We travel with our own soundguy, and by doing that, you can work on techniques for better/faster/more efficient sound checks.
I've built a basic drum warmup pattern for sound checks that I use, and while I'm doing that, he's bringing up levels. By the time I'm done with my warmup, he's pretty close with his levels. Then, at the end, if we need to, we do a few singles on things that need some form of treatment [gating, eq'ing, etc], and we're finished. He knows what I like in my monitors [me, mostly], and he's a drummer as well, so if there's something wrong that he needs to hear for himself, he can grab the sticks and play and hear. Great bonus and really comes in handy. He discovers blown monitors like that all the time.
Dynamically, during that pattern I go through the range. I start off at a mid-tempo, basic pattern played at a standard volume. As I play the pattern, I focus on one part of the kit for emphasis. The beginning kick/snare/hat part will start as a money beat, eventually working it's way to a more complicated beat so he can hear if things are making it through the P.A. with distinction. As I move on, he makes adjustments, and usually we're both finished right at the same time. Further into the pattern, it ramps up in intensity, and he rolls back levels if he needs to at that point. Then, the last part of the pattern shifts to a fast pattern, a hi-tempo "hey ho let's go" for a few minutes with breaks and fills. During that time he's confirming his gate settings and making last adjustments. And even though that pattern played at that speed is what I do primarily live, it's not what I do in checks. It would be a pain in the rump for a soundman to try to check me if I was playing full-blast punk beats the entire time.
Then we're done.
A lot of soundguys will want you to do singles on the kick, then snare, hat, etc., without playing a full beat until the end. If it's that situation, I give them the singles, but I add things so it'll help him get a mix while he's going. For example: play the kick, pretty much at your top volume or close. Once he's got that and you go to snare, give him the singles, then add an occasional kick as well. He'll be able to compare the two signals and mix accordingly while he's going. Hats, single hits, partially closed, closed, open...with kick hits [and now occasional snare]. Keep going. Focus on what he wants you to hit, and give him good, clean hits for a bit of each. If you play the spectrum, he'll have an easier time dialing you in. And since you play with dynamics, you should make sure those dynamics come through in sound check.
me...again with the coffee...sorry guys....