How To Mic A Snare Drum

The snare can be a tricky beast. Mainly because there’s a lot going on around and underneath it:

• It’s next to the hi-hat, which can bleed into the mic. 
• It’s next to the bass drum, which also bleeds. 
• Next to the toms. They also bleed. 
• It has the snare wires underneath it which—often—have a sympathetic ringing every time some low frequencies are in the room. 
• It’s the most nuanced drum we play, from ghost notes to thunderous down-strokes, so we have to be able to capture all of that as best we can. 

With all these in mind, you can arrive at two conclusions:

1. The most recommended microphone to capture a snare is a cardioid dynamic microphone. Cardioid mics are ideal for picking up sound from the front while rejecting noise from the sides and back. 
2. There aren’t many places to place the microphone on a snare. 

So, where do we place the mic? 

Miking Top And Bottom Of Snare

One of the most common approaches is to use two mics on the snare: one at the top, and one at the bottom.  

Using this approach will give you complementary sounds (the batter and the resonant head with the snare wires) and the chance to combine them. Although using two snare mics can be extremely beneficial, it can also be challenging. Here are a few things to consider: 

• Use dynamic cardioid mics (most famously, Shure SM57). 
• To start, place the microphone around 3 fingers in height from the drumhead. 
• Different positions and angles will provide a different sound. Check out this video showing how distance and angle affect the sound obtained.  
• As a rule of thumb, when miking the bottom, use the same location as the top head. This will prevent possible phase issues and keep your mix more consistent. 
• To avoid phase issues, some apply the 3:1 rule to the bottom: they place the bottom mic 3 times the distance as the top one. 
• You might want to reverse the polarity on one of the mics (usually bottom mic), in order to obtain a fuller sound. 
• Test and try with volumes. Probably your bottom microphone should be a little lower in volume than your top microphone.

What If We Need To Further Minimize The Bleed? 

Sometimes, bleeding from cymbals (especially hi-hat when recording snare drums) is difficult to avoid. 

One option is to put a piece of isolation foam between the microphone and the hi-hat, as in the example below. 

Auralex 6" Trap-Xpanders Drum Mic Isolation Studio Foam

Another option is to go with a specially-designed shield that mounts on to the mic stand. The Primacoustic CrashGuard is an example of that. 

Primacoustic’s CrashGuard