Using monitors event if my drum isn't miked?

ben.

Junior Member
Hi!

I have a question : Do you guys mike your drum for monitoring purpose only - that means without your kit being miked in smaller venues (except maybe for the kick)?

The few last gigs I did with my current rock cover band were in small venues without having my drum miked. The last gig was really horrible for me behind the kit since I couldn't hear my kit really well. Felt like my drumset (Yamaha Oak Custom and 14x6.5 Ludwig Black Beauty) was some cheap $200 kit.

I really need to feel the bottom - the low frequencies - of my kit and in some venues, these frequencies seems to be gone away and I don't hear them from behind the kit - even though I was told it sounded ok from the audience point-of-view.

So I was thinking if miking the kick plus an overhead (or two) and getting this sound through in-ears (or an external monitor) would help me get the "beef" I need to really enjoy my drums in venues where it doesn't need to be miked.

I use a small setup as seen in the pic below.

Thanks for your help!
Ben.

IMG_0095.jpg
 
Personally, the only and best reason for having monitors is so i can hear the OTHER band members. No matter what volume i play at, i'm still behind the kit and can still hear it fine.

If you can't hear the other band members, you won't know where you are and there'd be no point. I only play out mic'ed when the venue is big enough to require it, and i don't often ask for the drums through my monitors but after a couple gigs recently i've had the kick and a bit of the snare coming through simply because i use a lot more double kick in our new songs, so i need to make sure i'm no messing it up.

Otherwise, 99% if the time i use monitor to MONITOR the other band mates and make sure i know where i am in the song. I'd never use monitors just for the kit.

xoxo
 
Hi!

I have a question : Do you guys mike your drum for monitoring purpose only - that means without your kit being miked in smaller venues (except maybe for the kick)?

The few last gigs I did with my current rock cover band were in small venues without having my drum miked. The last gig was really horrible for me behind the kit since I couldn't hear my kit really well. Felt like my drumset (Yamaha Oak Custom and 14x6.5 Ludwig Black Beauty) was some cheap $200 kit.

I really need to feel the bottom - the low frequencies - of my kit and in some venues, these frequencies seems to be gone away and I don't hear them from behind the kit - even though I was told it sounded ok from the audience point-of-view.

So I was thinking if miking the kick plus an overhead (or two) and getting this sound through in-ears (or an external monitor) would help me get the "beef" I need to really enjoy my drums in venues where it doesn't need to be miked.

I use a small setup as seen in the pic below.

Thanks for your help!
Ben.

IMG_0095.jpg

If the gig is so quiet you are not using mics I would think having monitors blasting your drums even louder would not be such a good thing
 
I have a question : Do you guys mike your drum for monitoring purpose only
No way I'd do that. If the other guys are so loud that I wouldn't be able to hear my drums acoustically over them, then they're WAY too friggin' loud, and they need to turn down or at least move their amps further away from me, or whatever. I use monitors, when I use them, only for hearing the other folks better.
The few last gigs I did with my current rock cover band were in small venues without having my drum miked. The last gig was really horrible for me behind the kit since I couldn't hear my kit really well. Felt like my drumset (Yamaha Oak Custom and 14x6.5 Ludwig Black Beauty) was some cheap $200 kit.
I'd first tell the other guys that they need to turn down or move their amps to some other location. If that didn't work, I'd yell at them instead. If that didn't work, I'd turn them down myself. If that didn't work (if they just turned them right back up), I'd probably unplug them. That's not a situation I'd tolerate.
 
Personally, the only and best reason for having monitors is so i can hear the OTHER band members. No matter what volume i play at, i'm still behind the kit and can still hear it fine.

This.

Monitors are to hear the rest of the band (or at least the bass player), not myself.
 
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