Need help with drum mic's

[bob336nc]

I am on a tight budget and know nothing about sound tech. All I can afford for a mixer is a Yamaha with 4 spots for mics but I have 5 drums. One 12" tom on a rack, and a 14 and 16" on the floor,bass and snare. I found a good deal on set of 7 CAD mics. Comes with 3 tom, 1 snare, 1bass,and 2 condenser. What would be the best way to set these up with the 4 spots on the mixer? Any advice appreciated! ~Cheers~

[pastor_bob]

Welcome to Drum Chat bob336nc!

I started with that CAD set of mics. They're ok, and can get you started, but since you are limited by the number of your mixer inputs, I would look to go with 2 good overheads, and a bass mic. You could use the CAD mics, but I really think you would be better off saving a little bit more and getting something better. Right now, I'm using 2 Audix F15 condenser mics for overheads, and a CAD bass mic until I can upgrade to a Shure Beta 52A. I run it through a small 4 XLR input Behringer mixer, and I'm getting very good sound. The overheads are EQ'ed to pick up the cymbals very well, and they even do a decent job of picking up the rest of the kit, too.

Just some thoughts for you.

[Northern Redneck]

Kick, snare, overheads.

[Russ]

I think if you just want a mono mix and you don't feel like tweaking each part of the set, which you can't do with less inputs on the mixer than drums in your setup - stick with a pair of overheads. Add kick and snare after they are set up right, if you find you need a little more sweetening to your mix. I highly recommend labelling your cables according to what mic it goes to so you don't get confused(something small and sticky you can write kick, snare, overhead on). Another good idea is to keep some twist ties around, to reduce cable clutter in your drumming area. This will not only make it easier to move around once everything is mic'd up, but will also reduce the possibility that you step on and damage your cables.

[groovearteest]

Kick, snare, overheads.

This right here.

[bob336nc]

Thanks for all the replies! This will definitely get me moving in the right direction!