So I suck at recording live drums but I am trying to just keep doing it and experiment to get better. One thing I have always had an issue with is the fact that my hi hats are so overwhelming in the mix. My setup is 1 snare mic, 1 kick mic, and 2 overhead mics.

Firstly the snare mic gets a LOT of hi hat bleed which is frustrating. Firstly I made my hi hat stand higher up than it was before so it wasnt so close to the mic then I moved the mic clamp on the snare so that the hi hats are behind the end of the mic entirely. I will try some more positions but to be honest I have no idea why it is getting this much bleed, level is set not too high as well so I dont believe its that.

As for the overheads it is quite bad. The cymbals are way more quiet than I want them to be and for some reason the hi hats are a couple of DB louder than the cymbals or rest of the kit. Id say around in the overheads the hi hat comes in around 3-5 db louder than everything else in the kit. The overheads are never positioned directly above the hi hat and I have experiment with XY and AB mic placements. Even when I have the mics 1 foot above each cymbal the hi hats are still louder than cymbals. It feels like Ive been cursed by some audio wizard.

I record in a garage which I know is not ideal at all so I wonder if the room could somehow be amplifying the hi hats dramatically. Now technically I could just play the hi hats more closed and quietly but thats not the sound I want/going for. I like it when they are open and loose. If anyone has any thoughts please do share. Also if anyone would like to hear some clips of what they sound like in a mix I can upload some.

Also the mics im using is 2 SM57's on the snare and kick, and 2 Rode M5's for the overheads