The placement of each mic is critical to getting great drum sounds. For a more modern rock sound, most kick drums will be miced inside of the front head's access hole; the mic is pointed towards the kick beater for a more pronounced attack, or towards the drum shell for a more warm sound.
Snare drums are especially difficult to mic, as their sonic signatures change with the slightest movement of the mic. Start with the mic pointed at a 45-degree angle towards the drum head, typically between the top tom drum and the high hat stand. Toms require close micing to help isolate their sounds, and overheads should be placed in an X/Y pattern overhead.
Each microphone has a signature sound, and matching the drum with the mic is essential. Kick drums require a larger diaphragm dynamic microphone to reproduce its lower frequencies. Snare drums are typically miced with a fast moving dynamic microphone. Toms can be miced with either small condensor or dynamic mics. High hats should be miced with smal diaphragm condensors, and overheads can be either small or large diaphragm condensors.
With so many microphones in one space, constructive and destructive phasing issues may occur. As each drum is hit, all of the surround mics can pick up "bleed," or unwanted signal, which can degrade the overall drum sound. Many engineers isolate the kick drum microphones by covering the kick and mic with blankets.
Drum sets are incredibly loud and produce high sound pressure levels (SPL). Each microphone must be rated to handle such transient power. The high SPLs can ruin many ribbon or condensor microphones by physically abusing the microphone's diaphragm element. The result is not only a broken mic, but also a distorted sound.