Members WorshipMetallica Posted August 3, 2002 Members Share Posted August 3, 2002 as in... playing live in a school auditorium, and you want to make your drums sound decent with a guitar or two and bass that are going through their own amps. There is a PA system there too... 2 Peavey speaker cabinents; each having a 15" woofer and tweeter I think. The 2 speakers are about 6 feet tall and are on both sides of the stage. There are mics there already that belong to the school plus a mixer for mics only that holds about 10 mics. One mic is for vocals... NOW. If I wanted to mic my drums to where it sounded pretty good in the mix, which drums/cymbals would I mic. I was told by someone that I should mic AT LEAST the bass drum. Seeing how raw the sound of an acoustic bass drum, I can see why this one is necessary to mic. But what about the other toms, snares and cymbals. Keep in mind that there is ONLY 2 speakers on the stage, plus a few amps on stage, so the souund is coming from one direction: the stage. Also, the volume level should be about as loud as an acoustic drumset, maybe a little bit louder. I want to use as little mics as needed. comments? thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HulkBlood01 Posted August 3, 2002 Members Share Posted August 3, 2002 How big is the set/how many cymbals? Hmm, I'm gonna say maybe a couple for overhead, bass and snare(?). I know for recording you can do fine with three, not too sure about a live situation. But with the three, I'd say one above and to the left, pointed towards the snare, other on the right the same way, and one in the bass. I think this setup would be fine...but if you wanted to get fancy you could mic the snare...not really necessary. Anyone disagree with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MoosBros Posted August 3, 2002 Members Share Posted August 3, 2002 I'd put one on the bass drum,, and one close to the HH, but pointed so it would catch some snare too... if it's in a lively room,, you won't need much,, but you could add tom mics or a couple of overheads as extra mics/channels on your mixer would permit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mopzilla Posted August 3, 2002 Members Share Posted August 3, 2002 a great setup for most anything (i did some good sounding recording with this setup) is the 5 mic drum setup - BD, SD, hihats separately mic'd, and then two overheads for everything else. If you are doing only 3 mics, then make it one BD, one for HH/SD, and one overhead. you really don't need to mic the toms, crashes, and effects unless they don't sound loud enough. Be sure to put your set on a carpet so that there aren't many tones bouncing around, because you are mostly interested in making the mics pick up the drums, not really having the drums project out a hell of a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave Schenck Posted August 3, 2002 Members Share Posted August 3, 2002 Originally posted by MoosBros I'd put one on the bass drum,, and one close to the HH, but pointed so it would catch some snare too... if it's in a lively room,, you won't need much,, but you could add tom mics or a couple of overheads as extra mics/channels on your mixer would permit.... I agree with Moosbros... except for the overheads, generally in a live situation you'll get alot of bleed from the other insrtruments + its usually not needed anyway. none of the local clubs I've played in use overheads + you might find that in a boomy sounding auditorium you won't need to mic the drums unless the rest of the music is seriously loud, if thats the case I would mic the bass drum for sure and probably the snare as well. I'm going to make a guess at the microphones that are available, they are most likely Shure SM-57s & SM-58s. If there is no bass drum specific mic like a Shure Beta 52 or an AKG D-112, then i'd use a 57 on the kick and the snare, maybe a third mic on the hats if needed, or just go with the setup Moosbros suggested. it should provide you with a good sound yet be quick & easy to setup. If you want a ringy wide open sound put the mic about an inch in from the edge of the drum pointing straight down at it. For more snap and attack put the mic just barely outside the rim of the drum pointed at the center. For the bass drum put the mic on the resonant head about three inches away for a more natural round sound (this assumes you have no hole in the head), if you have a hole in the front bass drum head and you want more attack point it inside the drum pointed between the beater and the edge of the head, or if theres no hole, put it on the batter side pointed the same way. You'll have to use EQ on this mic to make it bassier, just tweek it til' you get the sound you like. Good luck & have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WorshipMetallica Posted August 4, 2002 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2002 ok thanks. So reading all of this, I still dont know. Last year when I played at the talent show, I never DID get a chanced to see what the drumset sounded like outside of my throne. I think this year I'll get someone to beat a bunch of nonsense all over the drumset and I'll walk to the back and middle etc. and see what it even sounds like to the audience, and then decide if it needs mics of not. Another problem I had was where to position the amps, because they would be right in the ears of the people in the front row on certain spots of that row, and everywhere else it just blended in. I didn't really knop which direction to face the amps. Would you suggest like sideways at 455 degree angles. Pointing at the walls on both sides of the auditorium? Then it could bounce around without being right in people's ears? hmm.. maybe I should take this conversation over to the live sound forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave Schenck Posted August 4, 2002 Members Share Posted August 4, 2002 If they are combo amps of 50 watts or less you shouldn't have much of a problem but if they are 100 watt half stacks then i say good luck to you. I think your right, the live sound forum will probably have more specific answers for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WorshipMetallica Posted August 5, 2002 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2002 yeah... they're nothing but little 50 watt combo amps. My only concern is the SOUND of the set. Then again, the stage is made of wood. I wish I could get that bass drum sound that good in my room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.