matt986
Senior Member
Re: Micing up a drum kit for live performace.
Just to expand on some of the mics and ideas:
Bass Drum: Crucial for rock. Not only does the crowd need it, but your fellow musicians will thank you when they hear this comming back through the monitor. I recomend the mic in the bottom corner of the fron head, about the 5 o'clock position. If there's a hole in the bass drum, put the mic in or right in front of the hole. If there is no hole, close to the head of the drum but make sure the head will not touch the mic when you hit it. Experiment with diferent positions to find the best sound.
Snare: A few ways to do this one. Going between the hi-hat and snare is a great choice, seeing as it will easily pick up the snare and your hats. However, if you want a deeper sound to your snare, or you notice the depth you normally have isnt there, but the mic UNDERNEATH the snare drum as opposed to on top. This will pick up more depth from the ressonant head. You can put it underneath between the hi hats and snare too.
Toms: For toms, again I usually put the mic underneath the tome for two reasons. Number one, the mic clamp doesnt get in the way. A stray hit during a role can be devestating to the mic and the audiences ears. Second, putting the mic on the bottom gets more out of the resonant heads, giving you more sound from the drum through the PA. If you dont want as much ring or overtones, then by all means put the mics on top. Both setups sound great, they just sound different. As usual, experience for best results.
Overheads: These can be crucial if used correctly. If you have loud cymbals (the zxt's are pretty loud) either ditch the overhead for rock completely or have it very very low in the mix. Too much from the cymbals will mask the rest of your drums. Thats a bad thing. Instead of using overheads, I do the following (most of the time),
On the left side of my kit sit my ride, next to that my hi hat, and above them, a 14" china and a 16" crash. I position a mic between my ride and my hi-hat, that way the bell is picked up niceley. The crash and china bleed through enough on the tom and snare mic. Furthermore, chinas are much louder to the ear, so to speak, so they jump out more.
On the other side sit my 18" crash, 14" crash, and 22" china. I place a mic above the 18" and 14" crashes (they sit right next to eachother). The 22" china is way too loud to mic, so I get the mics as far away as possible so as not to pick up too much of the china (some bleed through is inevitable though).
Of course, if you are short mics, ditch the cymbal mics. The crashes bleed through enough as is.
Hope this helps,
-Matt
Just to expand on some of the mics and ideas:
Bass Drum: Crucial for rock. Not only does the crowd need it, but your fellow musicians will thank you when they hear this comming back through the monitor. I recomend the mic in the bottom corner of the fron head, about the 5 o'clock position. If there's a hole in the bass drum, put the mic in or right in front of the hole. If there is no hole, close to the head of the drum but make sure the head will not touch the mic when you hit it. Experiment with diferent positions to find the best sound.
Snare: A few ways to do this one. Going between the hi-hat and snare is a great choice, seeing as it will easily pick up the snare and your hats. However, if you want a deeper sound to your snare, or you notice the depth you normally have isnt there, but the mic UNDERNEATH the snare drum as opposed to on top. This will pick up more depth from the ressonant head. You can put it underneath between the hi hats and snare too.
Toms: For toms, again I usually put the mic underneath the tome for two reasons. Number one, the mic clamp doesnt get in the way. A stray hit during a role can be devestating to the mic and the audiences ears. Second, putting the mic on the bottom gets more out of the resonant heads, giving you more sound from the drum through the PA. If you dont want as much ring or overtones, then by all means put the mics on top. Both setups sound great, they just sound different. As usual, experience for best results.
Overheads: These can be crucial if used correctly. If you have loud cymbals (the zxt's are pretty loud) either ditch the overhead for rock completely or have it very very low in the mix. Too much from the cymbals will mask the rest of your drums. Thats a bad thing. Instead of using overheads, I do the following (most of the time),
On the left side of my kit sit my ride, next to that my hi hat, and above them, a 14" china and a 16" crash. I position a mic between my ride and my hi-hat, that way the bell is picked up niceley. The crash and china bleed through enough on the tom and snare mic. Furthermore, chinas are much louder to the ear, so to speak, so they jump out more.
On the other side sit my 18" crash, 14" crash, and 22" china. I place a mic above the 18" and 14" crashes (they sit right next to eachother). The 22" china is way too loud to mic, so I get the mics as far away as possible so as not to pick up too much of the china (some bleed through is inevitable though).
Of course, if you are short mics, ditch the cymbal mics. The crashes bleed through enough as is.
Hope this helps,
-Matt