Your favorite kick drum condenser, and where you point it

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trodden
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Post by trodden » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:13 pm

ipressrecord wrote:
drumsound wrote:I like the AT 4047 a bit off center getting some tone from the front head of the BD.
+1
+2

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JohnDavisNYC
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Post by JohnDavisNYC » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:22 pm

+1
i like to make music with music and stuff and things.

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Recycled_Brains
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Post by Recycled_Brains » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:39 pm

hmmm.....

you guys are reminding me that I need to get that 4047 that I've been eyeing for a couple years now.


Anyone using the Bock (or Soundelux) U195 in this application? Curious about that mic too.

I used to only use dynamics inside the kick, but in recent months have been trying different condensers on the outside.

I had great luck with a U87 a couple months back. Following that, I tried a Charter Oak 538, which was nice, but I didn't like it as much as the U87, which had a more complimentary midrange response to the particular kit I was recording.

I also recently tried out one of my Josephson C42s about 1' back, btwn. the center of the drum and the left outer edge of the shell. Sounded really nice. The low end is so damn clear with those mics, and the high-mid bump in the frequency response helped give it a nice attack sound, without being 'clicky'.
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centurymantra
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Post by centurymantra » Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:03 am

+10 for the AT4047 on kick...it does rock most righteously in this application. I had to get a second AT4047 since it was just about permanently assigned to this duty.

Sadly, I now have no AT4047 in the studio. :?

...but I do have the Blue Mouse, and it also very, very awesome as an outside kick mic.

I usually use them a little off center and a foot or two out, although sometimes I get them pretty tight (less than a foot away) on the outer head.
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Post by joel hamilton » Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:20 pm

BLUE mouse or Neumann FET 47 outside the kick. Kind of aimed at the drum I am recording...
I am not a freak about the placement of the outside kick mic. I like the resonant head when the kick is doghoused under something like a moving blanket.
My latch lake stands have a spare arm on them when I am using 1 for OH, so I can lay the blanket on that and make a tent over the FET47. That works out for me just fine.

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+1 for beater side...

Post by bronsonmestizo » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:31 pm

I always use a beater side mic for my playing, but EVERY drummer has different kick etiquette. You may try having the drummer hit the kick at about %50 percent while you move around the kit and hear what he's doing "Between" the beats. Some guys choke it out with a hard stomp, some guys bounce straight back into a hit position. I always audition different beater surfaces too... Wood/ felt, depending on how the person plays.

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Post by joninc » Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:21 pm

i find that a tlm 103 with a shure inline pad gives a pretty nice booooom.

a lawson L47 (padded) is pretty nice and round too.

(of course a D30 smokes them all but where could i get one?)
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Post by riantide » Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:30 pm

+1 on the U195, although I use it with the "fat" switch engaged. Good God I love that mic. Still looking for a source on which it sucks.

Also +1 on the Shinybox, it totally rules in front of a kick. Definitely with a pop screen in front of it or angled, although any more than a few degrees starts to lose some of the magic for me, so I typically just stick with a pop screen.

And ALSO +1 on the positioning: halfway between center and rim, between 2 and 6 in. away, depending on where the other mic is, or whether there is another mic at all.

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Post by against88 » Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:59 pm

+1 on the TLM 103. i know the mic gets knocked but it definitely handles BOOM on the FOK really well.

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Post by Mane1234 » Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:40 am

Just curious here about if there's something that you all get using an LDC out front that you wouldn't get using a Subkick if all you're looking for is some extra boom. Are you using the LDC with the idea of capturing more of the kit than you would a Subkick?
Of course I've had it in the ear before.....

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Post by E.Bennett » Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:06 am

the sub kick, which we use on rare occasion at our place, gives more of an indistinct thud. a mic like the mouse gives a better representation of resonance. of course, this is merely our experience.

another favorite at our joint is the blue b6 cap on a n akg 451 for the clarity of boom without the low end (when you want a resonant kick to poke through a murky arrangement)

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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:08 am

I'm a fan of the MXL 2001 in front of the kick. It's pretty much the only use that sucker gets at my place because I'm not much of a fan of it for anything else. I was getting ready to unload it before I tried it on kick.
If I'm working somewhere with a better mic locker I'll use something else - a 414 or 4047. A Sony C38 is also nice.

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Post by japmn » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:41 am

djimbe wrote:
drumsound wrote:I like the AT 4047 a bit off center getting some tone from the front head of the BD.
That's my first try location, but I like the Soundelux U195. I rarely use the "fat" selection. Just straight up normal response and maybe padded down.
I use this mic on kick bass in the Clava and it sound the good drum sound. I like also the U87 in front of drums in the spaced pair. like a over the head but in the front of drums. The Earthworks TC30K is good as over the head mikrofones but with a noise on the floor. And also the surprise is the Oktava MK012 on the big tom drums. Is good.

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suppositron
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Post by suppositron » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:55 am

Not really my "fav" mic cause my collection is small, but my current set up is I have a tent built of blakets and couch cushions about five feet long with a studio projects B3 at the end of the tunnel pointing straight at the resonant head about 3 or 4 inches towards the center of the head from the shell. I've combined it with the kick dynamic from an Audix drum mic kit pointing in the same spot but about 6 inches from the head. I had to use timeadjuster in pro tools to get them in phase, but it sounds great.

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Post by Recycled_Brains » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:03 am

suppositron wrote:I had to use timeadjuster in pro tools to get them in phase, but it sounds great.
Why not just move the mic closer/farther until it's in phase?
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