Stage Drum Mixer

Well what i am going to ask is all new to me,so i'd like some help,what i am hoping to do is put my Kit into a mixer by the Drum Kit,and then connect to the main Mixer out front.
Well there is a few things that i need to know,One is that i wonder if i need a mixer with a Pre Amp,or not?,and because i have a couple of Kits and one is a large double kit (Which i might ocasionally use) i need a mixer with about 16 Channels because i intended to Mike,and Trigger,Could anyone give me any advice as for what Make,and Model might be right for me,Thank you.

late8 is the person to talk to on this one! lol.

Any non-powered mixer will work. You run all your mics into your mixer and then take the two Main Outs or Monitor Outs, depending on your mixer, and just run into 2 channels of the main mixer. This isn't always the best when you play multiple venues due to the time to set up every different venue with a mix. As an example, to set YOUR mixer someone has to be able to control it while you bang away and someone else has to be out front to check the sound. If you have your mixer out front with the main mixer that will reduce that issue but perhaps you want your mixer up on stage with you which will present the biggest challenge during sound checks.

There are so many options now days it's overwhelming but awesome as far as what you can do with or without a budget.

Total on but maybe off topic, we went with Behringer X-air series 18 ch mixer. We can run it from an Ipad or our cell phones.

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Originally Posted by 0127frey

Well what i am going to ask is all new to me,so i'd like some help,what i am hoping to do is put my Kit into a mixer by the Drum Kit,and then connect to the main Mixer out front.
Well there is a few things that i need to know,One is that i wonder if i need a mixer with a Pre Amp,or not?,and because i have a couple of Kits and one is a large double kit (Which i might ocasionally use) i need a mixer with about 16 Channels because i intended to Mike,and Trigger,Could anyone give me any advice as for what Make,and Model might be right for me,Thank you.

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Welcome to the forum 0127frey.

Sub-mixing drums on stage can get tricky. If you're planning on micing every piece on your kit, sound bleeding into the mics that are in close proximity to each other can be a headache not to mention a hassle to set up if you're playing with other bands on the same bill.

If you were the only drummer performing, your set up will require help from somebody that can give you an idea on how the mix sounds out front since you as the drummer will be too close to your kit to judge.

Having said that, I would start out with a 14 channel mixer like a Mackie 1402. It has pre-amped channels and EQ bands to help you dial in the mix. The pic below has the submixer on top and two outs to the main PA mixer.

Attachment 16306

I have a Behringer XR18, which my band uses when we play a gig where we have to provide the PA. It has enough channels to mic my drums, the other instruments and 4 vocalists. In my previous band we only had a 12 channel mixer with only 8 mic preamps, so I got my own unpowered mixer (a Yamaha MG16) to use as a sub mixer for the drums. I would run one of the main outs from my mixer to an input channel on the band's mixer, and it worked fine. I kept my mixer by me in case I wanted to make adjustments during the gig, as we never had a sound guy. When I left that band, the MG16 became my new band's main board, and I used a Shure M367 6 channel mic mixer to mic the drums and ran that into the MG16. That served us well until we got the X18.

Sorry for the double post but in hindsight, you might want to also invest in a sub-snake to the sub-mixer. I have 8 channels (mics) that run into a sub-snake (circled in yellow) that runs all 8 lines output into the IO interface to the DAW mixer in the control room. This keeps the drum mic cables manageable. You can set up the sub-snake next to your kit and run all of you mic cables to the snake and use the outputs from the stage snake to the FOH.

Attachment 16307

A PA , mixer, console etc is a pre-amp. More correct is that there is an individual pre-amp at the top of every channel. So you want to have control of every drum to the main mix from behind the kit. First off you can't effectively mix FOH from behind the mains. Someone still needs to tell you to turn this that or the other up or down. As for the comment about bleed over, it makes absolutely zero difference where the board is. The bleed over will be the same if the board is behind the drums or 500 ft away. You should just run the entire mix from behind the kit. Whats the sense in controlling your own sub mix and then sending it to a guy out front to mix in with the other instruments. You've essentially tied his hands when he has to ask you between songs to turn up your snare instead of being able to do it himself on the fly. My recommendation is to get a board and some mics and practice by all means. Too few musicians, especially drummers know enough about it. Once you do, you'll quickly realize the redundancy of two boards and two people doing what one can do and more effectively.

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Originally Posted by SunDog

As for the comment about bleed over, it makes absolutely zero difference where the board is. The bleed over will be the same if the board is behind the drums or 500 ft away..

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I mentioned bleed over from other mics on the kit can make the the mixing on stage a challenge if you're not familiar with using gates on each channel or if you have phase cancellation issues with using multiple mics. I found that not very piece on my kit needs a mic. I use 7 but only the kick, snare, hihat and floor tom are closed mic'd, the other 3 channels are used for the overheads.