Drum mics for Church Application

joshvibert

Senior Member
Ok, so until now, our church has been pretty small and I've just tried to play softly. My kit is out on the stage with no mics. We are growing (Praise God!) and the sound guys want to put me in a booth with mics. I like this idea, as I feel it will allow me more freedom to play instead of trying to lightly tap all the time. The last church I played @ had a booth and they had mics on every drum with two overhead condensers. I did a search on mics here and read several threads. My question is: With the muffling created by the booth, what would be the best mic setup to ensure clarity of sound? My style incorporates a lot of accents (ghost notes, splashes, hi-hat backbeats when riding) that I don't want to loose. Based upon my reading so far, it sounds as though 1) Kick, 2) Snare, 3) Overheads would be the way to go rather than individually mic'ing the toms and having no overheads. We can get a deal on Shure and Sennheiser products, so I'd like to stick with those. I am going to buy the mics myself and want to keep them as owned by me so that if/when I need to use them elsewhere, I can. I was looking @ the Shure 52/57 kit (1x 52, 3x 57). Would the two 57's not on the snare work as overheads? If not, what is a good condenser to get? My budget is $500. Thanks for your help!
 
Sennheiser e602 or Shure Beta 52 for bass drum ($150-175)

Shure SM57 for your snare ($100)

I use two Shure PG81s for overheads (~$100 each)

Don't forget some boom stands for the overheads, an LP Claw (or similar) for the snare mic, and a small boom or Kelly Shu for the bass drum mic.

Really in a church setting, this is all you'll need. PG81s pick everything up pretty well and are clear (the po' man's SM81s).

oh...and cables!

Shop for used if you can.

BTW, I run Sennheiser e604s on each of my toms...if you're thinking about down the road additions, they are great mics.
 
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