Mic setup for a small club; just for looks

[fruitcake]

I’m setting up a medium sized bar band for a movie so this is just for looks. I know there’s all kinds of ways to skin a cat, asking for opinions on typical setups.
I’m planning on mics for the amps, singers obviously, but:
Are drums normally mic’ed?
It’s a basic kit. Kick, single mounted tom, floor tom, snare, hi hat, ride, 1 or 2 crash.

[MOF]

For a small club you wouldn’t mic’ the drums nor the guitar amplifiers.

[fruitcake]

I guess the better question is; what size venue does one mic drums

[shufflebeat]

Depends on the look/theme of the movie also. I think a single overhead ribbon on a kit says something different (jazzy 50's) than a double small diaphragm condensers (rock 70's) or multiple DPAs (pop-rock 00's).

No mics on an RnB kit 'cos they're miming to a jazzy 50's loop.

[Wonks]

A medium-sized US club is probably a bit bigger than a medium-sized UK club, so there's a good possibility that you might want to mic the drums up for it to look realistic. But if you do that, you'll really want at least one sub for the PA.

Nothing too fancy, just kick, snare and a couple of overheads.

If it's not really that big a club, then often its a vocal-only PA, no guitar mics or drum mics.

If it is set in the past, then as mentioned, the era is important. Late 60's and 70s I'd say you're more likely to have a single SM58 hanging above the kit than two small diameter condenser mics. Affordable decent condenser mics didn't really start appearing until the 90s, and although you might have found condensers on drum overheads for a name band at bigger venues, at amateur or semi-pro level, then at the time, the kit stayed quite basic.

[James Perrett]

I'd say that the kick and snare drum are mic'd even for a fairly small gig. Slightly larger gigs will mic the toms and bigger gigs will mic the cymbals. If we are talking a top flight club then bands would be fully mic'd for just about any size gig.

[Sam Spoons]

At those kind of venues I would nearly always mic the guitar amps with kick, snare and an overhead on the drums.

[fruitcake]

Thanks all for the input. I was leaning towards micing kick, snare and overheads but not being an expert in the live music milieu I wasn’t sure how common it was. I try to make it look right. Ironically on this one I’m only concerned with how it looks not how it sounds.

[Mike Stranks]

You haven't mentioned whether this is a contemporary or period film/video.

If it's period, just be aware that when watching any shots containing mics and other related kit, nerds like me - and Hugh - immediately look to establish if the technology is right for the period.

Often it's spot-on, but I've ruined the drama of some scenes for my wife by my comments that "Hmmm... those mics weren't available until about 10 years later..."

[Drew Stephenson]

[fruitcake]

You haven't mentioned whether this is a contemporary or period film/video.

If it's period, just be aware that when watching any shots containing mics and other related kit, nerds like me - and Hugh - immediately look to establish if the technology is right for the period.

Often it's spot-on, but I've ruined the drama of some scenes for my wife by my comments that "Hmmm... those mics weren't available until about 10 years later..."

I love doing period pieces, but this one is contemporary. Whatever the time period though, not only does it need to be the right gear, it needs to be used properly. That’s usually the bigger challenge. That’s where the filmmakers throw out the phrase “willing suspension of disbelief”.
As for this one, I’ll do my best to make everything look proper so as to spare myself the opprobrium of Mike and Hugh!

[MOF]

Often it's spot-on, but I've ruined the drama of some scenes for my wife by my comments that "Hmmm... those mics weren't available until about 10 years later..."

A Kenny Everett docu-drama had digital gear on show in the 1970s.
Also can you ask the director not to dub on feedback the moment the singer gets near to or taps the microphone!!!!!!!

[MarkOne]

I've ruined the drama of some scenes for my wife by my comments that "Hmmm... those mics weren't available until about 10 years later..."

I read this out to Mrs One, and she laughed, and said:
Oh yes. Music gear, and IT stuff, cars, trains, mobile phones, airplanes, cameras, watches… The list goes on.

Oh dear, it seems I’m a nerd and a pedant!

[Drew Stephenson]

it seems I’m a nerd and a pedant!

I suspect the overlap between those two demographics might contain rather a lot of forum members here...

[shufflebeat]

it seems I’m a nerd and a pedant!

I suspect the overlap between those two demographics might contain rather a lot of forum members here...

I like to think of it as "technically minded with an appreciation for things done correctly".

[MOF]

I like to think of it as "technically minded with an appreciation for things done correctly".

Well said!

[Wonks]

I like to think of it as "technically minded with an appreciation for things done correctly".

Well said!

Nerdy pedant.

[Luke W]

it seems I’m a nerd and a pedant!

I suspect the overlap between those two demographics might contain rather a lot of forum members here...

There's a Venn diagram opportunity in this...

[shufflebeat]

I like to think of it as "technically minded with an appreciation for things done correctly".

Well said!

Nerdy pedant.

I think you'll find pendantic nerd to be the more correct form.

...I mean conscientious enthusiast.

[Drew Stephenson]

Though I'm sure we can all recognise the urge to be enthusiastically conscientious at times as well.