I am far from the seasoned pro but I have played quite a few smaller clubs.

Some mic the snare and bass, others have none at all. And when mic'ed. its up to the sound man to decide the levels. Our bass player has every gig put on DVD and I can clearly tell a difference when the bass is mic'ed up, but for my money the snare should be able to cut through without help.

And there are all the new "trigger" thingamajigs ... all electronic stuff that is way over my head but used by the current drum world.....(I'm also a product of the late 60's - 70's).....

I see alot of shows and wonder how some drummers get the sound they do....it's not their kits,,,,it's electronics.....

For my money, not needed in smaller clubs for us simple Rock and Roll dudes......save your money,,, I do not own one drum mic.

I,Haven,t been on this forum for awhile OLD SCHOOL but I gigged from late 69 thru 1981 sitting between tall speakers and did not mike my drums at all unless we were booked for a large venue,which was rare and I would always blow out the mic for the bass drum. I remember breaking many sticks trying to make the drums sound louder. The sticks were cheaper then but we didn't make much money playing and I hated to buy them.The answer to breaking sticks came in the form of sticks called "ROCK KNOCKERS". I know it sounds obscene but these sticks were HUGE without tips on them and I don't know if they make them anymore. But the downside was having to replace the heads more often. I couldn't win for losing back then. For the past few years my son has been teaching me double bass pedals and along with lessons found on DRUMMERS WORLD I am playing as good as I ever had. I try to play an hour every day just for the exercise. Along with some old geezers gigs I really enjoy the new licks I can play.I.am with you JOHN G the new mics of today can make drums sound anyway you want them to sound, especially the drum triggers. Myself! I like the true sounds of my old ludwigs. TMTM

Although I am prepared for it at any gig, I PREFER not to mic things if I don't ABSOLUTELY have to. For the most part soundmen will tear your soul out with the bad sound they get and far too many of them are clueless as to the balance of a kit as one instrument, they think of it as a collection of different stuff and usually DON'T make it sound like I like them to sound. Overprocessing is only fun once in a while, I like 'em to sound like DRUMS!!

When I first joined the band I'm currently with they mic'd EVERYTHING at EVERY GIG!! No matter what! And we tried to run the sound from the stage. It was just what they had done for so long that they were complacent with it. After a while I started to notice a trend . . . the smaller venues would often complain that we were "WAY TOO LOUD" and suggest that we lower it a bit. Well, after some much needed pushing and prodding from me, I FINALLY convinced them to just do away with micing, at least for the small places. And it did get rid of the complaints, as a matter of fact we get more COMPLIMENTS on the sound and balance of the band than ever!!

We all sing, so there's 3 open mics on stage at any given moment and it gives the band a bit of ambiance through he vocal PA, it's not a lot, but it makes a difference. We do JUST fine with stage volume for the instruments for most gigs now and it's made us tweak our gear for HUGE TONE rather than for the mics I always use big kick drums for this gig (24, 26, 28) and I think it does pretty well without being mic'd and the snare is pretty much the loudest instrument on stage so we really don't have to mic that. If you pitch your toms UP a bit, a'la Bonham, they'll cut right through also.

Well, that's just ME so don't anyone be put off by this, but it is what works for me.

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I've seen a lot of mic's as well. Possibly no one has learned "dynamics" in this day and age. Especially when it comes to guitarists! Their volume has to match their ego's. So to compete everyone cranks it up and a drummer is almost forced to mic everything just to be heard. Then add ear plugs to the mix to save everyone's hearing and no one hears a damn thing! LOL

It has really gotten bizarre with all the gadgets. Keep things simple, learn group dynamics and play, but play well! Club owners look for quality, not volume. Ever wonder why so many clubs stopped having live bands? Too damn loud! Besides other "issues" some musicans travel with.

Volume means nothing if it sounds like crap.

WELL SAID......there is nothing I enjoy more than coming off a high volume piece of music into a toned down section,,,,,, or building up to a crescendo... says alot about how a band approaches its music. Dynamics seem to be a lost art .....I guess its hard to headbang to something like that........