Michael Fay
Aug 6, 2019
Updated: May 9, 2020
This morning I sat in church listening to a wonderful 150-voice choir, an 8-person front-line vocal team, a 40 piece orchestra, and a tight rhythm section that included a grand piano, B3, electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass, and a full acoustic drum kit.
Because there are so many acoustic instruments and voices being miked, the drums are in a fully-enclosed plexi booth. The sanctuary stage is not an ideal acoustic environment for all this sound in close proximity, but it’s workable for most arrangements.
However… today, for some reason, the FOH engineer was running the overhead drum mics way too hot in the mix. What a waste of amazing talent.
So, what’s my problem?
The problem was the constant drone of metallic hash noise coming from the ride, splash and crash cymbals. Why are you (you know who you are) miking and routing those cymbals to the main mix buss? Well maybe the Death Metal guys can get away with this, but for everyone else, please continue to read on. Click here to see the rest of the story.