Compression helps a lot, especially if you have a drummer who's not real consistent (volume wise) with his kick foot. Don't overdo it though or it can start sounding pretty synthetic.
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EQing a kick drum
- Thread starter troy mcclure
- Start date
Yeah. That guy was in a band that featured a 450 pound banjo player with no feet. You can sort of infer that the band had unique sound.
It wouldn't be anything like that. In fact, it would be pretty much exactly the same as how people mic toms. In some circles it's not uncommon.
I do both sides all the time, either batter+inside or batter+reso outside.
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
While I agree that most Kick mic reproduce pretty good, I recently made myself a "sub kick" and there was that difference that I was looking for.......here's a diy link:
SPKR MiK: How to make a microphone from a speaker.
You don't really need to get as elaborate as this guy did..... I just used one of them cardboard "foundation tubes", that you can get from home depot or Lowes, some 3/4" mdf (to mount a speaker), a pack of trim nails, a short piece of mono cable with a 1/4" at one end, a cheap direct box (pyle pro makes one for about $12 on amazon), a 6.5" or 8" speaker and a panel mount male xlr.
My first one I had tried was in a cardboard box, with an xlr cable with the female end cut off and use the white and red wires (or white and green, depending on the brand), straight into the board.......worked like a charm (with a minimal hum, due to it not being grounded well), this can be eliminated with a direct box. No additional EQ is needed for this low end, can be run "flat". It also works ok with bass cabs as well.
I'm currently building one out of a 10" tom, so that I can use a short cymbol stand to place it in front of the kick (usually about 4" to 6" away, does not need very much vibration to work well)
SPKR MiK: How to make a microphone from a speaker.
You don't really need to get as elaborate as this guy did..... I just used one of them cardboard "foundation tubes", that you can get from home depot or Lowes, some 3/4" mdf (to mount a speaker), a pack of trim nails, a short piece of mono cable with a 1/4" at one end, a cheap direct box (pyle pro makes one for about $12 on amazon), a 6.5" or 8" speaker and a panel mount male xlr.
My first one I had tried was in a cardboard box, with an xlr cable with the female end cut off and use the white and red wires (or white and green, depending on the brand), straight into the board.......worked like a charm (with a minimal hum, due to it not being grounded well), this can be eliminated with a direct box. No additional EQ is needed for this low end, can be run "flat". It also works ok with bass cabs as well.
I'm currently building one out of a 10" tom, so that I can use a short cymbol stand to place it in front of the kick (usually about 4" to 6" away, does not need very much vibration to work well)
I've seen a few of those "sub kick" jobbies around these parts. By and large though they haven't really seemed to catch on.
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
I know alot of kats that use them in their studios (fairly big $ studios) and also know a few drummers that won't play live without them.
Small/medium sized speakers have been used for this type of application going back to the 1960's, so It's not exactly a new concept either.
Another good side to using one, is the fact that it is not very good at producing high end, mostly low end. Double it with a mic, slightly inside the head and you don't really need to tailor the low end eq on the mic, but then again I'm a minimalist when it comes to eg'ing drums......it can get out of hand and exaggerate the natural sound. The other contention to eq'ing the lows too much with a mic, is the low end feedback.
Small/medium sized speakers have been used for this type of application going back to the 1960's, so It's not exactly a new concept either.
Another good side to using one, is the fact that it is not very good at producing high end, mostly low end. Double it with a mic, slightly inside the head and you don't really need to tailor the low end eq on the mic, but then again I'm a minimalist when it comes to eg'ing drums......it can get out of hand and exaggerate the natural sound. The other contention to eq'ing the lows too much with a mic, is the low end feedback.
I use a gate, compressor, and EQ to get a concert-like thuddy sound. The same principles can be applied to toms as well.
I use this Earthworks kickpad as well to get me to a good starting point.
Invalid Link Removed
I use this Earthworks kickpad as well to get me to a good starting point.
Invalid Link Removed
My drummer has cheap CAD mics, I have a compressor gate but have to mess with the settings. I appreciate all your help.
I feel your pain, As bassists, we have it easy sending a great sound to the house. I love drummers who use pillows!
I cant tell ya how many years I spent trying to get a good sound out of crappy mics, and using makeshift kick mics with whatever you have, It can be done with what you have though, and mostly by EQing, and Gating, and experimenting. The port is where you get the natural sound of the drum. Rock Drummers especially tend to like the sound they hear on recordings. (that tailing boom after the hit) That is not always reproducible safely in live environments , especially indoors because of all the other factors. If the drum is not deadened with a muffling ring or pillow or gated, it can be boomy and it may also collect other noise from nearby subwoofers, bass and loud electric guitars.
My favorite cheap compressor for kick and snare is the alesis 3630 ($50 used), because you can literally see the gate opening and closing- indicated by a few lights on the display. For the Gate, I usually run the threshold all the way up at -10 (wish it went higher) and the release rate around 300 ms indoors and open it up to sometimes up to 1.5 secs outdoors, The reason for this is that the walls indoors will naturally produce the reverberation of the kick for you - having that tailing echo in the speakers and from the walls is usually too much ...and preventing feedback of course.
good luck!
oh yeah +1 for boosting around 100Hz for a tight focused punch you can hear and feel, ducking around 250-500
I cant tell ya how many years I spent trying to get a good sound out of crappy mics, and using makeshift kick mics with whatever you have, It can be done with what you have though, and mostly by EQing, and Gating, and experimenting. The port is where you get the natural sound of the drum. Rock Drummers especially tend to like the sound they hear on recordings. (that tailing boom after the hit) That is not always reproducible safely in live environments , especially indoors because of all the other factors. If the drum is not deadened with a muffling ring or pillow or gated, it can be boomy and it may also collect other noise from nearby subwoofers, bass and loud electric guitars.
My favorite cheap compressor for kick and snare is the alesis 3630 ($50 used), because you can literally see the gate opening and closing- indicated by a few lights on the display. For the Gate, I usually run the threshold all the way up at -10 (wish it went higher) and the release rate around 300 ms indoors and open it up to sometimes up to 1.5 secs outdoors, The reason for this is that the walls indoors will naturally produce the reverberation of the kick for you - having that tailing echo in the speakers and from the walls is usually too much ...and preventing feedback of course.
good luck!
oh yeah +1 for boosting around 100Hz for a tight focused punch you can hear and feel, ducking around 250-500
okay to get a strong punch from the kick drum first need the right microphone I use a shure Beta 52A its range is 20hz to 10hz so if you bost your 10hz and your 20hz on your EQ and dont hurt to use a little 80hz that should give it a good hard punch
If I got the route of putting the bass drum directly into the sub via aux send will the compressor and the eq in the channel insert be included in the signal?
Channel inserts do affect aux outputs. Channel EQ and level may or may not; some aux sends are pre/post EQ and level switchable. I wouldn't send the kick only to the subs; that will make the attack mushy.
