How many channels/mics does your drummer use?

[bassbrad]

No more than 4 usually bass drum, snare, left and right overheads. Sometimes he may play double kick

 

[jaco944]

I voted 9.....I wish there had been a "too many" option.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

It depends on how big the place is. If it's a small place, I just mic the kick and maybe the snare. If the place is huge, I mic everything.

 

[ThunderFox]

My drummer uses 1 (sometimes 2) slots on the mixer, but the poll says "kick", my drummer uses an Electric Kit. Defiantly easier to set up than a traditional kit. About 2-3min, and I've set it up.

Solves volume issues when in smaller venues, and it's more portable. I can fit it in a car boot with my bass. gear, and the rhythm guitar players gear too.

 

[andawun]

Once at a local festival they used one studio condenser mic on a boom stand about two feet in front of the drum set. It was aimed about halfway between mounted toms and kick. The kit sounded great. Simple solution.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I play in a local band. We aren't touring. We aren't doing it for a living. I am curious about how many mics people use on a drum kit for local gigs.

I understand that you can get a great balance by micing every component of the drum. I'm just trying to figure out how many your local band drummer uses on average.

It seems different from venue to venue.

1 kick, 1 snare, 2 toms Is pretty common for the smallest venues (I'd say 300 capacity or less) where the cymbals don't really need much help from the PA.

Some shows like when we opened for nonpoint below he did have a overhead and had a microphone for the hi hats but that was a large (for us anyways) venue 1200 capacity venue.

At practice if anything we mic anything it's ussually just the kick drum when we're writing new stuff and want to lock in real good.

Edit: he does use one of those sample pads to play movie clips during guitar changes. But it's just a line, no microphone. Right now it's has stuff from 40 year old virgin, the matrix, and some old weird speacjes about nuclear war.

 

[gwbasley]

I am a drummer and I use two inputs in the board. I have a 52 permanently mounted in my Bass Drum and a Beta 57 for vocals plus. I'm not a hard player so that adds just enough presence for the small venues, (up to 300 seats), that we play. We have played bigger halls but the house has always provided the sound in those cases.

 

[Gyver]

Unless it's a huge gig with a paid soundman, we usually go with one in the kick and one overhead.

This. But a few places we play mic every drum which is nice.

 

[Scottkarch]

1 mono out from electronic TD series. 1 vocal mic.

 

[73jbass]

I usually mic all the drums and leave the cymbals alone. A while back I saw a show where the drums has a mic on the kick,snare,and a single condenser overhead for the cymbals and toms, and it sounded great. I'm using that setup tomorrow.

 

[Salicete]

9 to record in the band room, because he "can," having virtually each piece of gear individually miced - two overheads, kick and the snare live.

 

[Hounddog409]

I play in a local band. We aren't touring. We aren't doing it for a living. I am curious about how many mics people use on a drum kit for local gigs.

I understand that you can get a great balance by micing every component of the drum. I'm just trying to figure out how many your local band drummer uses on average.

zero - but the drummer has the electric kit to an amp....easy to adjust volume to venue.

 

[Steve Dallman]

We use a sensor to trigger a bass drum sample (no bleed, consistent sound, no feedback, etc.) The drummer's mic picks up the rest of his kit just fine for most gigs. Outdoors, we may place a boundary mic on top of his kick which picks up the rest of the kit pretty evenly.

I have a small sub next to my bass rig the kick also runs through. I like to have the kick onstage clearly. I've been doing this since around 1980. It helps keep the band tight.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Always depended on the gig, but the minimum has usually been 3-4 for kick, snare/hat, toms, and low tom.

 

[JimmyM]

In my oldies band, it varies from a single mic on the bass drum (not "kick"...that's some lame soundtech term for the bass drum ) to a mic on every drum and two overheads.

 

[Gizmot]

I play with a couple of drummers - one uses a Roland kit, the other an old Ludwig kit with two mounted and one floor Tom. The electronic kit is nice because it's so easy to achieve consistent results but it doesn't have the soul of live drums. It is what it is.

When I play with acoustic drums, I usually use mics on the kick, snare, one for the rack toms and one of my AKG 414s for overhead. I've got plenty of mics I could use, but we get good results with the setup and no gain-before-feedback problems either on the drums or any vocal mics

 

[Grumry]

I play in a local band. We aren't touring. We aren't doing it for a living. I am curious about how many mics people use on a drum kit for local gigs.

I understand that you can get a great balance by micing every component of the drum. I'm just trying to figure out how many your local band drummer uses on average.

Clubs gigs just get K S T1 T2, add a hat mic if they have ears(it doesn't go to FoH). Travel dates, add OH hat and OH ride sides. These will go in the mains if it's a big enough show.

You don't need kick in and out and sub kick, snare top and bottom or side. Take one and make it work.

 

[Grumry]

Clubs gigs just get K S T1 T2, add a hat mic if they have ears(it doesn't go to FoH). Travel dates, add OH hat and OH ride sides. These will go in the mains if it's a big enough show.

You don't need kick in and out and sub kick, snare top and bottom or side. Take one and make it work.

But, I've also done kick in, kick out, snare top, snare bottom, snare side, high hat, rack 1, rack 2, floor 1, floor 2, under crash, under ride, stereo pads, stereo tracks and vocals on a certain drummer.

 

[kartiste]

....Usually you're going from house music to band which is an abrupt dB jump

Which way? Ha!

 

[edro]

Which way? Ha!

Hah... Point taken.... I have been in clubs before that the band starting was a relief from the
baaaaaaawwwwwmmmm..... baaaaaaawwwwwmmmm..... ********....

Went to a club to hear some old vet player buds doing a country gig one night and before go time and during breaks, one of the bartenders evidently had control of their house system which was mondo wattage and those damn Peavey dbl 15 & horn cabs, cranking the baaaaaaawwwwwmmmm ******** so loud, I was amazed those cabs didn't explode. On top of that, not much irritates me more than a Peavey horn at high pressure level...

It was a damn relief when the band fired off....