DRUMS
BASIC DRUM MIC TECHNIQUES FOR WORSHIP STREAMING | Carl Albrecht
In these strange days of streaming services many small churches are diving into the ocean of technology . For the bigger ministries it ’ s no big deal . But for most churches this is extremely difficult . The average church size is still 100 people or less . And most of these have no or very little technical resources . You may have no professional media people at your church and very little equipment . So how can a drummer help ?
I ’ m not saying drummers are responsible to step into the multi media world , but it can be something that ’ s wired into our drumming DNA . Being a multi-tasking player is very common for drummers . And most musicians in today ’ s world are well aware of the need to be involved with audio and video technology .
1 . BARE BONES Let ’ s say your team uses very few mics . Maybe just vocal mic into a small PA is all you use right now . All other instruments are acoustic - like the drums , maybe a real piano , and maybe other instruments played through an amp or just heard acoustically in the room . With what you already have you can send an audio lead split from the main outs or an auxiliary audio out of whatever mixer you use and go through a digital interface into a laptop . A few hundred dollars invested can get you into the basic streaming .
You can use the camera on the laptop or a basic USB camera on a stand . One shot for now … this is just to get started . And maybe that ’ s all you can afford . With basic meeting software like Zoom or others start testing video and audio quality as it sounds and looks at a rehearsal . Don ’ t try this without testing it first . Record a short session just to go back and review what ’ s happening .
If you take your audio feed from the mains you ’ ll have to use the audio according to how it works in the room . It might be possible to adjust your playing according to how it sounds on the video , but you ’ ll be limited according to how it affects the room . This applies to all the musicians so work as a team to get the best results . You may even be able to adjust the way your team sets up . Moving closer together is my first choice . But everyone has to adjust their playing volume to make this work well .
You could possibly add a room mic if there is room in your mixer and work on placing it strategically where you get a good blend of band , vocals , and audience . And you can only turn it up enough to hear everything with out washing out the room sound or getting any feedback . This is definitely “ bare bones ” and that is exactly the point of this exercise . It is a first step . But using aux sends can let you make adjustments without affecting your house mix . THIS is step two .
2 . USING AUX MIXES WITH EXTRA MIC ’ S ETC . If your mixer has the extra channels then you can be a bit more creative by using the “ aux ” sends . Add mics and D . I . inputs for other instruments as needed even if you ’ re not sending them to the house mix . By using the aux sends as audio for your video feed it allows you to set up a whole other mix for audio . This can be extremely helpful for your streaming quality .
3 . THE DRUM SOUND Keeping in mind what happened in step two let ’ s say you can only use one channel for drums . Then you ’ ll probably have to place the
mic just in front of the drum kit on a stand and listen to the blend when you test the video on playback . Depending on the room , the kit , the way you play , the volume in the room , and ALL other variables move the “ kit mic ” into a position that gives you the best overall drum mix without any tweaking of EQ or effects . * That will happen later as you do more testing . Get the best natural , raw sound that you can before tweaking the sound . You want to do this because most aux sends do not have the same capabilities as your house mix sends .
IF it is possible try to have at least two channels for drums : One mic in the kick drum and the other one over your head pointing down into the kit . And if your stream is in stereo maybe you can get two overhead mics and use that in combination with the kick mic . Again this is all about the first steps in streaming your worship gatherings with the most basic technology available . Start small and grow , learn , and honor the Lord with what ’ s in your hands .
Carl Albrecht Professional drummer for 30 + years , playing with Paul Baloche , Don Moen , Ron Kenoly , Abe Laboriel , LeAnn Rimes and others . He ’ s also a clinician , author & pastor . Contact Carl for coaching , online lessons , producing , or sessions . I ’ m still growing too .. www . CarlAlbrecht . com LMAlbrecht @ aol . com