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Completely new to setting up a PA.

#63
Why is everyone talking about overhead mics? Micing cymbals? Don't they bleed into the vocal mics enough?

Here is how you mic a kit in small venues. This is DEFINITIVE:

1. Mic the kick. Get good sound from it.
2. Mic the toms. Get good sound from them.
3. Mic the snare. Be prepared not to use this channel, as it is rarely necessary.
4. Mic the high-hat. Get good sound from it.

Mic NOTHING ELSE. As I said, be prepared to kill the snare. The snare is going "WHACK!!! WHACK!!! WHACK!!!" in the room; and bleeding into every open mic within 20 feet of it.

DO NOT USE OVERHEADS unless you are playing a large room.

Thank you,

A Vocalist
 
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#67
Let him fiddle with all his mics and his submixer all he wants. Just make sure you're running the main mix so you can turn it all down. I'd be inclined to patch him into a regular channel strip rather than an aux in so you can have some eq to help undo whatever he's doing as well.

Give him his drum mix in his monitor so he feels like he's doing something and just keep in way down in the mains and out of everyone elses monitor.
 
#68
About 10 years ago I was playing in a band where the drummer was really loud. He took the time to mike every drum and run it into the pa. The sound guy turned them all off except for the kick.

The only time he wasn't overwelming was when we were in the studio with digital drums.
 
#69
Even if your drummer has three toms and he mics every drum, you shouldn't need more than seven mics for him, and that's a stretch. Kick, snare, toms x 3, two overheads. I often mic our drummer with three mics: kick, snare, overhead. My guess he's miking top and bottom of the snare and every cymbal. If you're running the sound and are just starting out, there is no way you will be able to get a meaningful mix out of the drums. There's no way he will, either. Twelve drum mics is just ridiculous overkill in your situation.

If you are going to give him 12 channels, you need a 24-channel mixer, but telling him "no" is the best option - seven would be generous, and with that you might get by with a 16-channel board. If bringing him to his senses is impossible, I'm with the "have him get his own submixer" crowd. Failing that, I'd fall back on the standard TB solution to problems like this. Fire him.
 
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#70
In the past, drummers that were too loud (out of balance with the band) cost us more gigs than any of the other stupid things we may have done.

In my last band (a long time ago) the drummer bought his own mic’s, mixer and speakers. Within a couple of months, he was just using 1 channel from the FOH.
 
#71
You know - I have a small system, and run a humble little setup for our Blues Society........
My mixer is a 12 ch powered unit, but I use outboard power amps here for clean headroom......

Most touring acts use smaller kits if they are hauling and setting up/down their own stuff

I mic amps if I need, keys if I need, and the drum kit gets kick - and an overhead, or kick and a hat and a vocal, depends on the specific needs.....at any rate, unless I REALLLLY had to.....no more than 3 mics on drums. In fact the time(s) i used more......it caused problems.

That said - my stuff isn't huge, and the room is about 50x60 with a high ceiling 18-20 foot or so an a mezzanine

Keep in mind, I am just a guy with some sound stuff......but these are fairly well known touring acts
and NONE of them have complained that there wasn't enough Drum in the PA

The best thing I ever did is add a Peavey ISP2 5000 for the monitors for better vocal clarity in the monitors.

MUCH better than adding a 16 channel board to mic more drums

Just my opinon - your milage may vary.........objects in the mirror.....

BTW - I do want to get a 16 or 24 ch. mixer some day.......headroom and clarity won out in the short run though
 
#72
RyanHutchison9 said:
Standard sized kit, I too thought it was overkill but he seems pretty keen. How many would you recommend?
Click to expand...

3,4, or five if you have two overheads and then miss for the kick, snare , and high hat.
RyanHutchison9 said:
His response:

"Yeh but everything needs to have mics or will sound ****"

"All the kit will have mics and just 2 mics for cymbals and 1 hi hatt mic"

"Snare top and bottom Tom Floor tom Bass drum Side snare Hi hatt 2 to pic up all the cymbals A ride mic ( just in case it don't cut through ) 1 for my cowbell
There's 11 there plus need and input for my electronic pad and brain so 12 all up"
Click to expand...

He's wrong. One or two overheads will do for all the cymbals and toms. Talk about making things difficult.
 
#80
RyanHutchison9 said:
When his most quotable sentence is "There's no money in originals" I think the only light is coming out of his arse. He thinks we are doomed to fail because we don't want to have a corporate band on the side that strictly plays professional events. Are we wrong? Are we doomed?
Click to expand...
Just because he's wrong about the 12 mics doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong about the money issue.
 

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