Vocal mic for drummer

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jjhipv

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Hello,

I play drums and sing in a band and am becoming more frustrated at being tied to a mic whilst playing. The microphone and stand seem to interfere with my playing slightly as i can't thrash about and enjoy myself as much, and the only way i've got around this is too have the mic positioned further from me, but then i have to lean towards it during my singing parts.
So i've come to the conclusion that maybe i should get a headset mic but i just wanted some peoples experiences with these. I play upbeat, banging, punk type stuff and a lot of the singing is loud and shouty so the mic would need to be able to deal well with this type of singing.

Just wondering what peoples recommendations would be, and also if anyone thinks i would be best just sticking with a mic and mic stand then please let me know why.

thanks,

josh
 
singing drummer

Man I know how that fell's, I am a drummer and back in the day I would have to sing back-up and some lead sing while playing the drums. Try this, get yourself a large boom mic stand and place the stand behind you about 2 to 3 feet back, and have it high enough over your head so that the mic boom arm and mic is about your forehead level. then when you need to sing you just tiled your head up a liittle and then sing, this will get the mic off from being on the side of your body or over your toms and then you can dive into your rolls without worrying about the mic being in the way.
 
As a singing drummer I've tried headset mics and handheld mics (on a boom). There are a few down sides of a headset - you can't work the mic (pull away for higher/louder notes, etc) also, if you need to quickly talk to someone on stage (in particular mid song) there is no way to get your mouth away from the mic (unless you have some kind of mute switch - which may not be easy to control when both hands and both feet are occupied:confused:). Let's not even talk about if you cough, sneeze or have to clear your throat. However, if you are convinced you want a head set - there are several good brands (you can rarely go wrong with Shure).

I still prefer an actual mic (for all of the above reasons) so I use a combination of a boom and a goose neck (actually 2 goosenecks). I have a long boom on a stand with the traditional round metal base plate. At the end of the boom, I have 2 goose necks. This allows me to place the stand behind me, coming staight over my head (actually over my left shoulder) and then the goosenecks allow me to position the mic exactly how I need it. I use a couple of the old plastic covered weight disks to add weight to the boom stand - if you find the right disks, the hole (designed for a weight bar to slide through) fits the bottom of the boom stand. The stand is certainly much heavier than the trifold stands - but as a drummer, I accepted hauling heavy gear a long, long time ago:D

Not only do I sing - but I normally use a rather large kit with drums, cymbals and various percussion going all the way from over my hihat on the left to over my 2nd floor tom on the right - so having a mic stand anywhere but behind me would compromise my ability to hit everything I need to hit.
 
I am a weekend soundman and it seems like every time musicians bring their own headset mic, it sounds like ass. I suppose this is because they always buy the cheapest one they can find. (Sometimes local musicians don't invest much thought into the quality of their audio equipment.)

Also a lot of them tend to distort with loud voices maybe because the diaphram is so tiny.

RD
 
stands

Yes you will have to use large extra heavy duty boom stands with boom arms like a Atlas mic stands , they are heavy and have a counter weight on the back end of the boom arm. A simple stage mic stand and boom would never work.
 
Thus is the bane of the drummer/vocalist. I too am in the same camp. I've always used a simple mic stand sitting behind me on the right hand side and over my right shoulder, with an SM58. I did use a cheapish headset mic once that gave poor results due to its inferior sound quality.

My playing style has always been fairly simple in light of this, but suitable to our style; but I also wish I had more freedom to move about and do more on the kit.
 
Drummers shoudn't be allowed to have a microphone anywhere near their face.

Unless your name is Phil Collins or something ... give it up. Your voice sucks, and no one wants to hear you sing.

That's why you beat on things with sticks in the first place. :D

.
 
chessrock said:
Drummers shoudn't be allowed to have a microphone anywhere near their face.

Unless your name is Phil Collins or something ... give it up. Your voice sucks, and no one wants to hear you sing.

That's why you beat on things with sticks in the first place. :D

.
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There's some truth to that for sure.

1. It's damn near impossible to tell how well you're performing vocally with drums banging in your face.

2. It's impossible to practice proper singing/breathing technique sitting slumped over a kit with drums banging in your face.

however...

3. Phil Collins sucks.
 
thanks for all the input.

I guess the general opinion is that getting used to playing with a boom mic stand would be the best bet so that's what i'll do. The main worry I had about using a headset was the lack of control, as sometimes i sing backing vocals, and sometimes i'm singing lead.

anyway, thanks again

also, Phil Collins doesn't suck. He's great!
 
WAS great. About up until Duke.

Phil's downfall about coincided with the time he figured out he could make millions by singing fluffy pop stuff.

Before that time, though, he was one of the finest prog rock drummers out there. And a very capable vocalist to boot. Particularly when he was singing Peter's stuff (live).

.
 
I have this same issue as a drummer and I found that the only real "cure" was to mess around at home with a mic on a boom until I found a good set up that was comfortable and then be damned sure I take my time setting up on stage to get the same thing. The extra 2 minutes is worth it even if the sound guy is yelling at you to get started. I will often bring my own mic stand just to mitigate the potential of running into your usual house "stripped threads and duct tape" stands.

Phil Collins... what the hell was he thinking with that Disney crap? Oh right... zeros at the end of the check.
 
umm try the AKG Perception 400C, its an acoustics mic, it has a -10dB attenuation that would help to keep you right in front of the mic, during those intimate moments your drumsticks bang-down on it's prey for the night (or day)... also its a multi-directional mic (omni, cardiod, and figure 8) so you can still have it in front of you and switch the mic pick-up so the drums will be less harsh while during your vocals....

and i hear it's retailing at about $300 now from it's once marked up value of $600 when it was first released...

just a suggestion.........
 
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