ORIGINALLY POSTED BY mcmetal That's got to be one of dumbest things i've read in a while.I'm no sound exepert but if it sounded that great everyone would be doing it.
i swear the gs guys throw this shit out there and come here to laugh their asses off.
Actually, I think it's kind of a cool idea. Thinkin outside the box.
Besides, it doesn't really matter if it works or not when ya think about it. Just the act of trying it would get you thinkin even more outside the box and some of the coolest effects and recordings could come from it.
Sounds to me like a lot of potential gain could be had and really nothin to lose.
Well.....except maybe a mic.
Well, today, I tried it. My son couldn't believe it. He kept saying 'are you really going to put
that in
there ?'
One of my mates that's a drummer popped by and on a whim, I asked him if he minded a quick session. I wanted to try a jazzy little part of this two part ditty and I wanted to also try a three mic set up, just to hear what it would sound like. Anyway, for the kick, I used an SM58 {thanks, Dastrick !}, wrapped it in supermarket clingfilm with packing tape well wrapped around it. Then I put it on a desk mic stand and into half a brown bucket of water. It was maybe 6 inches from the kick and I was pretty surprized that it picked up as normal.
We did two takes, partly coz it was getting late and I had to get dinner for the kids, partly coz they were so excitable, the younger one kept talking. But it's a simple piece so it didn't take long. Listening back to it, it was OK, nothing brilliant, but not rubbish either. But there was one curious thing. The ambience from the cymbals seemed to be slowed down. It left a distinct hum in the quieter parts. It's hard to explain and I haven't a clue how to upload it for people to hear but it's like the sound got slowed down. So the natural decay of the cymbals took soooo much longer. Actually, it took so long that as each hit came round, it was still decaying very deeply and slowly, like "BOOOIIIIIISSSSSHHHHHZZZZZ". Weird.
I'm sure I can work out a way to minimize that hum while still keeping the thud of the kick.
All very experimental. Some water did get into the 58 but after drying it out, it was still working as per normal. If it dies, I'll consider it the price of an education. Or send "the boys" to sort out Dastrick.
My favourite part was using just one overhead (I also close miked the snare), dangling just in front of Mikey's shoulder. It picked up everything pretty nicely so it's yet another option in my shamelessly eclectic pursuit of recording drums.
As for the bucket experiment, I won't be trying it again on drums but my mate suggested we try it on percussion and I'll be listening alot harder
before tracking so if any hum shows up, I can deal with it there and then. It might also be interesting to try it on an
acoustic guitar or something. Today's thing was just an experiment. Since this thread came about, it's kind of been in the back of my mind. I do tend to agree with mcmetal though; if it was
that useful, loads of recorders would be doing it. Well, I've done it and I'm glad. I do like to experiment, even if it seems like a waste of time......
