Snare drums are commonly miked with a cardioid or hyper-cardioid dynamic microphone. Common placement is to place the mic slightly above (approximately 1″) and inside the rim of the drum pointing towards the drum head at an angle of approximately 30–60˚ (see Fig. 136). Care needs to be taken to place the mic where it won’t receive any blows from errant drumsticks, and it is usually a good idea to place it so the hi-hat is in the pickup pattern’s angle of most rejection.

It is also common to use the same placement on the bottom skin of the snare drum to pick up more of the sizzle of the snares. Miking both the top and bottom skins will allow flexibility when mixing. It’s important to note that the signal from the bottom head will usually be 180˚ out-of-phase with the mic on top and the overheads, in which case it is necessary to reverse the phase of the bottom mic signal.

For more information see How To Mic A Drum Kit.