First if we were to get all nit picking technical Ribbons are all technically Ribbons, so pretty popular.
If one were to search my name and threads started on the purple site you'd find a thread I made where I clustered 8 different dynamic mics as mono overheads. When I play gigs I bring an M201 as my overhead.
On one of my favorite records I ever made I used a 635a (or 2 I can't remember).
Back in my early days, I used a pair of Steadman N90s on a lot of records.
A mic is a mic, it doesn’t know it’s a condenser or Dynamic and won’t break with few exceptions because of how you used it.
Most who have fallen into Dynamics fall into 2 groups and I know my friend Tony has been in both.
1. I’m broke / not enough mic’s. Yeah most of us are not Ward ( at my worst I was close. Let’s face it 90% of the time OH are not the priority and well you use what you got, think the Crown PCC taped to the ceiling wasn’t because someone had a big live tracking gig and that’s what was left? I mean ever tried to mic an acustic guitar with a PCC? My pair of Countryman Lavs that Carl Hand delivered 30 years ago still have tape residue because they were taped over a drum kit!
2. The adventurist. The first 2 Tony mentions are probably the most common and both off a definite sonic signature, Although your not a true audio professional until you have been on a gig where someone grabs a Beyer 201 plugs it in and throws a panic attack because while the global phantom is turned off “this pencil condenser “ still works.
The 635a and other EV small shank Varible D have an openness that can work really well in fact you can pretty much cover the kit from the OH’s with a spot mic for Snare and kick balance.
I Love the Steadman’s never tried them as OH’s but I can see them working, I can’t remember what Heil model replaced them but the original Steadmans are literally an RE20 element in a non variable D loading in a side address body that is easily confused with a Lawson FET. ( not saying Tony confused them I’m saying I did on more than one occasion.
Another old school fave are a pair of the old AKG 2 way dynamics in good condition.
The biggest problem with Dynamics as OH is even brand new out of the box matching can be hit or miss, because the price point is typically lower and they usually are not sold for as critical use QC tolerances are not as tight ( exception being AT all but lowest pro series had the same tolerances as their condensers).
If you’re looking for a go to, it’s always going to work in any situation OH mic moving coil dynamics are probably not what you want. If you learn the tone of your mics and grab a mic based on what sonics it brings to the party don’t be afraid of your dynamics, you might even find if you use them as the primary drum mics you will free up some Dynamic processing and reverb for other duties.
One little note EV 635a and RE50 are Omnis and bring a tone of natural linearity to the party. Both really fall in to the catagory of Electronic News Gathering mics, now you would think all the 635a “ killers” from Shure, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser etc would work as well, nope. They work but most of these have a Frequency Response tuned for spoken voice and have peaks in the upper mids that just don’t work as well for music.
