Members Guitarist4life Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 I just joined a talented band that has no PA system much less drum kit mics..I bought an amp/mixer and a pair of cabs... so we have a small PA now.. were playing for about 150 people on November 20th and we need to find a way to mic the drum kit..its a 5 piece kit with about 5 cymbals.whats the best low budget way? the drummer is buying them and said he cant spend more than $350.does he need a separate mixer? because our PAmixer is only 8 channels and were a 5piece band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Square Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 If you have a small PA, then I wouldn't recommend trying to put drums throught it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 150 people? If it's indoors, you shouldn't need to mike more than the kick. (Or you need to learn to play at rational levels. No drummer should have to try to keep up with an insane guitarist and a 150 watt guitar amp on 10.) Not everyone is going to want 120 DB in their head while there. (I don't want that onstage.) Some people will want a chance to talk with someone else. They will need volumes closer to 90 DB. If the room allows some variance, that is a good thing. Look and see if people are moving closer, if not, you're too loud. People will leave a band that's too loud and never tell you. Drunk's will tell you to turn up. (Ignore them, they're not leaving anyway.) You can get a solid kick drum mike and a db meter in that price range. My thoughts anyway. (You'll probably get a different answer from someone who hasn't been in the business for more than thirty years.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 That is true... what they just said. You have to ask why do you really want to mic the drums... what are you needing to make different from how things are without the drums miced. Then ask yourself if you can safely mic the drums... without over powering your PA, and making things worse instead of better. If after all of that you decide you DO want to mic gthe drums... it is pretty likely that all you need to do is get a mic for the Bass Drum, and an SM 57 to use set between the snare drum and the hi-hat. If you get a bigger PA you may eventually want to mic the rest of the drum set... but only when you are playing on a big enough stage to warrant it. Audiopile actually has a pretty servicable set of drum mics: http://www.audiopile.net/products/Microphones/DK6_Drum_mic_kit/DK-6_cutsheet.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 Given your past PA problem, you don't have anywhere near enough PA right now without the drums IMO. Want to smoke all of your equipment? Maybe you can find a small sound company who will do the gig for cheaper than what it would cost to repair what you would blow up and without all the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GZsound Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 Well.. if you hire a sound company and you lay an egg... it will be your fault no matter who is at fault.. For smaller gigs putting a mic on the bass drum and using an overhead will work just fine. That only takes up two channels. At the very least, a kick mic will work and the vocal mics will pick up the rest of the kit. But hiring a sound contractor is a great idea unless it costs you more than you are getting paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarist4life Posted October 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 Given your past PA problem, you don't have anywhere near enough PA right now without the drums IMO. Want to smoke all of your equipment?Maybe you can find a small sound company who will do the gig for cheaper than what it would cost to repair what you would blow up and without all the work. can i really blow up the PA system if I mic the drums?cant i just regulate the volumes? hey guys, my questions might sound really dumb to some of you, but I know nothing about this PA stuff:freak: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 can i really blow up the PA system if I mic the drums?cant i just regulate the volumes?hey guys, my questions might sound really dumb to some of you, but I know nothing about this PA stuff:freak: Yes, Yes you can in two scenarios I can think of... 1: Most importantly and most easily: trying to crank to much bass out to hear the kick drum over everything else - that really takes a lot more power and speaker than you would think. 2: Turning up everything more than is sensible to try to be heard over the top of the amplified drums, creating out of control feedback, dead compression drivers etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted October 16, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Let's get to basics; why should the drums be mic'd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 can i really blow up the PA system if I mic the drums?cant i just regulate the volumes?hey guys, my questions might sound really dumb to some of you, but I know nothing about this PA stuff:freak: Guitarist 4 Life... Whoa... sounds like extreme caution is called for here. Be very careful. by your own admission, you know nothing about this PA stuff... and ... several people have now warned you that you might blow up your gear if you try to do what you are talking about doing. Since you know "nothing" about this stuff, it is a good bet that these other people know more about it than you do eh? You have actually gotten to the crux of the situation however... which is that unless you are really careful, and very active about regulating the volumes... you could blow up your equipment trying to do this. You ask a very good question... can't you just regulate the volumes? Well... can you? Do you have the experience and knowledge and the "ear" to know when you are pushing what is probably a pretty small PA (an 8 channel amp/mixer and 2 cabinets)... are you going to be able to detect when the distortion begins, and when it becomes dangerous to the point of blowing your speakers? Time will tell. What I'm getting here is that usually, those little PAs are not really big enough for trying to put the whole band through, and that micing up your drums and running them through this little PA might not be that good of an idea. I bet if you were really careful, you might be able to get away with doing it if it was that important to you... but the drums would have to be turned down so low to be safe, that it might not really sound any different from NOT having them going through the PA... but it probably could be done. On the other hand... if you really do need to put the drums through the PA... you might have to consider getting a different PA. Which 8 channel amp/mixer and speakers do you actually have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 I forget that my computer monitor can't see me wink (at least I don't think it can). It was such a heavy wink though, I felt it from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 It was such a heavy wink though, I felt it from here. Yeah, me too. I know exactly where Mark's cming from on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 From a drummer who got into PA gear,your PA CANNOT handle a fully miced drumset. At best, buy a nice kick mic (I'm partial to the Audix D6 for about $175 shipped NEW off ebay) and go EASY on it in the PA. You can only squeeze so much crap through a small PA and out through a set of inexpensive mains. Micing a drum set live requires alot of power and subs to make it worthwhile and sound good. Your best bet is for the drummer to play at the volume desired, everyone else adjust to the drummer's volume, and set up the PA to get the vocals over the drums & stage amps. Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mogwix Posted October 16, 2007 Members Share Posted October 16, 2007 At best, buy a nice kick mic (I'm partial to the Audix D6 for about $175 shipped NEW off ebay) and go EASY on it in the PA. I agree. An Audix D6 and a short boom stand, or a Shure Beta 91 and a little pillow are my favourites. Take it easy on the bass knob, 'cause pretty much all you're gonna want to get through the mains is the "click" and a wee bit of the low-mid punch of the kick drum... if you've got that out there then at least people can hear the kick drum. Add a pair of powered subs and then you can add in the rest of the punch and thump. You could try mic'ing the kit, but really, the drums themselves will drown out the PA... which makes you want to turn up the volume... which in turn sends your PA to the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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