Helpppppp!!!!!

[The_Darkness]

I can't get a decent Bass Drum sound.
Ok guys...I know that an sm57 is not the best thing for micing a bassdrum, but wtf, it is a sm57.
When I set the gain where it doesnt peak during recording it doesnt cut through at all. Of course the other way it distorts. Snare, toms, and everything else kicks ass. I just got a shitty bassdrum sound. Any suggestions other than an actual mic made for bassdrums "thats gonna be my next investment".

[Tim Brown]

And we're off!

do you have a compressor and a noise gate? these are more important than a kick mic if you've got a 57!

Make sure that your kick head is very loose...as in just tighten the tuning keys with your nhand enough so that the metal doesn't rattle!

Put a fluffy Pillow in the Kick drum.
Put the mic about 3" to 6" away from the mallet strike inside the drum.

Gate and Compress it.
Bam. Instant Red Hot Chili Pepper's kick drum sound.


Tim

[The_Darkness]

I got all that happening . I wonder is its in the EQ during recording.

[Track Rat]

It's more than likely one of two things (given that a 57 wouldn't be my first choice for kick but it should give decent results, all things being equil), the kick itself or compression. For kick and snare, I rely on compression to get power and presense assumming that the drums already sound good and you're not fighting the sound of a bad room.

[Shailat]

Originally posted by Tim Brown
Make sure that your kick head is very loose...as in just tighten the tuning keys with your nhand enough so that the metal doesn't rattle!

There are tons of threads about this topic. Try to search for them.
I will tell you thought that a lot has to do with the drummer playing plak plak plak slap slap or the better way..... pound..pound..boom !

Tim....
I dont subscribe to lossening the kick.
Sometines drummers will lossen the kick to get a lower sound and thump but.... many loosen it to a degree that you the pitch and it even becomes useless to work with (so I trigger) or even you simply lose the kick in the mix.
When you tighten it up you can get a punchy sound warm and thumpy.

The other suggestions were good ones.

[The_Darkness]

Thanx for all the info. I tried again this morning and I compressed the shit out of it. Its sounds much better , but it is a combination of things. My playing "rusty drummer" and the room. Does sounds 100% better though thanx to the suggestions. Thanx dudes.

[Tim Brown]

Originally posted by Shailat


There are tons of threads about this topic. Try to search for them.
I will tell you thought that a lot has to do with the drummer playing plak plak plak slap slap or the better way..... pound..pound..boom !

Tim....
I dont subscribe to lossening the kick.
Sometines drummers will lossen the kick to get a lower sound and thump but.... many loosen it to a degree that you the pitch and it even becomes useless to work with (so I trigger) or even you simply lose the kick in the mix.
When you tighten it up you can get a punchy sound warm and thumpy.

The other suggestions were good ones.

Well, I used to crank my kick heads down so that hey had as much tension as my snare (I'm using 28" Kicks, so it's still fairly deep sounding) but the more I played around with it, I found that I could get a really THICK sounding recording by having the head really slack, and I was reading an article about recording kick drums, and it said that if the head is really loose - The Mallet stays against the head longer because there's less tension, and that is why it sounds thicker.
Once you compress that (and I have to gate the kick because I have a whole band playing live in the same room.) to smack down the peaks a bit, it's chest pounding.


Tim

[The_Darkness]

what he said.