Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Live Drum Micing
- Thread starter agreatheight
- Start date
No, all that would do is pick up the cymbals which are usually too loud anyway. If you only have one mic stick it in the bass drum.
I know in the beginning I was advised against mic'ing the whole kit like I do. Some guys made serious jabs at me when I said I needed to get 13 XLRs back to the drummer. Maybe it shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully. Never any feedback problems unless I crank the subs too much.
I promise you no one would make fun of me if they came to a show
.
The labels on the drum channels on my board either say KIK/OH, or KIK/L/R, or KIK/L/C/R, meaning Left/Center/Right, from the drummers perspective, like how stage left means audiences right.
Keeps me organized assuming I have the right cords plugged in the right places. Yeah, I've got some pretty huge snare sounds during soundcheck a time or two whilst looking for a little more from the floortom side of things.
My other big goof is wondering why $#!+ doesn't work while the poweramp attenuators are rolled down.
Keeps me organized assuming I have the right cords plugged in the right places. Yeah, I've got some pretty huge snare sounds during soundcheck a time or two whilst looking for a little more from the floortom side of things.
My other big goof is wondering why $#!+ doesn't work while the poweramp attenuators are rolled down.
Well then there you go. But man, that's a lot of mics for a small bar drumset. But if it works, what do I care? Just don't go insulting the help before the next setI know in the beginning I was advised against mic'ing the whole kit like I do. Some guys made serious jabs at me when I said I needed to get 13 XLRs back to the drummer. Maybe it shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully. Never any feedback problems unless I crank the subs too much.
I promise you no one would make fun of me if they came to a show
I'm a fan of the kick mic & 1 overhead and be done with it.
Someone else posted about the same thing I've done many times in the past...the OH mic AUX send going through reverb, but none of the main signal going out. Works wonders for a small room.
Someone else posted about the same thing I've done many times in the past...the OH mic AUX send going through reverb, but none of the main signal going out. Works wonders for a small room.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I think I will try kick + overhead first, and go from there.
To be honest, I'm tired of being in bands that make things more hard / more complicated / more time consuming than they need be. I want to balance the pay / effort / quality line on this project more than on my past projects - keep things simple and fun!
I'll update after the first gig.
To be honest, I'm tired of being in bands that make things more hard / more complicated / more time consuming than they need be. I want to balance the pay / effort / quality line on this project more than on my past projects - keep things simple and fun!
I'll update after the first gig.
Well reading through these comments, I'm guessing the subtext is micing live drums for amplification through the PA. For a small jazz combo, that would be one objective in an outdoor venue but I'm more interested in micing the kit for purposes of getting a "good enough" recording of the drums. That's what attracted me to the four-mic video I posted earlier.
But pursuing the two-mic strategy for PA amplification, I am curious what some of you might recommend for the second mic in front of the kit. I'd be using a Sennheiser 421 on the kick. Are you thinking a dynamic mic in front, maybe a SM57? I've also got an unused Shure Beta58 but not sure if that would be right. Something else? How far in front and how high off the ground?
But pursuing the two-mic strategy for PA amplification, I am curious what some of you might recommend for the second mic in front of the kit. I'd be using a Sennheiser 421 on the kick. Are you thinking a dynamic mic in front, maybe a SM57? I've also got an unused Shure Beta58 but not sure if that would be right. Something else? How far in front and how high off the ground?
+1 If the drummer has a vocal mic that stays open, you can usually skip the o'head even. Some drummers might benefit from a snare mic if they're soft hitters, but not usually needed IME.
Well then there you go. But man, that's a lot of mics for a small bar drumset. But if it works, what do I care? Just don't go insulting the help before the next set
Not for small bars. For small bars I mic the kicks and maybe the snare and hat.
We can load in and be soundchecked in an hour so...
Overhead mics too much bleeding for me especially Cymbols .My opinion would be this seeing that your the drummer and sound man hit your drums light mic kick and toms.. Otherwise if you start hiiting them hard to be heard everyone is gonna start turning up their amps and the volume complaints will follow.i just mic the toms for fullness not so much for volume.I find when i dont mic the toms the ending rolls especially the floor tom sound so weak punchy kick with weak toms.
I know in the beginning I was advised against mic'ing the whole kit like I do. Some guys made serious jabs at me when I said I needed to get 13 XLRs back to the drummer. Maybe it shouldn't work, but it does. Beautifully. Never any feedback problems unless I crank the subs too much.
I promise you no one would make fun of me if they came to a show
Im with you.
just because its miced, doesnt necessarily mean that they're always cranked up to the max.
It sounds a little off if your in the audience and you hear the kick come thru the mains..and then the snare comes from..over there somewhere.
(Thats not to say that I haven't played places that were so small that the "stage" was a place you just rolled the pool table outa the way from..and a couple tables)
Maybe..maybe in those instances I cld possibly see the "just the kick" routine...
but seriously..those places have no bidness having full on rock bands..thats more of an acoustic setup. ..imo.
let me finish by sayin one more thing: maybe some bands are fine with just a kick and overhead..but I have NEVER experienced a situation where full on micing made things sound worse. (Sure ..if you crank it up..it could be too loud..just dont crank it up)
Ymmv and all that.
Full micing certainly won't hurt anything, and can sound very good. It's just too much stuff to keep up with for little benefit for the smaller gigs we play.
Although, I'll always run a kick, 1 OH and leave the drummers vocal hot even in the smallest of bars with no subs, for as you say, fullness, crispness and spreading the sound around the audience even if it isn't any louder than the natural volume of the kit.
Although, I'll always run a kick, 1 OH and leave the drummers vocal hot even in the smallest of bars with no subs, for as you say, fullness, crispness and spreading the sound around the audience even if it isn't any louder than the natural volume of the kit.
I mic the toms, and I do it to bring out the lows. The only other thing I like to mic is the high hat.
That mic will get plenty of bleed from the snare, so, unless we're playing a huge venue, the snare mic will not be in my mix, so why bother with it?
Overheads? NOT A CHANCE.
That mic will get plenty of bleed from the snare, so, unless we're playing a huge venue, the snare mic will not be in my mix, so why bother with it?
Overheads? NOT A CHANCE.
For me the 2 mic setup is Heil PR40 or Audix D6 or Senn 421 or Beta 52 on the kick, Rode nt5 or Senn 441 as the ohd.. Have also recorded using an nt5 over the snare, and another in front, the same distance from the snare and a dedicated kick mic.
More often than not, my 421 is on a bass cab and the D6 on the kick... Recording wise anyway. I'm a DI guy live for the bass.
More often than not, my 421 is on a bass cab and the D6 on the kick... Recording wise anyway. I'm a DI guy live for the bass.
My $.02... For a small to medium joint, mic the kick. Put a little in the mix, just to give that thump that makes people want to dance.
If you have to, maybe an overhead, or maybe a snare/hat mic. If you have two vocal mics at the front of the stage (or one hot one) you shouldn't even have to think about overhead/cymbals. Maybe some tom mics, depending on a bunch of other stuff.
I would say, in a live performance situation, more than 4 mics on a drum set is excessive. If you NEED more than that, you probably are not doing your own sound anyway.
Drums are an acoustic instrument, and should be treated as such. ...other wise, just get a drum machine or one of those electronic drum sets.
If you have to, maybe an overhead, or maybe a snare/hat mic. If you have two vocal mics at the front of the stage (or one hot one) you shouldn't even have to think about overhead/cymbals. Maybe some tom mics, depending on a bunch of other stuff.
I would say, in a live performance situation, more than 4 mics on a drum set is excessive. If you NEED more than that, you probably are not doing your own sound anyway.
Drums are an acoustic instrument, and should be treated as such. ...other wise, just get a drum machine or one of those electronic drum sets.
That's "pseudo" M/S
It takes two preamps to really create that effect.
Next time , try it that way , you'll see that the depth is much realistic.
BTW I use a 414xls and a Senheiser 914.
Just a piece of advice for the kick and one overhead technic. For a right handed drummer setup, be sure you put the overhead mic @ over the drummers right shoulder, pointing @ a bit toward the snare. Also try to keep the mic as low to the shoulder as you can without interfering with the drummers movement. If you get it to high it will get lots of cymbal splash off of low ceilings, which usually is very unwanted.
Using this technic, the drummer really shouldn't need a vocal mic, unless he uses some kind of crazy effects on his vocals. The overhead will pick up his vocals.
Using this technic, the drummer really shouldn't need a vocal mic, unless he uses some kind of crazy effects on his vocals. The overhead will pick up his vocals.
I would agree with this for the most part, but not the vocal part. If your drummer sings, he needs a vocal mic. Mic/voice control happens within about the first 6...maybe 8" from the mic....and that's from pianissimo to fortissimo.
Nothing sounds more empty than somebody yelling from 3 feet away from an sm58. Although, things like ambient drumkit and cymbal sound can come through fine from that distance.
Maybe but nobody in his right mind uses a 58 as an OHD. If the drummer is singing choral then a good MDC as OHD might do fine. Personally I would put an OM-7 on him and call it good.
