Drum Mic Dilema

I've searched a lot other threads but I would still like some advice. I am considering purchasing some drum mic's.

We practice in a studio that is about as big as a pretty big bedroom. It has a PA and the guitars plug in vocals only to the PA. Would you ever buy mic's just to have them at practice?

When we gig, 100% of the places we play have kick mic's. About 90% have kick and snare mic's. About 40% have all drum mics. If I bought a pack of mic's, it usually comes w/ a kick mic so I really don't need it unless I just want to use it for practice. I don't need mic's for practice but is it worth it just to enhance the sound? We practice about 4 1/2 hrs a week when we don't have a gig.

If I buy mic's for gigging out, is it really worth it? I worry about the fact that we usually play with a lot of other bands so I really don't have hardly any time at all to mess with setting up mic's. I barely get my kit set up when they're telling us to go. When we do have a place that have all the drums mic'd, I really, really enjoy the sound. If I did mic my kit, I was thinking something like the DR-DRM7 7-Piece Drum Mic but I don't think I would ever get to use the overheads very much due to time constains but maybe I could use it for my hats.

Have any of you faced this situation and what did you do?

Sounds to me like you don't really need them. There seems little point to micing the kit when it's just vox running through the PA in a small room. Unless you're recording your rehearsals (even then, with nothing else but vocals through the desk you could capture the whole band sound with a couple of well placed room mics), I'd suggest it's overkill.

That said, mics are always handy to have and are a good investment, if you actually need and use them. But if there's no real need to mic your kit for rehearsals and you don't tend to need your own for any live work...ask yourself, "Is there something I actually need that I can spend the money on?"

I'm not trying to talk you out of them here by any means, but it sounds to me like you want them "just for the sake of having them".

I agree with not needing them as much as you would like to think. I decided to look for a used set (demo models) online. I spent 1/2 the cost which made it easier to live with. The only time I have used them is on a couple of shows where we provided our own PA and some scratch recordings.

I decided to go with Audix Micro Ds and D6. They are very small and travel with me just in case I need them. Other than that they are at the present time a luxury. If you have the $ to drop on a small set, look for some good demo models from a reputable store on the bay or other. You will be happy you didn't spend too much dough on a new set that is just going to sit around in the jam room for most of the time.

Sounds like you don't need them to me. At your rehearsal, get everyone to turn DOWN instead of turning you up!

Playing in an original band for many years, I never had a need to own mics. All of the clubs we played provided sound for us. Now that I'm doing the cover band thing, we provide our own sound wherever we go. I have a nice set of Audix D series with an I5 for the snare. Great mics.
I wouldn't want to bring my mics along to a gig where a bunch of other original bands were playing. They would be just another thing to lose or have stolen.
I have, however, brought my D6 and plugged it into my 15" powered monitor when I did a one off gig with an original band. We played a club where they didn't use any mics on the drums. That gave me the extra kick I needed in order to be heard.