Drum Kit to PA, Anyone Using Only One Mic?

[sax4blues]

In an effort to simplify the PA setup it seems reducing drum mic's is an opportunity. I've seen many examples of recordings using one mic in the center of a drum kit, but haven't seen this used in a live setting. Does anyone here use only 1, or 2-3 mics for their live drum kit?

It seems kind of funny that the instrument which is often maligned as being too loud is the one with the most inputs to the PA.

 

[Dismalhead]

I used to mic my drums in my barn. Tried to use as few mics as I could and kept having to buy more to finally get a good drum mix. Lowest number of mics I could use without losing something major was four. One mic on the snare/high hat, one in the bass drum, and two overhead condensors above the toms and cymbals.

You could try a single room mic, and put it out away from the set. But I'm guessing it wouldn't work with a normal vocal mic and you would need something different.

 

[Dismalhead]

...

 

[G&Lplayer]

I’ve done shows with kick and a pair of overheads. Works for me in a reasonably sized venue, hell, half the time I mic everything and those three mics carry the primary sound. For a theater show I used a single AKG 414 in Omni mode just above the kick, between the rack toms. Wasn’t the perfect sound but it was passable for a musical. Either way playing with the placement is the key.

 

[uriah1]

We use to do that. Just for kick drum. Dancers and bass player seemed to like.
Also, it got the drummer off our back..lol

 

[Dennyf]

One condenser overhead high enough to be roughly equidistant from all the drumheads, and a kick mic. For recording, I never used more than three in a Glyn Johns configuration. If the kit sounds good, this will capture it.

 

[scelestus]

I'd say just the kick like uriah1 mentioned or a "crotch mic." Place a mic right above the bass drum hoop on the batter side facing the snare.

An omni will pick up best but might feed back. A directional mic can be angled to adjust the volumes of different drums.

 

[scottser]

kick and snare at a minimum, then if you have the resources a pair of overheads will capture everything else.
never underestimate the snare in any mix. for anything pop-related, the snare and vocals are dominant 99% of the time.

 

[johnny k]

We use to do that. Just for kick drum. Dancers and bass player seemed to like.
Also, it got the drummer off our back..lol

same here. if something is going to be amplified, that's the kick.

 

[Jakedog]

For most bar gigs we just mic the kick. With a simple PA setup without gates and such the bleed from the vocal mics does enough to get by in most barrooms.

 

[haggardfan1]

For most bar gigs we just mic the kick. With a simple PA setup without gates and such the bleed from the vocal mics does enough to get by in most barrooms.

Ditto. We have three vocalists, and the vocal mics pick up snare and cymbals just fine. Plus, our drummer has two volume settings: 1. not playing,
and 2. LOUD.

Even outdoors or in a big venue, the most I ever use is two. One on the kick, and one semi-overhead, kind of sharing the snare, toms, and cymbals. It takes some placement trial and error, depending on the kit--but other than from drummers, I've had no complaints in thirty years.

 

[johnny k]

Ditto. We have three vocalists, and the vocal mics pick up snare and cymbals just fine. Plus, our drummer has two volume settings: 1. not playing,
and 2. LOUD.

Even outdoors or in a big venue, the most I ever use is two. One on the kick, and one semi-overhead, kind of sharing the snare, toms, and cymbals. It takes some placement trial and error, depending on the kit--but other than from drummers, I've had no complaints in thirty years.

You re lucky. my drummer' settings are loud and uber loud.

 

[AAT65]

We often just use a bass drum mic and a clip on snare drum mic and that works pretty well, even in pretty open spaces (playing fête day marquees for instance).
However there’s places we play where the sound guys like having a mic on every tom and a couple overhead too…

 

[Buzzgrowl]

Kick and snare, if outdoors maybe one overhead. But our drummer is too loud but that comes mostly from cymbals. The kick and snare are important if you want people to dance. We high pass all mics including bass guitar, except the kick. The bass gets more low-end from a not high-passed sansamp DI.

It depends on the room and what type wall is behind the drums. Also, drums (and entire band) sound different when people are attending. Bass guitar tends to disappear most easily.

 

[mexicanyella]

Paging @FortyEight

He’s been doing a bunch of recording with various two-mic setups, and I believe a time or two with the “crotch mic” @scelestus mentioned.

 

[ndcaster]

I find this Radial 2:1 two-channel passive mixer really useful for miking drums

Mix 2:1 - Radial Engineering

The Radial MIX 2:1 is a simple yet highly useful mixer that passively sums two audio channels down to one.

www.radialeng.com

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

As one who makes his living behind a mixing console, unless you are playing dixieland jazz, drums really need kick, snare, & hihat mic'd at a minimum. Otherwise, you are only effectively micing the room.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

We use to do that. Just for kick drum. Dancers and bass player seemed to like.
Also, it got the drummer off our back..lol

We play small-medium size venues and really only use our PA for vocal mics, or if I'm playing acoustic guitar ( or another acoustic instrument, sitting in).

But often on outdoor gigs, we mic the kick drum. It fills things out, adds some punch!

 

[FortyEight]

yeah bars, a drummer that "needs" the whole kit mic'd seems way overkill. save that for bigger stages, outdoor festivals. most bars aint big enough to matter. if it is than fine.

i think the dude above me has the right idea in smaller venues. amps and drums played well at proper levels and vox in the pa. if the room starts to get over 1500'ish with super tall ceilings, then its time for more. but even then a kick and two overheads is decent. imho.

as far as my 2 mic recording.... i have no clue if theyre "decent enough". a lot of times i do a kick and a wurst. but ive done kick and overhead. spaced pair. one day i gotta try the angled pair. ive tried 2 mic glyn jons and without a kick, i dont like it.

3 really seems like a really great idea. but until a different interface falls out if the sky, im usung my focusrite 2 channel.

 

[schmee]

For most bar gigs we just mic the kick. With a simple PA setup without gates and such the bleed from the vocal mics does enough to get by in most barrooms.

THIS^.
That's all we do. The drummer's vocal mic picks up the snare a lot. You can always add one overhanging mic for the snare and toms but for bar gigs non necessary at all.