"Kick drum" mics... bleh.

[Mane1234]

I love threads like this...It's a great thing to see people who do this every day talk about what works and what doesn't. I'm tossing a 319 in there next time I have a chance to give that a listen. I usually make a list of a couple things to try when I read posts like this. My favorites for the stuff I tend to record are still a 602 or a D6 sometimes with a LDC out front. I just got a subkick so I'm anxious to try that and see.

I've seen just about every mic mentioned here work well on something (other than a Beta 52...I gave mine away a couple months ago) but it seems like it always depended on the music and the kit that was being recorded. I wish I knew more about drum kits and tuning and stuff but I'm not a drummer.

[tomberdude]

My preference also likely lies in the fact that I really dislike heavily dampened kick drums. Emad, blankets, pillows etc.. bleh. I know plenty of drummers can get a good sound like that, but I really don't like the feeling of it behind the kit.

I'm not saying this to be catty, but that's likely the root of the issue. You're recording: play for the benefit of the recording, not for how you feel behind the kit. Choose the drum, it's tuning, it's treatment (muffling, resonant head on or off, etc), and the mic / pre / EQ / etc. for the sound you want to achieve. Don't lose sight of the fact your ears and the kick mic are hearing vastly different things when you're playing.

That's the greatest thing said on this thread.

[Slider]

This thread got me thinking.
When I walk into other engineer's sessions, I usually see mic's setup that I would never use. It also usually sounds great. People have ways of working that are more important than any specific microphone.

[joninc]

it's really popular to hate the D112 - BUT as stated above - some engineers just know how to make it work. who am i to argue with tchad blake?

[MoreSpaceEcho]

or steve albini.

[fossiltooth]

My preference also likely lies in the fact that I really dislike heavily dampened kick drums. Emad, blankets, pillows etc.. bleh. I know plenty of drummers can get a good sound like that, but I really don't like the feeling of it behind the kit.

I'm not saying this to be catty, but that's likely the root of the issue. You're recording: play for the benefit of the recording, not for how you feel behind the kit. Choose the drum, it's tuning, it's treatment (muffling, resonant head on or off, etc), and the mic / pre / EQ / etc. for the sound you want to achieve. Don't lose sight of the fact your ears and the kick mic are hearing vastly different things when you're playing.

That's the greatest thing said on this thread.

True.

People have ways of working that are more important than any specific microphone.

Beyond true.

it's really popular to hate the D112 - BUT as stated above - some engineers just know how to make it work. who am i to argue with tchad blake?

Actually, it appears that it's very unpopular to hate on the D112. It's just that opinionated loudmouths like myself are such.... loudmouths about it... that we just make it seem like it's popular to hate on the D112.

If you count hands on this thread, you'd probably find that most folks are actually saying... "Hey... I like the d112!"

[Nick Sevilla]

This thread got me thinking.
When I walk into other engineer's sessions, I usually see mic's setup that I would never use. It also usually sounds great. People have ways of working that are more important than any specific microphone.

+1

[tomberdude]

If you hate the D112, you must at least try it on your toms.

[AnalogousGumdropDecoder]

I usually start by placing a kosher dill about a half a millimeter from the beater and a broken Playskool cassette recorder three miles east of the resonant head and catch most of the "squelch" of the lugnuts with a bullhorn placed diagonally above an imaginary floor tom in the fourth dimension.

[AnalogousGumdropDecoder]

...actually I'm pretty ignorant on this sort of thing, which is why I just read the whole thread, making notes. I HAVE gotten out of 57s and 58s before, which I'm pretty sure I liked better than the kick sounds I recently got with a Beta 52...

[Recycled_Brains]

An SM7b on the inside and a 421 on the batter side, summed at the console, has been the ticket for me the last couple times around. Funny too, cause I hate 421's (I know I'm in the minority on that), but in this application, they seem to rule.

I'm really into the batter side micing now. It gives me the midrange attack that I want without having to EQ. Just blend that with the inside until it sounds cool, sum it together and be done with it.

I can't see how some spend hours setting up and micing kick drums, or any drum, and trying 10 different drums/mics for every song.

[rwc]

I use a 57 because I have no better choice.

mk219 for hip hop kick because it distorts before I even do anything to it!

[Brett Siler]

I'm really into the batter side micing now. It gives me the midrange attack that I want without having to EQ. Just blend that with the inside until it sounds cool, sum it together and be done with it.

I can't see how some spend hours setting up and micing kick drums, or any drum, and trying 10 different drums/mics for every song.

I was experimenting with micing the batter side for a few projects. I like the midrange kick tone I was getting but I was not feeling the snare bleed. I would have to tweak the batter mic with gates and if I wanted to EQ or inverting the polarity of the batter mic it would fuck with the snare sound and it seemed to just be more of a pain in the ass than it was worth. I tried different mics and positions and seem to keep running into similar problems. I am really digging the dynamic inside and condenser on the outside lately.

As for your second part, I know! I think this goes back to what Fossiltooth said about have a few pieces of gear and getting to know them really well and then move on to get more stuff if needed.

[C_R_J]

big fan of e602

my 2 cents

[blackdiscoball]

a 602 does have a pretty nice bite. I just heard this mic at the studio im interning at and instantly loved its punch. Great for really quick metal type kick drums. I also like my kickball I just bought.