Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything else

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
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psychicoctopus
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by psychicoctopus » Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:45 pm

I tried this with a bare (no speaker box) 4" woofer . I wired the (+) terminal to pin 2 of an XLR plug, and the (-) terminal to both pin 1 and 3. Since the speaker is small, I decided to slip it inside a bass drum through the hole in the front head, resting on the bottom of the shell pointing up. The sound it picked up was unlike any other kick mic I've heard - it was a compressed, long-sustain representation of the drum's sub-bass tone. Kind of like a TR808 kick drum. Dig it! Mixed in with a normal mic on the batter side (flip polarity) it's nice.

Listening to speech through the 4" speaker mic sounds like the highs start to roll off severely over about 400 Hz.

Bonus! Plug a speaker mic into some effects and tap on it for weird drum machine sounds...

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Slider
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Slider » Tue Jan 20, 2004 7:17 am

any speaker will work. but the ns-10 woofer has a certain sound that works really good for some reason.

The beatles used this technique on bass (12 inch speaker) in 67. you can hear it on past masters vol 2
Paperback Writer and Rain.

I really think the sub kick is worth the money. I didn't at first, but i'm now a believer after trying it for myself.

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by cranial detonator » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:36 pm

sooo i could plug my 412 into a preamp set it infront of my kit and get a toaly fucked up sound??

this is mindblowing. a whole new perspective on recording for me...
look at me....

nestle
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by nestle » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:42 pm

stands to reason I could hook a pair of sm57's up out of my power amp speaker outputs and monitor my mix, though it might be a tad thin.

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by joel hamilton » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:47 pm

I have an 8X10 speaker (like for cars) an oval one, ya know?

And it has a spring verb tank built onto the magnet structure in the back. They called it a "cathedral sound" speaker for making mono AM radio sound more like a "concert" in your Rambler....
Anyway, totally weird, and AMAZINg as a microphone. That is the only reason I go it.

I am looking into making an MDF enclosure for it, but tuned so I get a little more useable low end coupled with the transformer (on it already when I bought it) and the 'verb tank. The leads for the speaker come right out of the verb tank! No bypass. I used an NS10 years ago, and I have also used Hiwatt 4x12's (with Fane speakers) and EV 15" cabinets. It is not always appropriate, but when it is, it can totally rock. Used with an inside mic as well, it can be the low end you want without EQ...

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by nlmd311 » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:56 pm

psychicoctopus wrote:Bonus! Plug a speaker mic into some effects and tap on it for weird drum machine sounds...
Yeah. I love doing that. Even without effects it is cool. If it is a speaker you really don't care much for, or has been abused anyway you can hit it with a drum stick or harder than you normally would and get some neat distortion and punchy bass without anything else added.

Also, just thought that incase people are still wondering about this (the subkick) and what it is, you might want to read the review of it that is in the July/August 2004 issue. The issue with Alan Parsons, John Leckie, etc. The review is on page 63.
I also remember reading a review about this in Mix about a year/ year and a half ago. You might be able to find it online.

seems cool. I haven't tried one, but do dig the DIY speaker-mic approach from time to time. Try it with different size speakers and it rules your face. I like mixing a 12" woofer with a 3" car stereo speaker I picked up from radioshack for cheap. Can't afford mics, then use speakers dammit!

-Darrill
slowly panning across something kind of crappy...

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Everybody's X » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:22 pm

this cost me about 8 bucks to make
sounds like an 808 from hell
Image
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Everybody's X » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:33 pm

double postage
Last edited by Everybody's X on Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Everybody's X » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:35 pm

here's a live kit
no overheads
the "808" sound is the speaker mic compressed to shit with blockfish


http://www.everybodysx.com/hiphop.mp3
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by junior » Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:04 pm

Everybody's X wrote:this cost me about 8 bucks to make
sounds like an 808 from hell
nice. thanks for the pic ;) what did you make the frame out of?
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep"...
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Everybody's X » Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:08 pm

it's the plastic end caps they sell at home depot that covers the end of lattice work on a deck or something. It's just something I had lying around
I wouldnt recommend it because the weight of the woofer makes it bend.
use some angle iron or something like that
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by nacho459 » Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:22 pm

As far as levels, I tried this once using a 1x15 bass cab, and it was really hot! :shock: Like around line level. Makes sense since you got a huge magnet and coil and you're really moving the cone compared to a regular dynamic mic.

I imagine this would work really good with a Beta 91 since I always thought they lack low end but have a great top end.

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by Everybody's X » Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:34 pm

yeah the levels off of mine are insane I need to put a resistor on it but I have no idea what value to use
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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by stinkpot » Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:01 pm

wasn't there a review of these in Tapeop a few issues back?

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Re: Has anyone used this to mic their kicks,,,, or anything

Post by pedalboy » Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:24 pm

Those of you who are using a transformer with it, what's the advantage to doing this? Also do you have any suggestions for which transforers to use?

And Joel Hamilton, do you have any more info on the speaker with the reverb tank built into it?? That sounds crazy! Was it just audio coming into a reverb tank and straight out into the speaker or what?

Thanks.

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