"Kick drum" mics... bleh.

hobbycore · Post by **hobbycore** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:28 am

Mark Legat wrote:"it's certainly not that I don't try every freakin thing I can get my hands on when I'm down to record drums."

"Hmm, I've not tried an e602. I think I'll try one... "

PWNED!

Did you perhaps think that I am not able to get one without considerable hassle until recently?

Mark Legat · Post by **Mark Legat** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:42 am

Did you perhaps notice the way I quoted you made you look foolish? Not saying that you are, just saying the way I made you look.

hobbycore · Post by **hobbycore** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:53 am

Mark Legat wrote:Did you perhaps notice the way I quoted you made you look foolish? Not saying that you are, just saying the way I made you look.

How's that working out for you?

aeijtzsche · Post by **aeijtzsche** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:22 am

Count me in as somebody who really likes the D112. Assuming I get the tuning and damping the way I want, I've never not really liked the D112 sound. The easiest and most enjoyably reliable thing on the drums. For me.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:16 pm

E 602 inside the drum. FET 47 in front of the resonant head. Sometimes a blue mouse instead of the FET 47. Sometimes no mic inside. sometimes no resonant mic.
Sometimes EQ on the way in. sometimes no eq.... sometimes most of the kick sound is from a mono ambient mic 4 feet back from the drums at chest height.(5 feet off the ground).

Sometimes compression is my best pal on the kick. Sometimes it isnt.

When the kick doesnt sound great to me in the speakers, I change something. I dont give a shit how it sounds in the room. it has to sound good on the record.
Also, justin said something interesting earlier in this thread.. like hearing something and saying "wow, awesome kick sound, what is it?"
It is a good sound. Specific to that time and place.
The things that become classics are really because they are known constants. We have enough variables when making a record. Start creating some constants, an bend the rest of the parameters to work with your chosen set of constants.

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:16 pm

fossiltooth wrote:Sounds like you have too many things! Simplify.

For instance, I think one should have, and truly understand 3 snares. 3 guitar amps. 3 acoustic guitars. 3 preamps. 3 kick drums. Each one should sound really good for what it is, and each one should sound entirely different from the other. It takes out all the guess work and indecision. It forces us to make bold and artistic choices.

WORD!

I have been digging a dynamic on the inside and a condenser on the outside lately also. There is a lot less EQing that you have to do, and the kick comes out in the mix a lot easier. The outside condenser gets all the thud and resonance and the inside gets all the attack. Just adjust the faders to your liking, maybe a little EQing if needed and wahla, a kick drum! YAY!

I don't have real expensive mics but I have decent ones that work and know how they will sound on an instrument. The last two projects I did I used a Beta52 on the inside and a MXL 2001 on the outside (which neededs a pad on it, that thing is hot) and I love it. I have even used a 57 on the inside on metal or hardcore stuff before and liked it. The bump in the 5khz was useful for the "click" metalheads love.

crow · Post by **crow** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:04 pm

On recent projects, I've been putting an earthworks omni pretty close to where the beater strikes the head, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit as a combo kick attack/ under-snare mic. on one record, i'm using it for the majority of the kick sound. it often picks up a lot more low end than i would have expected.

caffiend2049 · Post by **caffiend2049** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:07 pm

wow...the list of options some of you cats have for the kick is making me jealous.
I'm currently on the backside of a gearlust binge and trying to recover. Unfortunately, a decent kick mic didn't make the cut before I came back to my senses.

I've used the speaker method, but at this point have settled into getting the body of the kick with my OHs (pseudo GJ setup with m-audio nova & solaris) and room (AKG C2000-B aimed between snare and kick, from the front about 3' - 4' out)

The kit right now is a Tama royalstar w/ 22" BD....sporting the ol' Remo weatherking and no front head.
I started using a wooden beater and off axis mic-ing the inside of the beater head with some no name radioshack clipon tom mic to pick up a little more attack.

After some fairly radical EQ, it's pretty close to decent.

Far from the best kick sound I've ever heard....but very tolerable for roughs and demos.
And in a few cases I've blended in a kick sample to juice it some (particularly in a passage where the kick stands alone under some vocals)

I'll definitely second the notion of catching the kick hot and removing as necessary instead of trying to add more of what you haven't got.

my $.02

DMZ2000 · Post by **DMZ2000** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:57 pm

I prefer which ever mic does the job in accordance to the drummers performance. Obviously each session is subjective.
As far as mics I've used and found favorable results with, I'd have to recomend the Sennheiser e602 (discontinued, so snap up a used one on ebay), or the e602II, or the E902, or the shure beta 52.
These are 'kick mics' so they may not be to your liking.
As far as dynamic mics, non kick specific, I like the Sennheiser 421, or a Shure sm57...actually any dynamic mic modeled close after the 57 can get the job done every time in my opinion.

I prefer micing both sides of the kick, beater and res.
Most of the time, however, I'll just center a shure beta 52 outside the res head.
I usually aim for the punch with the close micing of the kick, and get defintion of the kick, like snap and res from the pzm and or room mic.
What ever sounds good, go with it.
Move mics around, Find the hot spot, do it up.
Happy recording.
Cheers.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:24 pm

I'm a live sound guy, so my opinions are suspect at best. But I like using the original CAD E100 mic - it's flat, all the way down to 10Hz. Do your own EQ instead of buying a pre-EQed mic, basically.

Slider · Post by **Slider** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:08 pm

aeijtzsche wrote:Count me in as somebody who really likes the D112. Assuming I get the tuning and damping the way I want, I've never not really liked the D112 sound. The easiest and most enjoyably reliable thing on the drums. For me.

Me too.
I have a bunch of mics that can be used close on bass drum and usually start with the D112. It gives me a nice sound off the mark, and as an added bonus, I can carve it to death (suck 250-500 out, crank 70hz and 5k) when I'm recording shit music and they will love it just as much as the D6!

nordberg · Post by **nordberg** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:56 am

lately i've been using a rode ntk about 3" outside the drum (no resonator head/ no damn pillow) and it has been getting very close to the sound i want. i've also been using an m/s pair out in front and a beta 57 on snare with no kick mic and also getting very close to the sound i want. thing is... when i do that, i want something else!

vapour trail · Post by **vapour trail** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:51 pm

check out the EV kick drum mic (N/D868) . i think it performs better then most. nice round low end, still captures the mid resonance, very good popmusic kick sound imo.

newfuturevintage · Post by **newfuturevintage** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:39 pm

hobbycore wrote: 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.

akg414 · Post by **akg414** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:40 pm

I just use a D12 (not D112). I've had pretty good results.

I do want to know a little more about using a 421.

I have two of the vintage (gray) 421 mics, and I see alot of people use them for kick.

Can I use them WITH the D12?

Anyone have any more insight on this? Or some more details on using the 421 by itself?

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"Kick drum" mics... bleh.

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