Skip to main content

Is there any way to get some DECENT drum amplification via a single mic, either a Audio-Technica AT3035, or a Behringer ECM8000. This would be for a small club gig.

As far as I know, the snare, toms and the crashes have enough projection for this particular club, so as not to bother on Micing them. It's the bass drum and hi-hat I'm worried about. [edit: I know any mic I put up will pick up all the drums - it's just that I think that the bass drum and hi-hat would be the most in need of amplification - just to keep my post clear]

Again, I'm not trying to make it sound great, good, or any more than... OK. I just don't have another choice, other than to mic the drum kit using a single mic. Are there any decent possibilities?

Cheers,
Mihai Toma

Comments

BobRogers Thu, 10/04/2007 - 04:19

I'd go for doing one or the other well depending on the type of music. There are a lot of places to put a single mic that get a good picture of the whole kit - behind and slightly the drummer's head (inside the drummer's heard works well, but is not practical on all drummers) in front of the set about cymbal level is good in the studio, but might be a pain on your small stage. You could fiddle with position on these and shade toward the hat and see how you liked the balance. This is what I'd do for R&B, country, jazz, etc.

On the other hand, if your real goal is smack-in-the-chest bass drum, you might forget all that and just mic the kick as you would for a multiple mic setup. I'd go this way for any heavy rock style.

Actually, the combination of the two of these - one kick mic and one overhead shaded toward the snare and hat - is really a fine way to mic a drum set in anything less than the best conditions (i.e. long sound check, top quality PA, different people mixing monitors and FOH) Very simple to set up and mix. The right information to put in the monitors so that people can keep time.

Good luck.

x

User login