Mike Rivers wrote:

This can be said for anything, and occasionally it's right. But you
should recognize this and deal with it at the right time. The wrong
time is after the drums (which sound find) have been recorded and you
change your mind when mixing.

You can't necessarily deal with this until you hear the recorded drums
on "tape". How it sounds in the room may not be how it sounds on
playback. More options are better.

If you want every option, you have to
record with that approach. But not everyone can do that (or does it
even if they can) every time.

Agreed.


Let's not make rules here. It's possible to put a mic close to the
hi-hat and do something with it later (or not). If you have the time,
money, tracks, and mics, there's no reason not to, but most of the
time it will go unused. History is on my side here. While most
"famous" drumers will probably have a hi-hat mic on the session, many
more drummers will not. And most of the time the recording isn't
ruined for lack of a hi-hat mic.

Don't know what the percentage is, but you are probably right.

But, as you said, if you have the tracks available, and a spare
microphone, why not?

And don't forget, assuming the hi-hat is not already too loud from the
other tracks, this extra track gives you the ability to reposition the
hi-hat in the sound field. The purists may never want to do that, but I
am not a purist.