Re: SM/Beta 98 for Ride cymbal mic?
Here is my short answer: Yes. Here is my long answer: An SM57 on the floor tom will "work". If you don't believe me crank up the hi shelf EQ on that channel and tell me what you hear. Pretty much any decent microphone will work. Some work better than others for a particular sound, timbre, or just being able to reject other incomming sounds. You will get a different sound miking under a cymbal than from on top, you might like it better or you might like it worse. I am a drummer as well and have found the fewer microphones you use on the kit usually makes for a better sound. The key is knowing how to process whatever mic arrangement you use. By the way a shure 98 is an excellent cymbal mic if you get it in a good position. I recommend you roll all the EQ off except just the very top for some sizzle as a place to start. You usually get enough bleed from the rest of the open mics on stage to fill it out.
