drum overhead mic stands

[rec-tec]

hi all

i have come to the conclusion that the mic stands that i have are too short (ain't that always the case?) for the job - they are not high enough from the kit

does any one have recommendations for:

1) thing/s i can add on to exiting stand to make it taller
2) a taller stand (not top dollar ones)
3) some innovative alternative

cheers

RT

[DC-Choppah]

Hey man, I had the same problem. Then I learned to just hang them from the ceiling. Just google 'ceiling microphone mounts'. I now have a RODE XY stereo pair over the kit. The kit doesn't move so the mics are fixed. Saves the floor space and the tipping over of the stand problem. I've got mine on a goose neck so I can just reach up and move it around a bit.

[Urthlupe]

These work well http://www.studiospares.com/stands-mic-/k+m-overhead-mic-stand-black/invt/428250 , but approx £100 for pair unfortunately.

Loopy

[Jack Ruston]

This is a real problem. You need enough height and reach to do what you want with overheads, and unfortunately there's no cheap way around it. A bit of ingenuity with the ceiling mounting idea or similar can be a great solution but it does tend to fix you into one way of working. I think the cheapest option would be the Sontronics or SE stands, but even those SE Tripods (the standard one) dont go that high. It's not that the overheads need to be so high themselves necessarily, but they do need reach over the kit and some degree of stability.

J

[James Perrett]

One thought - take a look at lighting stands.

[Exalted Wombat]

If this is for recording rather than stage use - i.e. it doesn't matter too much what it looks like - consider rigging a pair of uprights and a cross-piece over the kit. This is inherently more stable than a tall boom stand and can therefore be considerably more lightweight and therefore cheaper.

[Neokoenig]

I use the bottom half of cymbal stands: http://i.imgur.com/OvRK4hx.jpg

I always found cheap normal stands didn't have the height and were prone to toppling. Cymbal stands are a *lot* more robust. Trick is seeing if any of your spare stands have a similar pipe width to the top half of your mic stand.

[JustRob]

Hi

I ran into the same issue a while back, my solution was to buy some cheap PA stands from thomann, £20 i think, i then took the boom arms off my regular mic stands and attached them on top of the pa stand with a hammer and some chemical metal (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Padding ... B0034Z98F6)
works fine for me, can get both my 4038's (notoriously heavy) up above the kit on one stand, and if you need extra manoeuvrability you can attach an extra boom to the end of your original and mic pretty much any which way you choose

I will admit they're not the prettiest but with a bit of a spray they might look good

pics below

[Guest]

A few years ago I wanted a pair of stands to use as overheads and also to record concerts 'from above' (i.e. out of audience eye-line), I had to do it quickly so couldn't do lots of careful research...

When they arrived I found out they were enormous (and very heavy), we've Christened them 'The Bazookas' from the way we have to carry them! With the boom pointing upwards (not sure why you'd want to though) they are over 5 meters high.

Definitely overkill, but they can carry heavy mics comfortably. Sorry can't remember what they are off top of my head.

Steve

[rec-tec]

thanks, all for the suggestions

food for thought indeed

i may do the cymbal thing, or the speaker stand thing, or, indeed the braced bar

(or i may just bite the bullet and get a single K+M stand - for an x/y configuration)

major thanks, though for taking time to photo things and post - that's why i love this forum!

cheers

RT

[rec-tec]

just saw the post about the bazookas - too high for my needs - they'd poke out roof windows!

thanks for the thought though

cheers

RT

[rec-tec]

i wonder whether i could put part of my mike stand on one of these

looks a bargain:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/t-bar-lighting-stand-qk42v

(thanks for the idea james)

cheers

RT

[James Perrett]

I bought a similar stand from Maplin a few years ago but haven't used it as a mic stand yet. It works fine as a lighting stand though for the occasional gig.

[Strangy]

I already owned light stands (K&M 24620), was pleased to discover K&M make an adaptor (a ‘reducer flange’!) that enables microphone boom arms to attach: Reducer Flange

Useful if you already own boom arms and light stands (with a 35mm diameter). The K&M lighting stands themselves are very stable and have a height of 3 metres which is great for certain recording situations.

[The Red Bladder]

Something decent instead - Thomann mic stand web page

[rec-tec]

i am hovering over the buy button.......

this definitely looks fit for purpose

if i get it i will report back

RT

[darrylportelli]

Hey,,, we passed a long rod (a piece of metal pipe) from side to side of the room near the ceiling above the drum kit and we hung the overheads via their cables from the pipe