When moving into a rehearsal space, you should take the time to assess your bands setup. Locations of members/amps/instruments/etc. Itâs also a great time to address your drum setup.
When people start playing drums, they typically build their kit for convenience and playability. As you practice and develop as a drummer, you'll need to learn and experiment with different drums and setups to make you a well rounded player. A new setup may take you back a few bpms since your muscle memory needs time to adjust, so change your setup gradually. There's no right or wrong way to setup drums, but there are physical changes you can make to help an engineer or sound man get you the best sound.
A Mic'd kit:
Preparing your rehearsal space setup for playing live or recording takes time and practice. If your kits mic'd with a pair of overheads, your engineer will set them up at equal distances from your snare to correct for any phases issues (which results in lost frequencies). Since the snare is the physical center of your kit (mic's prospective) and overheads capture the whole kit, cymbals should be as close to equal distances from the snare as possible. Raise your cymbals as high as comfortably possible and play them on edge. This creates physical separation from the tom mics and allows an engineer more control and less bleed from each piece of the kit. Toms should be played as flat as comfortably possible since sticks transfer less energy to angled drums than flat drums. Since snare and tom mics are directional, this setup allows them to be pointed straight down at the drum, isolating drums from the kit to allow the most EQ flexibility. Kick drum position depends on how you sit around your snare and usually has little bleed issues to worry about.
Dynamics
When everyoneâs jamming in the rehearsal space itâs difficult to focus on your dynamics, but you always have to be conscious of your attack velocity when practicing. Kick, snare and toms should be struck consistently hard. Preparing the mics and pre's for your drums gain level is important to capturing the most detail, so don't play soft during your mic check. Cymbals should be played consistently soft, which allows for maximum dynamics on transitions and buildups. When cymbals are struck hard throughout a song it kills the dynamics. Since cymbals don't need much energy to get really loud and eat up headroom, itâs important to be conscious of your attack power.
A "mic'd" setup might be totally different than your used to, but if you practice moving your kit little by little, youâre playing and practice habits will give you the best performance in the studio and playing live. The easier you make it for the engineer the better anyone can make you sound.
Enjoy your rehearsal space and please share any drum info thatâs helped you out!
Also check out our website: Bandrehearsal.net and our blog post: Practice Space Essentials
Rehearsal space recording setup
