Miking the drums...

Well, my band is going to go out and spend some money on equipment in the near future, and one of the things we want to accomplish is miking the drums....For starting out, I'll probably just mic the snare, hi-hat, and bass drums and maybe one around the tom area, since I just want to start on a budget system...I'd assume the cymbals will bleed into those mics enough where I won't have to mic them for now...

My question is, what do I run them to? Is it best to run through a PA cabinet, or is a powerful keyboard amp the better way to go on a budget?

Thanks in advance!

Get kick, snare and overhead. A good rig for not too much is this- Get a D-112 for the bass drum, a SHure SM-57 for snare and a SHure SM-81 condenser for the OH.. This will cover your entire kit and works in most situations; close micing each tom isn't necessary.

You'll want to run to a mixing board and from there the signal goes to a power amp to the speakers.

Bill hit it right on the nose. The only thing I would add is having two OH's 90 degrees to one another. That way you could have a right and left channel. It'll come in handy when you want to record.

Since you're budgeting and if your pratcice space as a closet or a spare room. You can make it a cheap reverb chamber. I usually use two mics for it but I'm sure you can use one. Put it facing the wall about 5' high and about 3-4 ' from the wall. Or where ever you can hear the most reverb each room will be differant. To add reverb narrow the door opening to lessen open the door. Use something to keep the door in the same position while you're recording.

Between the OH's and the reverb mic(s) you'd be surprised how much you don't need to close mic the kit. Only in profesional settings would you want to close mic and have the OH's and chamber for recording.

Hope I gave you some ideas. Ken S. student engineer

What's your budget? What does the group have for PA gear? How many channels on the mixer are available for your use?