Bass Drum Mic Issues...Please Help!

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Robertt8

Robertt8

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Okay, I'm trying to record drums using two overhead mics (SP C1, and SP B1) and a bass drum mic (Audio Technica Pro 25)...not the most ideal set up, but that's what i've got.

I think i'm doing okay with the overheads, but my bass drum mic is sounding either WAY to distorted or just kind of a dull undesirable thud. I really only tried micing it from the inside of the bass drum (literally jamming it inside there just above some blankets). The only way i was able to get a usable tone out of it was by EQing the living crap out of it.

Am i doing something wrong? Does this mic suck? Any suggestions out there would be great! Thanks!

Tait
 
Robertt8 said:
Okay, I'm trying to record drums using two overhead mics (SP C1, and SP B1) and a bass drum mic (Audio Technica Pro 25)...not the most ideal set up, but that's what i've got.

I think i'm doing okay with the overheads, but my bass drum mic is sounding either WAY to distorted or just kind of a dull undesirable thud. I really only tried micing it from the inside of the bass drum (literally jamming it inside there just above some blankets). The only way i was able to get a usable tone out of it was by EQing the living crap out of it.

Am i doing something wrong? Does this mic suck? Any suggestions out there would be great! Thanks!

Tait
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How are your levels, you sure you aren't clipping somewhere in your chain? (i.e. Just because your recorder levels looks okay, doesn't mean that somewhere between your mic/preamp/compressor/etc/etc units you aren't overdriving the input.) Check at each step for clipping.

As far as positioning goes, try moving the mic to the pedal side of the bass drum.
Here's a decent article on mic'ing drums.

http://emusician.com/tutorials/emusic_capturing_kit/
 
Another thing to try is to start with the mic pointing at the edge of the kick drum and gradually swing it around to point toward the beater. If the sound doesn't improve as you reorient the mic, leave it pointing at the shell.

Also try detuning the head
 
the AT pro 25 is a better mic for treble than it is for bass. You might be better off using it to mic the snare or cymbals. It's not a bad mic, it is just designed for higher frequency applications.
 
You're experiencing a problem that a lot of folk that are new to the craft experience... you're trying to "get" the sound rather than "capture" the sound. What I mean by this is that you haven't really said boo-peep-"word one" about the tuning and sound of the drum itself.

Now there are a bazillion ways to tune a kik drum, so I'm not going to address that here [though believe it or not, if you choose your heads wisely and tune the drum properly you'll not need the damn blankets!!].

Once you get the drum to sound like you want the drum to sound, then move the mic around until you find the sound you'd like to record. It's a pain in the arse, but hey... that's why we get the big bucks... ain't it?
 
You may not want to hear this but I doubt it's the mic or positioning. In my experience when the kick sounds bad, it's the KICK that sounds bad. Try changing the heads or at least tuning it.
 
I have the exact same mic (Pro 25), and use it on a constant basis for practice and small club gigs.

Listen to everyone here. The big problem isn't the mic, per say, its probably positioning and drum tuning. Mic position is different for every drum, drummer, and sound desired, so there is no "normal" way to do it. Most people don't know how to tune drums, so look into that too, you won't regret learning it!!!

Personally I don't keep a crap load of blankets and such in the kick, I still want to hear the real sound of the drum shell. I like to stick the Pro 25 in the front hole about 3 inches and position the mic capsule to point somewhere halfway between the beater and the top rim of the drum. This gets a good mix of beater attack and low punch resonance from inside the drum. I do have to EQ slightly, just to add a tiny bit of low and high end, and I barely scoop the mids out. Now with that said, I like a big kick drum sound, not everyone does...

The mic can take a good little bit of abuse, so the mic probably isn't bad, mine gets hell from me!!!
 
Get rid of the blankets. One of the reasons you are getting that 'thud' is because you have dampened the head too much.
 
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