ottog1979
Senior Member
You're outside. Mic everything. Every drum gets a mic, hi-hat mic, and an overhead. People always think the drums are inherently loud, but once you get outside, there will be no way to project above everybody else. Even if you play really hard, the drums will sound like they're behind something once you're outside. Even when I played outside with my Bonham set-up, I still mic'd up. Being un-mic'd outside will make you over compensate and you'll be playing too heavy all the time. It'll take all the musicality out of your performance.
THIS!!! I play outside maybe 1/3 of my gigs. Up until now, I only have a mic for my kick drum. This works fine in most bar and small venue gigs, but even with the bass drum mic I find that I'm completely beat at the end of a 3-hour outside gig. I play hard just to keep up in the mix and am exhausted after. So, just last month I finally got around to buying a close mic set up and sub mixer for all my drums. I'm excited for the first time I get to use it and not have to beat the crap out of my kit just to be heard.
Adjustments for winery overall volume level, of course