Sound system?

[Cassidy]

Okay, I haven't used my e-drums for a gig yet but if I do, what should I run them through for sound?
Keep in mind that 95% of the time we play gigs "garage band style" with no mics on any amps or drums. We run five vocal mics thru an XR600B to two PR15's on stands, and then keyboards, electric guitars and bass run their own amps, and no mics on drums at all... usually.

Only once have we used my 16 channel board, bottoms, crossovers, drum mics, etc. etc.

But with the heat we had in July, I almost opted for the e-drums for two reasons... much easier setup and I don't have to work as hard playing.

What do you guys plug in to? I have a 110 watt 15" bass combo, would that be a good option?

[kyle102565]

i say invest in 2 mics for your acoustic kit, one by the snare and hats, the other on the bass.
you need amplification and a PA system unless your playing a 60 person capacity dive bar.
youve gotta be workin your keister off playing live with no mics. go big

a properly mic'd and amp'd acoustic kit is effortless to play

[Northern Redneck]

Ive run my e-kit through thenew version of the 609 with 15" speakers with the vocals and it worked fine.

[2slow]

I picked up a b 52 matrix v1000 speaker system used and it is perfect for e drum monitoring and small gigs ! Powered 700 watts 15" sub and a pair of satellites with 10s and horns and if that's not enough there is a v2000 thats 1200 watts with 18" sub and 12" sats. As for the bass amp they don't work well with e drums because they are designed for low end only but a key board amp works fine with e drum .

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/thedjking_2123_61678595

[Cassidy]

i say invest in 2 mics for your acoustic kit, one by the snare and hats, the other on the bass.
you need amplification and a PA system unless your playing a 60 person capacity dive bar.
youve gotta be workin your keister off playing live with no mics. go big

a properly mic'd and amp'd acoustic kit is effortless to play

Thanks for the response... but, I have more drum mics than I'd ever need. And what you suggest will never happen. When we go garage band style I don't allow anything in the vocal PA except vocals... not even an acoustic guitar... I've seen too many bands overpower their vocals that way... so micing drums at that point isn't an option.

And what do you plug your edrums into?

[Cassidy]

I picked up a b 52 matrix v1000 speaker system used and it is perfect for e drum monitoring and small gigs ! Powered 700 watts 15" sub and a pair of satellites with 10s and horns and if that's not enough there is a v2000 thats 1200 watts with 18" sub and 12" sats. As for the bass amp they don't work well with e drums because they are designed for low end only but a key board amp works fine with e drum .

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/thedjking_2123_61678595

I have a 100 watt keyboard amp... I kind of figured that the drums low end would kill that 12" speaker.

Thanks, I'll try it.

[Dad3353]

Good afternoon, Cassidy...

Putting the instrument through the PA does not necessarilly (indeed, should never...) drown out the vocals. The idea is normally to 'homogenise' the sound to the public. A touch of BD and O/H in the mix should, for small venues, only enhance the acoustic sound of the drums, not blast the kick above the singer. We play (5-piece pop/rock...) to all sizes, from tiny bar to open-air festivals, and would in every case provide for a touch of reinforcement for the drums. It's not the volume (my drums are plenty loud enough when required...), but gives a more coherent phonic 'picture' to the hall.
As for e-drums... Use a pair of DI's into 2 channels of the FOH desk, take a monitor out to the bass combo as foldback for yourself and your colleagues. Very simple, very efficient. I would say it's a no-brainer. Try it and see..?
Hope this helps...

[itchie]

5 singers? thought about getting a band sound guy?

iv seen guys use just 1 powered mackie speaker seamed to work good

[Cassidy]

Hmmm, this topic may cause a lot of discussion. Here's a little background... we have a very good rhythm player that has run his Martin A/E into the P.A. the past couple years. He likes to turn himself up when no one's looking... sound check with volume at 5 on the Martin and then turn up on the guitar, and the E & A strings will definitely drown out vocals when we're just using the PR15's on stands (and yes we have 5 members that all sing and our vocals are very solid). It gave our sound guy fits. Finally I moved him to an acoustic amp and that problem was solved. My point is, I am NOT going thru all that and then plug any drums into the P.A. I'd unleash the monster (Martin) all over again.

Secondly, I've used a pink noise generator to set EQ and levels for many years... I'm not going to argue the point but it's another reason for the way we do things. Suffice it to say we get a lot of positive feedback about our dynamics... our sound is very clean and balanced. Plus we're keeping it simple which the whole band loves.

And I appreciate all your input... I always learn from you guys!

[nucjd]

On a side note. What;'s up with guitarists and they uncontrollable urge to drive their amps to the point of a jet engine by folks head. I have a couple of theories. One, years of increased volume has demolished their high frequency hearing requiring them to push the overall volume to get the sound that they want making the fatal assumption that everyone else around them is perceiving the sound the same way. The other theory.... Their mom's did not hug them enough