Solutions for mic-ing two rack toms in one channel?

[BruceW]

Seems like I'm always trying to do something that ain't the normal way

I'm hoping to add another piece to my kit on some gigs, and of course it will need to be mic'd. I believe that we've run out of unused channels on our board. So in my feeble mind, I'm hoping for an effective way to combine both of my rack tom mics into one channel, freeing up the other channel for the new piece.

I chose the rack toms to combine since they should be the two closest sounds from the kit, and the two closest devices to share. I use identical Audix F2 mics for both rack toms, so one shouldn't be any different than the other for balance considerations.

I'm quite sure that just using a Y cable will cause the band leader and the sound guy to have an aneurysm... so I've been googling solutions. I'm wondering how y'all handle this scenario. And if anyone has any practical experience using a device like this

Rolls MS20c

Or this

ART Splitcom Pro

I expect many of you will suggest it, but I don't really want to use my own mixer for the kit, sending that feed to the board...I'd rather the sound guys be able to adjust each individual drum feed to their liking, not me having to do it from the kit. Plus, they usually do some cool eq things that make the drums sound even better, so that would need to be done individually on the main board.

And yes, it would seem the thing to do would be to ask the band leader and/or the sound guy how they'd like to handle it. I'd prefer to have a possible solution worked out before even broaching the subject to them. Cuz I know how this can go...heh heh.

Ideas?
Thanks

 

[Chris Whitten]

I would put one mic between them, which is actually quite common. Toms are not a crucial part of the drum kit and one mic will reasonably capture the sound of two toms together.

 

[Stroman]

I've seen many bands get a decent sound with one mic over the two rack toms. I'd simplify things and go that route.

 

[BGDurham]

I agree using one of your F2s for both will probably be fine. May need to raise it up a bit so both toms' sound is definitely inside the pick-up pattern of the mic (if it's too low one Tom's sound may be outside the pattern or parts of both toms' sound may be). You might have to increase the signal gain on that channel to compensate for possibly weaker signal.

 

[dwsabianguy]

Using a Y-cable with two mics works just fine. I've been doing it with two SM57s for years on my two highest concert toms on the Cygnus kit. It's actually relatively common to use a Y-cable with a polarity invert when miking up the tops and bottoms of toms with two dynamic mics, even if they're different models like 421/SM57s pairings, (something I should try one of these days...), so a Y cable is totally par for the course. Would work fine with two F2s.

I also have a Sescom 3-Mix, which has the proper resistors to keep impedance mismatches from happening, but it drops the output significantly, so you have to gain it up quite a bit.

You'll also be totally fine putting one mic between the two rack toms, though I'd reach for something with a wider pattern than the F2's hypercardioid, like an SM57, just to make sure it's picking up both of the drums.

 

[dcrigger]

What Chris said.... Just use one mic. Many an engineer do this as their first choice - less phase cancelation, very unlikely to really need to eq or balance them separately. Really no downside when it comes to live playing.

 

[dboomer]

When you use a Y-cable to sum two mics the peak and dips in frequency response add together and become more exagerated. The better way is to wire them in series which smooths out the frequency response.

That said, I’d opt for using a single mic.

 

[PorkPieGuy]

Another vote for one mic between two toms. During sound check, if one tom is a little softer than the other, just move it over.