kick drums ruining mics for use with anything else?

[stompforfuzz]

I read that once a mic is used on a kick drum, it should always be used on kick drums because of the way the high pressure levels alter the mics ability to pick up higher frequencies. I never heard of this before.

Anyone care to throw in their 2 cents?

[kingtoad]

Sounds like BS to me. Loads of "kick" mics pick up plenty of high frequencies.

[stompforfuzz]

Sounds like BS to me. Loads of "kick" mics pick up plenty of high frequencies.

kind of what I was thinking. I've seen some setups with pretty expensive mics on the kick. Why would someone put a valuable mic at risk like that? Doesn't make sense.

[suppositron]

Sounds like BS to me. Loads of "kick" mics pick up plenty of high frequencies.

kind of what I was thinking. I've seen some setups with pretty expensive mics on the kick. Why would someone put a valuable mic at risk like that? Doesn't make sense.

That really depends how loud the drummer is hitting the kick and how far away it is from the drum. Any engineer using expensive condenser mics should be able to hear distortion and know when to back a mic off or swap it out with something else- if it's so bad they think it'll get damaged.

[qbert1]

I've heard that regarding the Beyerdynamic M88. I hope that's not the case because I use it for Kick and live vocals sometimes. Seems like everything's working fine to me...

[thethingwiththestuff]

No no no! Yes, a high spl situation can damage a mic. If it gets damaged, it'll sound shitty on a kick, a guitar amp, a violin, or a flea fart. You would not continue to use it on the source that damaged it as if it were now broken in...

[the finger genius]

I read that once a mic is used on a kick drum, it should always be used on kick drums because of the way the high pressure levels alter the mics ability to pick up higher frequencies. I never heard of this before.

Anyone care to throw in their 2 cents?

your avatar is freaking me out. big time.

[suppositron]

It's a dynamic rated at 120 spl so as long as it sounds ok and you're not overloading it it should be fine.

[kslight]

Sounds like bull to me..most mics can handle pretty high SPLs without permanently damaging them (ribbons would be the exception). Even before that point audible distortion would be a problem first if it doesn't have enough headroom. You would have to hit some serious SPLs (above the threshold of pain likely) to damage most mics, and if it were damaged, it'd probably sound like trash regardless of if you decided to keep it as a kick mic.

Otherwise many engineers would have put classic Neumann FET47s in their coffin...I use many classic condensers on guitar amps, bass amps, drums (as long as the drummer can't reach them!), without damaging anything.

[mrclean]

your avatar is freaking me out. big time.

Me too - so in Firefox you can right click on it and block images from that location...

[JWL]

Just to clarify a point, ribbon mics can generally handle a LOT of SPL. What makes them so fragile is air blasts (such as vocal plosives or air whooshing out a kick drum vent), so if you use ribbons keep them away from moving air....

[cgarges]

Me too - so in Firefox you can right click on it and block images from that location...

Thank you! I think I'm about to drastically speed up my TOMB page-loading. Some of you guys really need to re-size your avatars.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Brett Siler]

Nah man that's not true. For example on my bands last album a nuemann u47 was used on the kick. There's no way your use that expensive mic on just the outside of a kick drum.

[firby]

your avatar is freaking me out. big time.

Me too - so in Firefox you can right click on it and block images from that location...

Thanks for that! I had no idea. These computers are crazy infernal devices.

[stompforfuzz]

Good to hear this from all of you, I've recently ventured into more complex mic'ing situations so I'm trying to absorb info. I gotta be careful what I read


Also, due to popular demand I got rid of my avatar. It wasn't as funny as I thought it was last year or so. Okay, I still find it awesome but I'm easily impressed. And easily influenced.