Microphone recommendations for recording bass cab in the same room as drums?

[SoundOfOneHandSlapping]

Looking for a suitable mic for my 4x10 bass cab. I'll be recording the bass and drums at the same time in a small rehearsal space (roughly 12' x 20').

What are my options for microphones that won't pick too much background noise from the drums?

I've listen to a number of bass recording microphone comparisons. So far, the Sennheiser MD 421-II and the Beyerdynamic M 88 have caught my attention. I'm just not sure if they're suitable in this application?

I'll be using the direct out on my amp as well, but I'd like to capture the sound from the speaker too.

Any advice and recommendations are appreciated. Cheers

 

[corinpills]

In that scenario, you need something unidirectional that is capable of handling SPL- not that you necessarily need to crank the amp, but it has been known to happen. An Electro Voice RE-20 works really well and is reasonably priced. I have a killer old AKG D-12 from the early 60s that I love for this, but that's a rare bird. The current iteration is the D-112 and it works really well, too.

If you are engineering this yourself, make sure to check the phase between the direct and the mic. That's a larger topic. Good luck.

 

[silky smoove]

In a room that small both the drums and the bass will be destructive to each other. If you want the sound of your amp then you should record the bass direct, record the drums mic'd as normal, then after the fact reamp the direct signal through your amp with the mic of your choice.

 

[SoundOfOneHandSlapping]

That really is great suggestion, but I prefer to do it all in one take. The bass lines can get pretty intricate (at least for me), somewhat frantic at times. My parts are written and well rehearsed, but I feel like I might drive myself nuts trying to get two perfect takes.

 

[SoundOfOneHandSlapping]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm now looking into the RE-20 and the RE- 320.

 

[Tosh]

this can help -
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I use it for my trumpet player and his condenser mic (large diaphragm). It's very effective. Our rehearsal space is 12' x 15' - we have drums/bass/trumpet/keyboard, in a circle facing each other. It's a jazz group.

I've not tried it micing a bass cab; it might not as effective for bass as it is for a trumpet.

 

[stigbeve]

That really is great suggestion, but I prefer to do it all in one take. The bass lines can get pretty intricate (at least for me), somewhat frantic at times. My parts are written and well rehearsed, but I feel like I might drive myself nuts trying to get two perfect takes.

You would not need two takes by using silky smoove's suggestion

 

[silky smoove]

That really is great suggestion, but I prefer to do it all in one take. The bass lines can get pretty intricate (at least for me), somewhat frantic at times. My parts are written and well rehearsed, but I feel like I might drive myself nuts trying to get two perfect takes.

You would not need two takes by using silky smoove's suggestion

As @stigbeve noted; There's no need to do it in two takes. You and the drummer are performing at the same time and monitoring via headphones. When you're done, have the drummer break down the drums and take them away. Now setup a simple reamp chain, mic up the bass amp and play the DI-recorded performance from your computer through your amp and mic it.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I would suggest getting a pedal like an Ampeg SGT DI or something with the ability to use cab sims. So you can record the bass along with the drums and not have anything bleed into the drum mics, which is an absolute headache. I have a small room that's pretty close to the street and not isolated, I ended up buying E-drums and doing DIs for everything. Wish I went that route a long time ago.
As far as mics that have high rejection, I love using a Shure SM7B, it's like an SM57 with the ability to cut out mud and boost highs. I've gotten excellent results with it and it did a good job not catching too much of the other stuff in the room. But like I said, playing bass in the same room as drums is probably going to crap up the drum mics, especially if you're using room mics or over heads. It also puts a damper on being able to make the drums sound as good as they can. Then if you change or tighten up a bass part in post, the over all recording may suffer even more since you can't get rid of whatever was recorded in the back ground of the drum mics.

 

[Wasnex]

That really is great suggestion, but I prefer to do it all in one take. The bass lines can get pretty intricate (at least for me), somewhat frantic at times. My parts are written and well rehearsed, but I feel like I might drive myself nuts trying to get two perfect takes.

He's not saying to do two takes. He's saying capture your original take with a DI. Reamping allows you to send the recorded signal to an amp, so you can record it a second time. If the first take is good, you don't need a second take.

There is no mic that will give you perfect isolation. The bass will be in the drum mics and the drums will be in the cab mic. In a recording studio you would normally put the bass amp and drums in different rooms and monitor on headphones.

Something like a sE Electronics Reflection Filter could help mitigate the problem with your cab mic. Reflexion Filters - sE Electronics But you would still have bass from your rig bleeding into all of the drum mics.

Studios also tend to use sound blocking panels called gobos.
Gobos (Go-Betweens) — Music City Acoustics

 

[C Stone]

1. MD421
2. SM57
3. 

 

[Wasnex]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm now looking into the RE-20 and the RE- 320.

The RE20 is a great bass cab mic IMHO....it has a pretty relaxed pickup pattern; not great rejection.

 

[Wasnex]

Audix D4 is reasonably priced, compact, and has a hypercardioid pickup pattern.

 

[Alper Yilmaz]

Broadcast mics are well suited for mic'ing bass cabs, IME. Electro-Voice RE20 and Shure SM7B are two that come to my mind.

 

[And I]

no microphone is going to fix the myriad of problems this approach presents. going DI only and re-amping later solves them all with no compromise on performing live with the drummer.

 

[SoundOfOneHandSlapping]

Thank you for all the recommendations and for clarifying reamping.

I'll record a track with the drums using the silent record setting on my Fender Bassman 100T. Then I'll use that track as a guide and record direct and mic the cab in one take.

 

[N4860]

Thank you for all the recommendations and for clarifying reamping.

I'll record a track with the drums using the silent record setting on my Fender Bassman 100T. Then I'll use that track as a guide and record direct and mic the cab in one take.

Just to add to this suggestion of reamping, since you need a mic still check in with the drummer to see what mic they are using. There are some kick mics that are often also used for recording bass cabs so you might be able to use that.

 

[FugaziBomb]

Any advice and recommendations are appreciated

Don't use a mic.

 

[ClusterFlux]

Looking for a suitable mic for my 4x10 bass cab. I'll be recording the bass and drums at the same time in a small rehearsal space (roughly 12' x 20').

Why bother? In your scenario, there's going to be tons of bleed from the drum mics anyway.

I'd mic the drums, have everything else go direct, ditch amps altogether. This is why they invented amp sims and cab sims, right?

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Audix D4 is reasonably priced, compact, and has a hypercardioid pickup pattern.

View attachment 5351119

Be careful that the drums are not directly behind it or it will pick up a fair amount of bleed over. Here's a chart of the pickup pattern of the various types of cardiod patterns. That should help him in your placement of what ever mic he ends up with: