Meat Plow hath wroth:

Not miking the bass drum wouldn't have cut it in any band I've been in.
Minimally we used 3, one overhead, one more near the snare and hi-hats,
and one on the bass.

Yep, and for a good reason. The drum set covers a wide frequency
range. Bass drum is mostly at the low end of the audio spectrum,
while all the brass is near the high end. The problem is that the
lower frequency stuff is almost isotropic (radiates equally in all
directions), while the high frequency stuff is fairly directional. For
example, the snake and hat tend to radiate more up and downward than
toward the audience. The result is that the drums sound different
depending on where you stand or sit. I've been told the drums sound
totally different to the drummer and audience.

My experience is with mixing post production mixing back in the late
1960's. If any group dragged in a tape with only one track for the
drums, they would be asked to re-record with 3 mics. I can clean up
the usual mess (pedal clank, stick click, etc) with noise gates and
such, but it's so much easier if the individual instruments were
recorded with a close mic (so as not to pickup sounds from other
instruments). It's a real art doing that correctly with a drum set
and really messy with an orchestra. You've only to compare a raw,
single mic/stereo recording in a concert hall, with the same concert
properly mixed in a studio.

http://homerecording.about.com/od/mixinglivesound/a/mixing_live.htm
http://homerecording.about.com/od/recordingtutorials/ht/perfectkick.htm
http://www.drum-tracks.com/NEWdrumEQ.htm

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558