From the course: Audio Recording Techniques

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Miking the hi-hat

Miking the hi-hat

From the course: Audio Recording Techniques

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Miking the hi-hat

You might think that because there's normally so much hi-hat leakage into the snare mic, that a separate hat mic isn't necessary. But it's really nice to have when you need just a little more hat sparkle or when you need just a bit more hat level during the section of the song. Once again, there are a number of ways to mic the hat, but the method I'll show you in this video will not only sound good, but provide some isolation from the rest of the drums as well. Most drummers use relatively heavy hi-hats, especially if they use them for live gigging. Heavy hats are generally dull sounding, so we want to use a mic that favors a high-end and responds well to the transient nature of the cymbals. That's why a small diaphragm condenser mic is usually used, although the type or make of the mic doesn't matter as much as the placement. First of all, make sure that the mic is placed towards the rear of the kit as far away from the crash cymbal as possible. Place it about halfway between the…

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