May Internal Drum mics- Internal vs External Mic Sound

Follow up to my May install video I made a couple years ago- comparing the sound of the internal mic with the traditionally mounted external (top) mic.

[@brucegross6292]

That was a great test,very informative.I have a 2004 Pearl Masters retrospec fusion kit.i have mounted the whole sennheiser clip on on the inside w E 904s,I get a great live sound…the mics are pointed off center,facing the batter head..also lowered the mics to almost mid shell,no basketball sound at all very beefy,even the 10” Tom…Have done this for years,,,&have concluded if the mics are pointed directly at the center of the batter as May suggests,you will always have that tinty basketball sound…also,,it does cut down cymbal bleed and isolates each drum with their own sound…good luck

[@tlkshowhst]

Internal mics with the foam sounded the best imo.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Try using a pillowcase, since it has two layers, it’ll absorb some more of those high freq waves bouncing around on the inside of the drum.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

You can also try covering the entire inside of the shell with shirt material to really kill the basketball sound. It’ll make the external mic sound like ass but maybe the internal mic will sound good!

[@yannyloyer7177]

Tommy Aldridge uses b 52's in all his toms

[@yannyloyer7177]

great ! thinking about going this route for my massive kit. less cymbal bleed.

[@simonbarth3181]

Ha its very funny I did almost the exact same testing. But, i think i solved it even a bit better by using thicker foam! It still sounds more attcky (which is what i want) but if you use foam thats a bit more thick ( i would guess around 6cm?) it will give you a better low end! I didnt even have the mounting thing, i just screwed bayerdynamic tom mics on rubber pads directly in the wall of the toms.

[@rnl9520]

Thanks for this demo! Surprised to hear these results as I have heard so many people rave about the May internal mic system. I could never justify the expense. Glad I never went down the road of internal mics.

[@PhilHenDrums]

I'm curious: is your bass drum reso head ported? Do you have any internal dampening, as is common in a bass drum? When you said that the bass drum sounds almost identical from inside and outside those variables came to mind as being different from a typical tom setup. To my ears, the external tom mic sounds like it includes some natural room reverb or some other phenomenon that allows it to have more audible space. The internal mic sounds constrained, as if it hears mostly attack and the resonance is not allowed to develop. Maybe phase cancellation is happening naturally inside the drum between the sound reflections off various surfaces. I suppose that is what the cloth was supposed to address. Somehow the internal sound lacks the spread and body of the external sound. So figuring out why that doesn't happen in the bass drum would be interesting.

[@kevinturvey8213]

drums should sound like drums - just stick a great stereo pair in front of a great kit played by a great drummer in a great sounding room - job done

[@jimhoman4415]

Said no one who has ever recorded a drum kit and mixed it in the modern times. Sure you can bring up one example (When the Levee Breaks but that wasn't in front and lots of compression and delay) but even minimalist recording like the Glyn Johns techniques grew from 3 to more mics as recordings became more technical and more tracks available.

[@ZachShannon1]

Oh aye? We'll just stick a stereo pair in the middle of a live stage, with amps and vocalists? Consider not being a moron next time you comment.