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Kick mic
- Thread starter KingRazor
- Start date
The standard is a D112. A low end mic like an MD421 could be good. But on BSSM by RHCP they actually used an SM57. The result is that there's a lot of low end room for the bass. So you can use lots of different things. I think it's worth also looking at the tuning of the drum and the mic placement.
For you I'd go with the Heil PR48 or Shure Beta 52, I usually go with the Audix D6 for my style music but that's because I like lots of attack...
Ok, so I was comparing the sound of our recorded kick and the recordings of the beta 52 without any EQ and they sound pretty similar.
I think our current mic is fine, as far as capturing the "snap" of the kick. So I think would I'd like to do is add a mic to capture the low end, like a "sub mic" or something. Then we can blend the two signals and not have to crank the low end so much after the fact.
I think our current mic is fine, as far as capturing the "snap" of the kick. So I think would I'd like to do is add a mic to capture the low end, like a "sub mic" or something. Then we can blend the two signals and not have to crank the low end so much after the fact.
The problem is that it isn't quite getting me where I want to go.
It's kind of like me trying to compete with one of your ampegs by cranking the low end on my little 1x10 amp...just not the same, know what I mean?
The current mic gets all the "attack" or "snap" I need, but none of the bottom.
What mic are you using, Where is it placed? if it is inside the bass drum, to which head is it closer to? The beater or the resonance head? If you play with the mic position you'll find out that moving closer to the beater gives you a snappier, brighter sound. Moving the might towards the Resonance head gives you more low end presence.
Forget about the way the dude you saw EQ'ed the Bass Drum. You don't know the conditions in which he recorded his Bass Drum tracks, so much of the EQ he did won't apply to your situation. Use the basic principles to EQ your BD sound, try using a lower point to set your Low-cut and play around with the EQ.
I see you're working with a digital mixer, try this:
1. Set an Aux channel with an Oscillator test tone of 50 or 60Hz
2. Insert a gate in that Aux channel
3. Set the gate sidechain to hear the Bass Drum track
4. If a Sidechain filter is available; set the LF and HF filter for the Keysource to 50hz and 250Hz respectively.
5. Set the gate Threshold, attack and Hold to open only when the Bass Drum plays.
6. Mix the Aux signal to your Regular Bass Drum mic.
This method will give you a whole lot of low end without risking feedback or bleed form a second bass drum mic.
Forget about the way the dude you saw EQ'ed the Bass Drum. You don't know the conditions in which he recorded his Bass Drum tracks, so much of the EQ he did won't apply to your situation. Use the basic principles to EQ your BD sound, try using a lower point to set your Low-cut and play around with the EQ.
I see you're working with a digital mixer, try this:
1. Set an Aux channel with an Oscillator test tone of 50 or 60Hz
2. Insert a gate in that Aux channel
3. Set the gate sidechain to hear the Bass Drum track
4. If a Sidechain filter is available; set the LF and HF filter for the Keysource to 50hz and 250Hz respectively.
5. Set the gate Threshold, attack and Hold to open only when the Bass Drum plays.
6. Mix the Aux signal to your Regular Bass Drum mic.
This method will give you a whole lot of low end without risking feedback or bleed form a second bass drum mic.
Right but I'm talking about a pre-EQ send here. So the filter on the board won't come into the equation at all.
I get plenty of low end live because of our subwoofer.
When I'm EQing the Kick post-recording in Cakewalk SONAR, I can get some low end by cranking the low EQ control but it doesn't really sound good or natural. It's also not really a lot of low end.
If you're wanting to add low end to recorded tracks, then follow the same procedure, but in sonar. Create an aux send and follow the exact same steps as I pointed out before.
Do you know what the bass drum mic is?
I haven't gotten a chance to take a look at the mic. I'd have to pull it out of the drum in order to look at it and find out what brand it is and there hasn't been a good time for me to do that.
Also just found out that I don't have the recording on my home computer anymore so I'll have to grab that again when I get a chance.
There is a lot of love the AKG D112 here. I never really liked how it sounded it and ultimately I sold mine and used the money to buy two SM58s and an SM57 (Unidyne) that some guy was selling on Craigslist. Now I use the SM57 inside for snap and a Marshall 2001 outside for woof. The flexibility of being able to blend to taste and what is right for the track is nice once the phasing between the two is in proper alignment. YMMV
Before we start adding second mics or sidechaining oscillators or blending in samples or any of the million other little tricks we can do I'd like to point something out:
This thread was started over two months ago. In all that time the OP hasn't even looked at the mic, to either see what it is or make sure it's pointed in the right general direction.
Maybe I'm crazy, but first thing I do if I don't like something about the sound I hear when I push up that fader is take a look at the drum itself and the mic. Before I go crazy with the EQ, before I start gating, before I compress, and way before I start blending in oscillators on an aux bus.
Here are some preliminary steps to making a kick drum sound good:
1. get a decent drum
2. get heads that are appropriate for the sound you are trying to achieve
3. tune the drum in a manner appropriate for the sound you are trying to achieve
4. if needed carefully apply dampening material in order to reign in unwanted overtones. do not over do this.
5. use a beater made out of a material appropriate for the kind of sound you are trying to achieve
6. select a decent mic
7. carefully place the mic to capture the sound you are trying to get. small changes in location can make substantial changes in sound. make small changes and LISTEN until you start to get a sense of what different angles and locations sound like.
You now should have a decent sounding drum and a mic giving you a good signal to work with. Now you EQ and/or gate and/or compress as needed.
Rickett Customs
Commercial User
+1. or the Heil PR48, I've had very good results with (Both for recording Kick and Bass). But remember placement is everything.
I've had great results with the Shure Beta 52 and just the mixer channel EQ.
If you are going with that one, get the Shure DMK57-52 kit.
Even if you don't plan to mic the toms, you will have 3 extra SM57s to use for anything else. If you change your mind, you have the clips to mount them on your kit.
I also have an Audix D6 which I use for micing by bass cab.
Haven't tried it on the kick yet.
If you are going with that one, get the Shure DMK57-52 kit.
Even if you don't plan to mic the toms, you will have 3 extra SM57s to use for anything else. If you change your mind, you have the clips to mount them on your kit.
I also have an Audix D6 which I use for micing by bass cab.
Haven't tried it on the kick yet.
I haven't looked at the mic yet because in order to do that I'd have to take apart the plexiglass shield surrounding the kit, then pull the mic out of the drum, then put it all back together and there has not really been a convenient time to do that since I don't have access to the building after hours.
I also have no say in what the church buys with their budget. They bought the kick drum, they bought the mic, they bought the heads, and the beater.
The drummers keep the drums tuned the way they like it. They're also the ones that put the dampening material in the drum.
I personally didn't used to know anything about mic placement regarding kick drums, so one of the drummers set it up.
Hey I finally know what mic we have in there...lol
We rearranged the stage yesterday so I was able to look at it. It's a Superlux SK-12.
We rearranged the stage yesterday so I was able to look at it. It's a Superlux SK-12.
I'm not sure what a superlux sk-12 is, but I've used my share of B-52's d-112's and my favorite budget kick is the AT Pro 25.
I haven't read all of this thread, but let's check the user before we blame the mic.
When you were recording did you check the phase of the kick mic. Usually, when a kick mic sounds thin (if eq'd correctly) when you switch the phase you will get that nice thick boom you want.
I haven't read all of this thread, but let's check the user before we blame the mic.
When you were recording did you check the phase of the kick mic. Usually, when a kick mic sounds thin (if eq'd correctly) when you switch the phase you will get that nice thick boom you want.
I actually haven't tried recording the kick for like a year so I don't know what it would sound like right now if I tried to record it. I know that in the house it has plenty of boom.
