Bass drum or “kick drum”?

[keith1r]

I've always used the term "bass drum" and not "kick drum". I grew up with my father as a drummer and 2 brothers that play drums and they all call it a bass drum. I've heard the term "kick drum" was started by sound guys and recording engineers so they wouldn't confuse the bass drum with the bass guitar. I know that you can not buy a "kick drum" as all drum companies call it a bass drum. I think of a bass drum as sounding full and big and boomy old school and a kick drum sounding like a ported drum that sounds like a basketball bouncing or the beater hitting the mic and sounding like an electronic drum.
Which term does everyone prefer?

 

[knumbskull]

During load-in it's referred to as the drummercan****ingcarryit

 

[EastCoastThump]

Anybody who has been seen more than a couple gigs will have heard different people use either term.

You'll also sometimes meet musicians or SEs who make a point of insisting that everybody else use their personal preferred term; that inflexibility is almost never their most appealing personal quality.

 

[buldog5151bass]

My drummer calls it a kick drum, but I have heard both.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

Both are appropriate. Most folks I encounter refer to the bass drum in a drum kit as the "kick drum". "Bass drum" is usually reserved for a stand alone bass drum in an orchestra or marching setting that is played by a mallet rather than a pedal with a beater.

 

[EastCoastThump]

I've heard the term "kick drum" was started by sound guys and recording engineers so they wouldn't confuse the bass drum with the bass guitar.

"Kick" (or just "K") on a scribble strip got you past ambiguity faster than "Bass drum." Of course, by the time they'd run a few tracking sessions or live mixes, most engineers had habits. So even "Bass" or "BD" on channel #1 wouldn't be ambiguous if you were setting up a console in your usual way.

 

[Wisebass]

No "carrots" option, no poll!




Wise(b)ass

 

[DirtDog]

Why two threads on the same subject by the same OP on the same day?

 

[EastCoastThump]

Why two threads on the same subject by the same OP on the same day?

just guessing: one is about kick drums, the other's about bass drums