Muffeling Kick Drum

[Nick The Man]

how much muffeling(Blankets) should i put in my bass drum to get that real nice thump sound on recording

[EdWonbass]

Originally Posted by Nick The Man

how much muffeling(Blankets) should i put in my bass drum to get that real nice thump sound on recording

I would say as many as it takes. You don't want to get it too muffled but there is no set rule as far as how much. I had my drummer kit in my garage/studio for a couple of weeks doing some experiments on how to get the best sound with the gear I had. His kick sounds great live but I had trouble in my studio with the combination of crap mic and bad small room. I found that I could get away with putting and orange fleece pullover in up against the inside of the beater head to muffle the ringing, and then to cut down on some bleeding and room sound I put a heavy blanket over the front of the whole thing with the mic just inside the hole in the front head.

[Nik D]

I find one pillow to do the trick nicely.

[Nick The Man]

ok whered o you guys place the mic

[Nik D]

I have mine (CAD kick mic) about an inch inside the hole pointing at the beater.

[drummerdude666]

depends on style of music and what you mean by thump. deftones thump? led zep thump? I find that a pillow muffles it too much, so i use adn evans pillow. it slighly touches the batter head and really gets a thump but you still get that bassy sound. It's very adjustible also, but if you just want a thump and dont have the time then a pillow and a decently tuned drum will do the trick nicely. enjoy.

[Nick The Man]

im looking for chis layton sound...stevie ray vaughans drummmer

[PhilGood]

Originally Posted by Nick The Man

how much muffeling(Blankets) should i put in my bass drum to get that real nice thump sound on recording

I remember the first pro drummer I met after moving to LA. He had the most incredible drum sound and after getting to know him, I asked how he muffled his drums to get that big, punchy sound. He looked at me and said "....muffle?!".

Here's the weird part. Whenever you record drums, for some reason you lose sustain. I used two pillows on my very first recording when I was 19. It sounded like a cardboard box. Since then I've learned you need very little, if any at all. Record without any and you'll see what I mean. I like one small pillow just barely in contact with the head.

I also had the pleasure of listening to John Bonham's drum tracks sans music. You could hear how much they ring. Then it gets covered by the music. Bonham didn't muffle his bass drum. He even used to line it with tin foil to get the extra "reverb" as he called it.

It's all personal taste BTW. Jeff Porcaro would use a single head with a packing blacket folded up and held in place by a couple of cinder blocks.

You can also use a packing blanket over the drum and mic to create a little isolation chamber.