intriguing new cardioid ribbon based on the classic RCA models, but it's a bit beyond your price range at over $4k. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXW1dbhCoao

[mazz]

+1 on the 421. You could probably get two and still hit your budget and you'd have mics that work for a lot of other things as well. I've seen the on bass amps, percussion, even vocals! A great all around mic for sure.

[eeoo]

+2 on the 421, I love them on electric guitar but great all around workhorse.

eo

[BruceBrown]

Call me old fashioned, but for a live application on the instruments you mentioned you could get a Shure SM57 for under a hundred bucks.
Hard to beat a 57.
Bruce

[orest]

Thanks for your thoughts!
The Sennheiser does look very interesting.

Regarding the SM57, I own that mic but it doesn't sound good on congas at all, you get a very hard sound from it.

I'm very interested in this mic as well, CAD e100s: (the second mic..)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnq0JrOvfUo

I'm also interested in Royer R-122v, a little more expensive, but WOW what a sound!!

About CAD e100s, that mic is not available in Sweden or Europe.
I wonder how I can get that mic? The tax is horrible from USA to Sweden.

The Royer mic costs 2.700 dollars in US, I have to pay 850 dollars in tax fees to get it to Sweden..

[Silversun]

+1 on the RE21 and 421. Another gem of a mic thats great for percussion (and especially on toms aswell ) is the Beyer 201. You can pick em up pretty cheap. If your going the ribbon route and can stretch the budget then coles 4038 is an amazing mic. Pretty expensive though.

[brentmagstadt]

Definitely low end, but we use the Sennheiser e604's for onstage mic'ing of congas - they work great and cost about $150ea.
-- b

[Len911]

I don't think I'd use an expensive or a ribbon mic for live. I'd be afraid of theft or clumsiness,lol! I can just picture the sound check with someone blowing into the ribbon mic.

[JamieMuffett]

Also have a look at the SM-7 kind of like the RE-20 but even more flexible in my opinion.