Micing a kick Drum with an AKG D112!

[Musicman002]

Hey Guys,

I just bought an AKG D112 for my kick drum...My Kit is a DW kit with 2 heads on the kick...and EVANS EMAD on the beater side, and an evans head with a whole on the right side..the whole is about 6 inches wide....The kick sounds nice...really well tuned..from every angle...but when i stick the d112 in the front whole and record...it sounds really thumpy...or sounds like its clicking...im not overloading my preamp..is there any tricks to mic placement or EQ..OR ANYTHING to getting a good kick sound...the sound i want is kinda of a country sound..like clean..not disco, or rap, or funk...Thanks!

[shortness]

Originally Posted by Musicman002

Hey Guys,

I just bought an AKG D112 for my kick drum...My Kit is a DW kit with 2 heads on the kick...and EVANS EMAD on the beater side, and an evans head with a whole on the right side..the whole is about 6 inches wide....The kick sounds nice...really well tuned..from every angle...but when i stick the d112 in the front whole and record...it sounds really thumpy...or sounds like its clicking...im not overloading my preamp..is there any tricks to mic placement or EQ..OR ANYTHING to getting a good kick sound...the sound i want is kinda of a country sound..like clean..not disco, or rap, or funk...Thanks!

sounds like you have the mic too far in the drum (capturing the click of the beater maybe)? i place mine right at the edge of the hole (ie the mic is just barely on the inside...touch of reverb to that gets a really good, deep resonant kick sound.

[Bdrum]

What kind of beaters are you using?

[PhilGood]

Originally Posted by Bdrum

What kind of beaters are you using?

Yes, beaters, head type and muffling! ...What? ..Tell!... Drum size?... Tuning?

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by Musicman002

Hey Guys,

I just bought an AKG D112 for my kick drum...My Kit is a DW kit with 2 heads on the kick...and EVANS EMAD on the beater side, and an evans head with a whole on the right side..the whole is about 6 inches wide....The kick sounds nice...really well tuned..from every angle...but when i stick the d112 in the front whole and record...it sounds really thumpy...or sounds like its clicking...im not overloading my preamp..is there any tricks to mic placement or EQ..OR ANYTHING to getting a good kick sound...the sound i want is kinda of a country sound..like clean..not disco, or rap, or funk...Thanks!

If you're after a that modern country kcik sound, you need to muffle the heck out of the drum, and let the batter head go completely slack. I have a friend who was a studio drummer in Nashville, and that's how he told me they got it...I mean...the metal parts were so loose they were virtually rattling!

I thought he was joking, but when i listend to the playback it had that perfect low end thump with the mallet "slap" I was looking for. For a more "rounded/less sharp attack you'll also need to use a felt mallet.

Also, when you mix it - turn the low end EQ down a little bit - do not boost it.

Generally, most of those are recorded with 1 kick head, but we kept the batter head on, and it still got the sound I was after.


In all honesty, if that is the type of sound you are after, the D112 is NOT the mic for you because it has a boosted low end, and the country thumping kind of sound is not really a boosted low end.

Tim