Has anyone ever tried this?

[Charva]

My drummer wants to mic and amplify his drum set.

His plan is to mic up and run through a mixer and then out into the PA. He states he's having trouble hearing himself and wants more "thud"


I told him that since the PA speakers are out in front, this option sucks.


Here's MY plan for the drummer....mic the kit into a small mixer...THEN I suggested he buy a powered speaker and sub to place behind himself so he could hear himself better.


Has anyone ever tried this before?



Dave

 

[ez_willis]

Doesn't matter if it's happened before.

It has, but it doesn't matter that it has.

It'll work fine. Go for it. Or fire him for complaining and hire a new drummer so this guy can stand out front.

 

[NRS]

My drummer wants to mic and amplify his drum set.

His plan is to mic up and run through a mixer and then out into the PA. He states he's having trouble hearing himself and wants more "thud"


I told him that since the PA speakers are out in front, this option sucks.


Here's MY plan for the drummer....mic the kit into a small mixer...THEN I suggested he buy a powered speaker and sub to place behind himself so he could hear himself better.


Has anyone ever tried this before?Dave

First off if the drummer cant even hear himself over the rest of the mayhem then you must be a loud ass band! I do a fair share of bar sized sound reinforcement gigs and usually find drummers needing the exact opposite, which is running a moniter channel of miced guitar amps and vocals so they can hear the rest of the band better. Maybe try turning everything down a notch. Really, people wont think your band sucks if your not causing them hearing damage and it may actually have the opposite effect if your mix becomes more balanced and pleasing.

As for the drummer doing his own submix, if its just for his own monitering purposes, fine, but if you also plan on running those same miced drums out to the mains its probably a better idea to leave the control of each individual drum mic to who ever is running the main mixer because they'll be able to hear more what the audience hears which is priority. (The drummer is only going to mix what sounds good from his position which may or may not sound balanced to the audience).

Also, beware of feedback if too much of the drummers own signal gets sent to his moniter as it will only be feet aways from his mics. A moniter AND a sub sound like a lot. One 15" wedge should be plenty. Headphones are sometimes a better option for drummers.

 

[funkydrummer]

i have played many bar gigs with countless bands who were just too loud to be able to enjoy. during sound check, have the drummer start playing, then turn up the other instruments individually until everything is balanced. if the drummer still cant hear himself, i second the drum monitor idea, but would not run that sound out through the mains.

 

[PYRRHO]

Back to the question....
You're pretty much right. Pumping his drums through the FOH mixer without a monitor will do little to help him unless the PA is cranked ridiclously high.

I mix my own drums so i can control the balance, tone and processing, then send a stereo group to the FOH mixer. The guy riding the board can control my overall volume in the main mix, but my sound is my sound....plus it eats up fewer channels. Then...the FOH sends back to me, either an aux send of the main mix, or individual sends from select channels, which I then control in my own monitor mix. This works well. I've from time to time had some feedback problems, which are hard to fix while playing. In these cases, the soundman just cuts his sends to me until I can deal with the problem. I may be switching to in-ear monitors to get around this.

 

[RezN8]

Actually, I've played some very small clubs/bars where we used a mic in the kick drum and an overhead and it sounded great FOH (both SM57s). Oftentimes even just an SM58 laying in the bass drum can help.

Especially if the drummer knows how to "play to the room" this could be help it sound more polished.

A lot depends on the room, the drummer and the PA.

But this is NOT for the drummer's sake, it's for the audience. That's a very important distinction!!! Give the drummer seperate monitor and, if you can, his own monitor mix.

DO NOT let the drummer mix himself into the PA - he has NO idea what it sounds like FOH!!!

Also make sure the PA can handle it. Many PAs will not have enough power and too much of the kit will draw energy from vox/other instruments.

 

[NRS]

Actually, I've played some very small clubs/bars where we used a mic in the kick drum and an overhead and it sounded great FOH (both SM57s). Oftentimes even just an SM58 laying in the bass drum can help.

I find this is usually more than adequite for small venues too (although I prefer a disignated kick mic). Often I dont even need an overhead either cause just enough kit bleed works its way into the vocal mics.

 

[sauce]

Tell him to buy a ButtKicker. All the rumble with none of the sound