kick drum micing, for lve set..

A

AL P

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if in a pinch..and not a high end show so to speak.....can a 57 posibley be used?
or perhaps throw in a MXL990?

can someone give me some quck pointers on the subject? this is not for recording, but rather, just to bump up the kick drum volume a bit for a live show..

(actually, I may end up trying to do a little live recording, but right now, I`m primarily concerned about micing the kick drum..)

thanks..
 
I've used 57's a lot in kick drums for both live and studio work and it works fine. it needs a fair amount of EQ, but for just getting a kick up in the mix a bit it works fine.

as far as positioning it, if you have the luxury of a stand then place it just inside the front skin aimed halfway between where the beater hits and the rim. however, if you don't have a stand it can work fine just rested on a pillow/rolled up blanket inside the kick drum.

The MXL990 can work in the studio placed outside the kick, but for live i wouldn't fancy placing it inside the kick as it may damage the mic (it may not but bare in mind just how loud it really is inside a kick drum!), and if you did risk it you'd pretty much have to pad the signal on the desk as it will come out very hot
 
You can use a 57 on anything. It probably shouldn't be the "go-to" mic for the situation, but it will do the job.
 
Between the two, definitely the sm57. The 990 would be too sensitive, and would be likely to pick up a lot of other stage noise (and probably the 57 would sound better anyway). But dynamic kick drum mics are pretty cheap, even something like a PG52 sounds pretty good for live use. Or you could get an "expensive" one like a Audix D6 or Sennheiser e602 (either one is less than $150 used).
 
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alrighty then...the 57 it is..... and thanks for the tips and suggestions guys...I`ll be sure to report back after the gig on how it went..hopefully with a video to go with it..although I`m sure my OLD video camera is going to do the sound absolutly NO justice what so ever..LOL
 
People use SM57s in kick drums all the time. It's not ideal but not too bad. I tend to put the kick mic further inside than most people. On the pillow, if you have one, works pretty well. Try it centered and off to one side.
 
Try using an Earthworks kickpad with any microphone to turn it into a kick drum microphone. I tried/experimented with it with many microphones, even a cheap $4. ratshack microphone with great results!
Found HERE new. I found mine used for $35. ;)
 
moresound said:
Try using an Earthworks kickpad with any microphone to turn it into a kick drum microphone.
Click to expand...

How have you found it? does it get much use? we got the earthworks demo CD at work a couple of years ago and was really tempted by the kick pad but haven't found anyone with any "hands on" experience with it to give us a more real world view of it
 
I used a cheap behringer dynamic (a fair bit cheaper than a 57) for kick miking for a number of years. You should be able to get a perfectly usable sound live. I found it paid to experiment a fair bit with placement - one drummer I worked with really seemed to get the best sound from in front of the skin, barely about inch from the shell.
 
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