So, it's the summer time here and that means a lot of outdoor gigs. I always have a tough time getting a drum sound that I like when playing outside, especially in the bass drum. I play mostly hard rock, and I like a nice deep thud, but outside all I can get is a high-end thwack. I can usually get the snare and toms sounding okay, but not great either.
I almost always mike up when outside. I've got a Shure Beta 52 for the bass drum, SM57 for the snare, and a PG81 for overhead. I run the three of those into a small mixer at my side, where I can listen with headphones and adjust levels. I then send the sound from that mixer to our band's PA. We don't have a sound guy or anything, so I've got to dial things in myself. It can be hard to tell if what I'm hearing in my mixer is what the audience is going to hear.
My question is: how do you approach getting a good drum sound outdoors? Any tips for tuning/muffling/mixing/EQing?
I almost always mike up when outside. I've got a Shure Beta 52 for the bass drum, SM57 for the snare, and a PG81 for overhead. I run the three of those into a small mixer at my side, where I can listen with headphones and adjust levels. I then send the sound from that mixer to our band's PA. We don't have a sound guy or anything, so I've got to dial things in myself. It can be hard to tell if what I'm hearing in my mixer is what the audience is going to hear.
My question is: how do you approach getting a good drum sound outdoors? Any tips for tuning/muffling/mixing/EQing?