snare bleed in drummer headworn vocal mic

[soundguyTechA2]

Hey guys I am asking for a friend who is a lyricist and whose musician partner is in another band with a mic bleed issue.

3-piece soft rock/rock cover band playing in small clubs booked multiple nights every week. 1 drummer, 1 bass, 1 guitar. All sing.

Drummer is the lead singer and sings backup also. recently started using
Crown CM311 Headworn Condenser Mic (cardioid pattern).
The guitarist does the mix on-stage for the PA and due to the acoustical drum kit's snare bleeding into the CM311 headset mic the drummer is lower in the mix. The other band members are higher in the mix when they sing.
Other drummer vocal mics had more bleed apparently.

Drummer is "using a very thick snare drum head that also has low frequency. On top of playing softer when needed"
"playing with customized cymbals that are lower in volume, have shorter sustain and very low frequency than any average cymbal"
"running his [vocal] microphone through a compressor that bring his levels down when he is projecting more"
Only the kick drum is mic'd and goes to the PA.
The drummer also owns a Roland or Yamaha electronic drum kit.
The band are all on in-ear monitors and each band member can make their
own mix.

Letting the guitarist be in charge of the PA on the stage and control the lead vocalists volume is the main issue I see but band politics aside and solutions I can suggest are:
1. Have the drummer try their own Roland/Yamaha electronic drum kit for the snare only and add an input to the mixing console for a the drum sound module.
2. While still using the acoustic snare mic it and add the snare to the in-ears mix of the drummer higher in the mix so the drummer plays softer? While not even using the mic'd snare in the PA mix?
3. a different recommended drummer vocal mic? After the drummer spending $450. on the new headset mic it was costly for still so much bleed of snare to drummer's vocals.

[stingrayPete1977]

I think the mistake and a costly one was revealed when you said 'condenser'? 

[AndyTravis]

6 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

I think the mistake and a costly one was revealed when you said 'condenser'? 

Yeah. This, unfortunately.

[Dad3353]

I think I'd start with using the electronic snare, at least; that'd bring down the acoustic bleed into the mic. I'd then look at the need/utility of the compressor, as, when he's not singing, it's bringing the vocal mic level up, and so increasing bleed. I'd turn it off; it's quite the opposite that's needed, more like a gate that only opens when he's singing.
That mic is highly reputed, and may well have less bleed than equivalent dynamic mics, such as the Shure, but will still need very careful setting up to get perfection. Cutting out or reducing all the ambient sounds seems the logical path to tread, plus a gate. Our singer used to play drums in our band, when I played bass, with a soft-rock repertoire; we had no such problems (Shure headset mic...), but our PA was modest, too, and the venues less than stadium proportions. I can't think of much else that'll help, though, sorry.

[Monkey Steve]

yep, agree with Dad - replace the snare with an electronic pad.

Not exactly the same problem but the lot I was depping with over Christmas have replaced the bass drums with a pad - looks weird but it means that they have complete control over the volume and can keep it at the right levels in the mix without it bleeding into the singer's mic.  One simple step removed the loudest on stage/rehearsal room noise issue immediately.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 2, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Painy]

Get the drummer to wear one of these to isolate the mic from the drum? Available from all good vets - plus, as he's a drummer, it will have the added bonus of preventing him from licking his own balls (sorry @Dad3353). 😁

[EBS_freak]

You may want to look into a Shure 56 on a gooseneck with an optogate on it.

[soundguyTechA2]

thank you gentlemen. i'll have them try a couple of these.