A less than conventional drum set

Lee Brenkman

Lee Brenkman

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Jan 13, 2011
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Oakland California USA
When you play with a singer guitarist like Jonathan Richman who is VERY fussy about the sound you make supports without interfering with his sound you need to get creative.

This is what Tommy Larkins' was using on Wednesday.

The entire kit was miked with ONE Beyer 201, in front of and just above the top rim of the vintage Gretsch bass drum.
 

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Re: A less than conventional drum set

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
I bet it sounded a gazillion times better than most rock or pop drummers do :)
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Don't know if it was a "gazillion" times better but it did go a long way to proving that the first step in a good drum "sound" is "good sounding drums" the second is a "good" drummer ( which Tommy Larkins most definitely IS).

Those two steps are "beyond" a great number of rock and pop drummers IMNSHO.
 
My most favorite drum sound was at a jazz gig with just two 4050's overhead. sounded just so good and it had heaps of low end as well. Sounded just like the kit sounded on stage!!!!
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Lee Brenkman said:
Which in a jazz setting, most of the time anyway, is EXACTLY what we should try to achieve.
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You mean we aren't supposed to make every band sound like a heavy metal band? With crushing kick drum? and a snare that gets you between the eyes?

That would be news to most sound guys.

One of the things that used to get me lots of work (back when I was in the rental business) was that I tried to present the music as the musicians/style needed. Not to inject my own personal tastes. Most non rock acts hate using a sound company because so many "try to make eveything sound like a rock band".

At least that is what I have been told-on MANY occasions-right after they thanked me for NOT making them sound like a rock band.
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Lee Brenkman said:
The entire kit was miked with ONE Beyer 201, in front of and just above the top rim of the vintage Gretsch bass drum.
Click to expand...

Very interesting.

I used to do a similar thing at City Church San Francisco many years ago, mainly because I only had one snake channel left for drums. I used a Beta 57 horizontally facing the drummer just above the kick, and between the snare and the tom. The front of the mic was about 1" above the drummers side edge of the kick. It picked up more than enough snare and cymbals (given much of the cymbal sound was acoustic anyway) and with parametric EQ I could get a reasonable kick drum thump.
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Lee Brenkman said:
When you play with a singer guitarist like Jonathan Richman who is VERY fussy about the sound you make supports without interfering with his sound you need to get creative.
This is what Tommy Larkins' was using on Wednesday.

The entire kit was miked with ONE Beyer 201, in front of and just above the top rim of the vintage Gretsch bass drum.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Was the 201 your choice, or what he prefered/had with him?

Regards, Jack
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Jonathan is the one artist I've been a fan of since 1978 or 9. Still enjoy seeing him when I get a chance. I like what Tommy adds but I really always preferred Jonathan solo.
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Ivan Beaver said:
You mean we aren't supposed to make every band sound like a heavy metal band? With crushing kick drum? and a snare that gets you between the eyes?

That would be news to most sound guys.

One of the things that used to get me lots of work (back when I was in the rental business) was that I tried to present the music as the musicians/style needed. Not to inject my own personal tastes. Most non rock acts hate using a sound company because so many "try to make eveything sound like a rock band".

At least that is what I have been told-on MANY occasions-right after they thanked me for NOT making them sound like a rock band.
Click to expand...

And that is what these jazz dudes said. They were so glad that i mic'd it that way because so many times they go to a festival or something and all that happened was that every drum was mic'd and it sounded like a metal dude playing jazz. I always take the attidude of presenting exactly what is on the stage in the style it should be!!!
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Jack Arnott said:
Awesome! Was the 201 your choice, or what he prefered/had with him?

Regards, Jack
Click to expand...

Jack,

The 201 was Jonathan's choice. It's actually his "spare" vocal mic. He carries a total of four mics and uses three. The two Beyer 201s, one with a foam windscreen for vocals and the one on the drums and either a Shure KSM137 or an AT PRO 37 for the acoustic guitar. He plugs all three into a Mackie 1202 VLZ3 with an MXR stomp box graphic inserted in the guitar channel that he switches in and out for "lead" and "accompaniment" sounds.

From the Mackie you take two mic level outs and plug them into your system, THEN you flatten ALL the EQ's, turn of the subs and Jonathan adjusts things to his liking.

In smaller venues he prefers to plug the output of his Mackie directly into the power amps.

Not all all the way most people do it, but it works for him.
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Next I want photos of a "More than conventional"......:-)
Less than I get, is more than possible?
 
Re: A less than conventional drum set

Lee Brenkman said:
Jack,

The 201 was Jonathan's choice. It's actually his "spare" vocal mic. He carries a total of four mics and uses three. The two Beyer 201s, one with a foam windscreen for vocals and the one on the drums and either a Shure KSM137 or an AT PRO 37 for the acoustic guitar. He plugs all three into a Mackie 1202 VLZ3 with an MXR stomp box graphic inserted in the guitar channel that he switches in and out for "lead" and "accompaniment" sounds.

From the Mackie you take two mic level outs and plug them into your system, THEN you flatten ALL the EQ's, turn of the subs and Jonathan adjusts things to his liking.

In smaller venues he prefers to plug the output of his Mackie directly into the power amps.

Not all all the way most people do it, but it works for him.
Click to expand...

And after he gets all that to his liking (and instructs you to turn the A/C and ice machine off) , he tells Tommy whether to use sticks or brushes on each song, which may or may not match the instructions he gave Tommy last night.

Does he still have the paint can that he uses as a footstool?

-waldo
 
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