This falls into the low volume hybrid kit category........What are some other choices you've tried?
So looking for some ideas and alternatives as I assemble pieces for a hybrid kit.
My mate Mick and I had been playing together since 1982 and recording since 1992 and one of the last few times we recorded together was in 2009 on a song called "In the glare of a blazing sun" {a reference to the moon, but hey}. Another drummer and I had already recorded what I thought was the basic take of the song but I got this idea, now that I could shift parts around, to have an earlier part of the song in a sort of reggae flavoured vein and to replace each drum part with some other percussion or household object. We used things like a bongo, a spring drum, a timbale and a small cymbal that looked like a pot lid. When it came to the bass drum, I used my son's space hopper
as it has a kind of bass~y sound. It meant close miking it. I don't think my friend really understood the concept of recording every part separately and found it difficult to think in terms of separate parts. But in the end I got a usable "drum track", such as it was. I haven't listened to it in years; it's one of the tunes that just needs one instrument to finish it. I vaguely remember having to touch up bits on the space hopper myself.
Like a suitcase for a bass drum
For quite a few years, I used, as one of my bass drum sounds, a suitcase. It was inspired by a spirited debate that was spearheaded by Moresound somewhere here in the drum archives; from what I recall it was around 2010. It should still be in there somewhere. Anyway, I bought a case and tried it. The first time, it sounded OK but it moved around a bit so I built a holder for it and used the suitcase on many tracks between 2010 and 2013. It really had its own unique sound and picked up well. One wouldn't use it for drums on a heavy rock track but it was good for loads of songs.
I ended up selling the suitcase
and the holder in 2018 !
detuned floor tom. walls. yes, walls. acoustic guitar bodies. Between eq's and compressors I can get all kinds of cool sounds
Recently, I recorded the bulk of a song called "Clothes line saga" {it just needs some female backing vocals to complete it} and because it's kind of atmospheric and almost abstract rhythmically, I thought I'd play drums on it. Now, I can't play drums so I did it in 3 parts ~ the toms and cymbals as an overhead stereo pair, the hi-hat with the mics in the same position {I think it's called XY} but my bass drum was something of an innovation ~ it was a headphone ! In fact, the headphone played a dual role because it acted simultaneously as the kick
and the mic.
Sometimes, when I need to quickly hum a melody or instrument part on my DAW and I couldn't be bothered to get out the mic, cable and set it up, I'll just grab a headphone and use that. Over the years I've noticed that if you accidentally bang the cup, it makes a certain sound which, in my twisted imagination, could pass for a kick. Just tapping the outer cup did the trick and in parts it sounds like I've got a seriously fast foot ~ I regard a lot of recording as legit cheating !
