Like I need a hole in the head...

P

pinkieandtherev

New member
actually, I guess I do. I'm told that one of the preferred mic'ing positions for the kick mic is inside the kick drum. To get it in there and still have it on a stand (to isolate it from the vibrations of the whole kit), I need to cut a hole in my front kick head.

What's the best way to do this? And what is the proper placement for the hole?
 
The best way? Buy a head with a reinforced hole.

The cheap way? Heat a coffee can with a blowtorch or something, then press it down through the plastic head. Be sure that the head is NOT on the drum at the time, and be sure to hold the can with tongs or use protective gloves.

Like I said, buy a head. :)
 
are you doing this for live use too? or just recording?

If it's just for recording, try taking the front head right off :) That's how i mic most non-jazz kits.
 
Yeah if you're gonna mic close to the batter from the inside, just go with no front head.

If you wanna cut your own hole, you can buy like 4 or 6 inch reinforcement rings from any drum retailer for like 10 bucks. Just trace the I.D. of the ring onto the head and patiently cut it out with an Xacto knife or razorblade. The ring pops into the hole and secures with double-sided tape.

If you don't want a ring, just trace anything round onto the head and cut it out. I'd go with at least a 5 inch or so hole. Some kick mics, I think the Beta52, need at least a 5 inch hole.

Or just buy a head with a hole in it already.
 
thanks for the tips guys...it's for live use as well. My recording space is my church auditorium. I play drums for the praise band; the kit down there is my personal rig. I don't think having the kick drum open with the old Winnie-the-Pooh blanket inside will work well. :D

I like the front head that's on there...I have band stickers and whatnot on it, so I'd like to keep it. Thanks again for the ideas!
 
I've always just taken the head off, put it on a flat surface, put a cd where I want the hole, and traced around it with an exacto knife. It's just the right size. I never needed a "reinforcement" ring, I'm pretty sure they are more cosmetic than structural. I've never had the hole rip any larger.

Also, don't put it right in the center, that's usually not where you want the mic. A few inches from the rim works, halfway up. Good Luck!
 
One more thing: a big part of the reason to get the mic inside the drum is to get closer to the beater head and get more of the "click" of the attack. This can also be accomplished by placing a second mic on the beater head. Just make sure you reverse the polarity on it. Just another option if you really don't want a hole.
 
Potsy24 said:
I never needed a "reinforcement" ring, I'm pretty sure they are more cosmetic than structural.
Click to expand...

The resonant head will tune better with a reinforcement ring. It also helps tremendously if you gig a lot. Soundmen don't care about your reso head. They just cram a mic in there.
 
Greg_L said:
The resonant head will tune better with a reinforcement ring. It also helps tremendously if you gig a lot. Soundmen don't care about your reso head. They just cram a mic in there.
Click to expand...

OUCH! As a soundman, I resemble that remark...

I tried something...I have a blanket inside the kick drum to muffle it somewhat. I opened my front head and set the mic down on top of that blanket, then closed the head over it, being careful not to pinch the cord off. We'll see how it works once I take the mixer down tomorrow and see what happens. (Necessity is the mother of invention...I needed the other boom stand to mic the other tom. I'm missing two boom stands in a bag, somewhere...no clue where they've disappeared to. :P )
 
Wait a minute .... you've got the mic cord between the bearing edge and the reso head?
That ain't gonna wanna tune up for sh!t. :eek:

I just rigged up my own internal mount.
You can see it here.
Now the port in my reso will blow right at my home-brewed sub-kick. :D

You can get port Holz here.
 
crankz1 said:
Wait a minute .... you've got the mic cord between the bearing edge and the reso head?
That ain't gonna wanna tune up for sh!t. :eek:
Click to expand...

yep...figured THAT one out pretty quick when it came time to play.
Finally took the reso head completely off, put the F12 back on a boom stand and socked it down inside there. That part sounds pretty decent. Took the reso heads off the rest of the drums, and they sound pretty decent. For mic'ing, I'm wanting mostly batter-side sound anyway, as "dry" as possible.

NOW...if I can just get the buzz out of the mid tom. It doesn't help that I'm playing my cheap Performance Plus drum set. (and don't try to look 'em up...all I found when I looked was a 3-pc "Jr" kit) Also doesn't help that I have one Evans G2 head (that mid tom) and the rest are the cheapos that came with the set. Yes, I know I need to replace them. hehehe.. And I would've gone with a Remo Ambassador Batter on that mid tom, but local music store can ORDER but does not keep Remo in stock. :((

AND still can't find my other two boom stands. Found a boom arm, but the part where it connects to the stand is broken... :( again

====

Double epic win!! The CD-and-an-exacto-knife worked wonders. I now have a hole in my head. AND...the cutout piece was perfect for another problem I'd had. Some moron (OK, it was me, before I knew better) had played the resonant side of the snare drum and had knocked a hole in it. The snare still had decent tone but buzzed like a mad hornet.

Redneck drummer solution...take the bottom snare head off, tape that cutout piece over the hole (tape it down REALLY well so it won't move), put the whole thing back together.... BINGO! Better snare tone and no more snare buzz. NOW, if I can just figure out that middle tom, but that's another thread...
 
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I have a similar problem. Im newer to recording drums and Ive got an F14 kick mic, which is apparently awesome, but when I mic my kit up the kick sounds just overly boomy, which sounds like ass with double bass, and it doesnt stand out over anything whatsoever. If I take off the head or make a hole and have the mic inside will it sound punchier? Im looking for a pretty good amount of attack.
 
yeah...alot of the attack comes from getting the mic closer to the head.

You can put it inside, angled toward the beater a couple inches away or put another mic on the outside, next to your pedal and reverse the phase.
click...:D
 
usually the DAW or the preamp or something there will have a switch or a setting (if you're on PC) that you can flip the phase. Might also be called polarity.
Take a look at your gear or in the tracks themselves to see if there's something to click or switch. I don't use a pooter so I'm no help there.

Luck mang............Kel
 
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