Making my own Bass Drum "Hole." Need Help!!

drummerdoug86

New member
I am going to be cutting my own hole into the back skin of my bass drum. It needs to be big enough to fit my Beta 52 mic inside. Any pointers or tips on what measurements I should use? Thanks for the help.
 
they make these rings with a sticky side, and you just place it on the skin , an cut out the inside, and bam, hole in skin.
 
yeah man thats all you need!!! i used a kit from "holz" and it worked great!!! bought it at mar's, real cheap. can't remember the exact price though?? and i use a beta 52 as well. just follow the directions, and your in business!!

peace

rick
 
tmix

If you don't wan't to buy a kit from the store, you can always take the head off put it down on top of some cardboard, trace a circle from a can or bowl etc. and cut it out with a razor knife.(you may want to smooth the inside of hole with some sandpaper where it is sharp).
Just remember, the smaller the hole the more secondary tone (longer sustain) you will get from your head the larger the hole the more it will sound like a single headed bass. (generally short quick decay).
Also, I've had better luck putting in the hole offcenter not disturbing the center of the skin so I get more tone and less whooshing air.
tmix
 
you're right, don't put it in front of the beater cause there's too much air. I think that it can even damage a sensitive microphone.

You have to do it in one of the quadrants. Then just rotate it so is in the upper part of the circle. Choose the left or right quadrant taking into account where is your hihat (that depends if you're right or left handed). Put the mic so it doesn't point to the side where the hihat is. That way you're taking advantage of the cardioid pattern of the microphone, thus avoiding hihat spill into the kick mic.

Cheers, Andrés
 
I highly recommend using one of the 'sticky holes' (that sounds a bit...oh forget it)...

not only does it provide a good template for cutting the hole...but it provides support to the edge post-hole cutting to prevent any tearing, etc.

if you're going to do it without the support - be absolutely sure that you cut a perfect circle - otherwise the head can split...
 
Take an empty can ( coffee, tomato etc ) and remove paper
Heat open end over gas flame and use hot pad to grab
Press can through drum head and twist
 
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