Singing Drummers...Come on in

Hey all. Just wanted to pick everyone's brains for a minute. I just recently purchased an SM12A headset mic. While it's a great mic, it really isn't near as hot as my AKG's so I've been doing some experimenting. My guitar player has a TC Helicon GXT harmony pedal. Just screwing around with the mic only plugged in to it, I found that it provided a lot more warmth and acted as a bit of a pre-amp for my mic. Well, fast forward to today. I found a TC Helicon Create which appears to be the same thing minus the harmony function and requirement for an instrument.

Have any of you drummer folks ever used one? I'm going to probably get it either way, but was curious to know your thoughts.

BTW, for those that remember, I was the buy with the M Birch kit playing B8's. Lol. I've moved up to A classics for those interested.

So you got the A Customs, did you? A wise choice, IMO. Sorry, I thought this thread was about singing and drumming, but it's like you're speaking a whole different language with all that headphone talk. My bad....

Actually, they're Just A's. I call them A Classic's so as not to be confused with A Customs. Maybe I'm weird. Yeah, I came across a good deal on a headset mic and ended up getting the TC Helicon Create pedal. It's a pretty good combo what little I've messed with it. I sing about 50% of the time with my band and moved to the headset and found I needed a preamp. Gotta say I like it so far, but we'll see how it does at the next show.

carguy37757 said:

Actually, they're Just A's. I call them A Classic's so as not to be confused with A Customs. Maybe I'm weird. Yeah, I came across a good deal on a headset mic and ended up getting the TC Helicon Create pedal. It's a pretty good combo what little I've messed with it. I sing about 50% of the time with my band and moved to the headset and found I needed a preamp. Gotta say I like it so far, but we'll see how it does at the next show.

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Ahhh, I get it. Didn't even catch that. Classic A's or A classics are still better than what you had, no doubt. You gotta spend the money on the cymbals first. Bad drums can be tamed with good heads, but cymbals are different.

I see, you were getting a headset mic, but got a pedal instead. I'm so out of it, I just laugh at myself. I've only used a boom stand myself and it's always a major pain in the rear. If I continue to sing, I'll have to look into getting one too. Thanks for the info...

Lol. Actually I bought the Mic about a month ago and just got the pedal today. Was kinda looking for info from folks with similar setups as this is new to me. I've been using a boom stand and regular Mic for years and found it limited me a lot. Just in the short time I've been using the headset, I have to say its well worth the investment.l to anyone considering the switch. I've never used a vocal pedal at all but I already love the one I have.

carguy37757 said:

Lol. Actually I bought the Mic about a month ago and just got the pedal today. Was kinda looking for info from folks with similar setups as this is new to me. I've been using a boom stand and regular Mic for years and found it limited me a lot. Just in the short time I've been using the headset, I have to say its well worth the investment.l to anyone considering the switch. I've never used a vocal pedal at all but I already love the one I have.

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Ha! I know, I know. I went and read your OP again and realized how stupid I just sounded again. <<shaking head>>

Midnite Zephyr said:

Ahhh, I get it. Didn't even catch that. Classic A's or A classics are still better than what you had, no doubt.

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A's and A customs are as good as each other, just different. I use a mix of A's A customs K customs and Z customs, all are roughly equal in quality. Though usually the Z lines are somewhat bland I have one 18" rock crash that is far from boring.

I have to say, the A's ended up being way better than I could have expected. They're completely awesome and now I kick myself for not making the switch sooner.

As for the mic and headset combo, I fiddled with it a little last night. While it's not made with the singing drummer in mind, I'm quite happy with it. The mic by itself doesn't sound bad, but is nowhere near as hot as a standard vocal mic. I was having to put a lot of volume on it just to be barely heard during practice.

When I hooked up the Create, I set all my levels to where I would normally run them on the PA (I'm the soundguy for our band too) and started bringing up the input on the Create. I found that it does a great job as a pre-amp for my mic and with some tweaking to the levels on the channel and pedal, I was able to get it really super close to my other mics, plus I still have room to play with across the board if I need to add anymore effects or anything.

It has selectable, programmable pre-sets (so far I only have 1 preset which is clean to match everything else) so you can experiment with different sounds.

Based on my initial thoughts and little use so far, I'd say this has proven to be a good deal, and should be a good deal for anyone else looking for a similar setup, but as we all know, only time will tell how well it will perform in the long run and in an actual gig setting (which I will be finding out very soon).

I'll drop in to keep you all updated if desired on how it performs and will answer any questions to the best of my limited knowledge and ability to help out where I can.

Now I just need to figure out a good way to mount the pedal to my rack so it'll be accessible by hand instead of by foot.

I have a headset mic when I do backup (and that ain't often, lol). But I have no idea what kind of mic it is. I think it's a Audio Technica...

I used to line it into a preamp and run that back through my in-ears so I can control my own vocal mix in my ears, but with running backing tracks and a click I can't do that because then my vocal mix comes through with the tracks and the sound guy can't mix them apart on his end.

I don't see how drummers use headset mics, for a few reasons. The fixed distance for one, you have to blend with your voice rather than your distance, then what about the inevitable grunts and groans? Then what if you have headphones too? Too much stuff on the head. Is there a wire typically? Or is it wireless? I'm not at the level where I need that equipment, I just don't know how you guys do it.

I've never had the misfortune to use a headset mic - I like a stand and a good old SM58, but out guitarist/lead singer had one a while back- it was nothing but a source of feedback live. If I were you, I'd keep it as simple as possible.

larryace said:

I don't see how drummers use headset mics, for a few reasons. The fixed distance for one, you have to blend with your voice rather than your distance, then what about the inevitable grunts and groans? Then what if you have headphones too? Too much stuff on the head. Is there a wire typically? Or is it wireless? I'm not at the level where I need that equipment, I just don't know how you guys do it.

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Agreed, been singing from behind the kit for years and prefer a beta 57 on a good boom...

When in the studio and I have to mic the drummer's vocals I use a DPA 4088 head worn cardioid microphone wired to the console. On gigs, an SM58 or a Beta 58A connected to a foot activated cough switch.

Dennis