Recording a bass drum

kendallking

New member
Me and my band are currently recording a demo everything is sounding pretty good apart from the double kicks. I have tried many different mic placements with no luck. I have spoken to a few people about this and they told me that the majority of double kicks are "triggered". I was just wondering if this is true, and if so how do I trigger double kicks??

Thanks :)
 
Yes, many times, kicks are triggered. Having said that, you can try a million mic placements which won't help you if you don't have a good sounding kik to start with. It all starts at the source.
 
What kind of mic are you useing , is it an actual kick drum mic or just a regular dynamic ?? Try boosting the bass drum at 100hz ish .....
 
got a samson kick drum it came in a 7 piece pack. the single kick by itself sounds really good but it just cant keep up with the fast doubles do you guys know how to trigger kicks?
 
What do you mean "can't keep up"?

You can use something like drumagog to trigger the kick. You can then use files from steven slate or similar packs. SS also has his own Slate Trigger program. These are your best bets for triggering or "replacing" the kick.

You could also use a MIDI trigger placed on the kick. The trigger would plug into a MIDI controller, which could send the MIDI to the computer or send the triggered kick sample to the computer. I'm starting to not understand my own words on this..

You're better off micing the kick and replacing it.
 
what i meant was that when the kick are going doubletime really fast they are just not as crisp and clear as i want them to be. i just looked up drumagog and it looks pretty good, but looks kind of expensive, are there any other triggering programs out there that you would recommend?
 
Could you upload the drums minus the kick and just the kick only? I'll put on some triggers for you (so you can see if you dig them).
 
A quick method that's worth a try is maybe gating the kick drum mic just enough to kill any extra overtones the kick head is giving off. That should help to clear it up a little bit and make the click of the beater more pronounced to hear each kick better even when playing them fast.
 
On the album I'm working on now, I mic'd the kick with an Audix D6 inside the bass drum about 4 inches from the beater. I then EQed a big dip in the mids, and some boostage in the lows and the attack frequencies of the kick drum (like the D6 didn't already have enough without EQ, sue me.) Then I compressed the SHITE out of it (the compressor came after the EQ in the signal chain). The end result sounds amazing and each drum hit is consistent in volume whether whole notes or machine gun speeds. It sounds triggered really, but it's not. I'm kinda proud of it, might be beginners luck! In my opinion about the only time you'd get away with this sound is with a metal album... kinda sounds like what you're describing though. Oh btw, are you using one kick drum with a double pedal or two kick drums? The plot could really thicken here and you may want to consider triggering.

EDIT: Ok, I did have to automate the volume just a hair in the really fast double kick parts. But the sound of the kick whether played hard (slow) or softer (fast) was the same. Sounds triggered but it's not.
 
To get the sound you are after (some kind of metal music kick sound I'm guessing), put the mic inside the kick about 4" away from the beater, then eq (scoop) out the low mid, usually abut 250hz. Add some hi 2.5khz, 4 khz depending on the sound you have.

You also need the kick skin fairly loose. A plastic or wooden beater helps too.

By the way I never trigger kicks. Why do people thick it's usually done??

Alan.
 
Because it's currently what is usually done.

So let me get this straight, we will trigger a kick sound that someone else managed to record that sounds correct, so that we don't have to get the sound ourselves, know how it's done or we can't be bothered finding out how to do it.

Yep sounds like the way the recording industry is heading, just plug it in, dial it up, and we now all sound the same.

The sound you want is totally achievable without triggers, however if what you mean by triggers is that you want to trigger another sound with the kick to enhance the sound, i.e a click sound for more attack, that is a different subject. I have in the past triggered a snare sample with the real snare due to the recorded snare sounding a bit naff.

One thing to remember is,what does the actual kick being recorded sound like? Does it have the sound you are trying to record? You need to set up and tune the kick to have the sound you want. Then set up the mic as I suggested easier, eq something like I suggested, maybe play with a bit of compression so that when you are doing the quick hits that maybe softer the levels stay up, and away you go.


Alan.
 
So let me get this straight, we will trigger a kick sound that someone else managed to record that sounds correct, so that we don't have to get the sound ourselves, know how it's done or we can't be bothered finding out how to do it.

Yep sounds like the way the recording industry is heading, just plug it in, dial it up, and we now all sound the same.
Nobody told the OP he has to do it tha way., And nobody said they're happy that that's the way it is. But you asked
Why do people thick it's usually done??
so we answered why we think it's usually done, and the answer is "because it's usually done". Don't shoot the messengers.

For the record, I don't play metal and I never trigger my kick.
 
Sorry, I did not intend to shoot the messengers, I suppose I was just lamenting that another art could be lost, the art of getting the sound you want by your own means.

Cheers
Alan.
I totally agree with you. :cool:
 
Everything old is new again. At some point, there will be a resurgence of people who want honest music, warts and all.
 
Triggers are not killing any sort of art. You can record the perfect kick sample (from the kit your recording) and trigger that one sample off the performance just for the sake of getting even dynamics. Triggering doesn't always have to mean grab a good sounding sample and replace the kick for the sake of not wanting to mix the original kick.

I only said it is what is currently done because it is what is currently being done. People don't want dynamic kicks on modern production metal recordings.
 
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