Best way to double mic the kick drum

  • Thread starter Thread starter skiz
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Two Mics - One Kick

I've gotten good results from mic'ing the inside of the drum about 4 inches away from where the beater hits with a D112 and then using a Sennheiser MD412 at the hole on the resonant head. the D112 can be good on its own but i really prefer this method and as long as you have enough tracks available i would say give it a try.
 
I really resent that comment greg.. Ill ive done was ask a question about using 2 different mics on a kick to up the attack. I dont see that as bein a stupid question and ive learned a lot since that last post about doubling the track. You dont have to be a dick or make me feel stupid for asking a question like that. I learned my lesson posting that thread, was taught i was wrong with my assumption and didnt carry on arguing like others despite being proved wrong. Im here to learn. Not to be ridiculed.
 
Skiz, I know we all gave you a hard time, but the point we're making is that you should be able to get a good sound with 1 mic, maybe using selective EQ, and a bit of compression. Any other mics or processes should add to this, not be used to fix the problems you're having with your initial mic.

Also, remember that nobody said it was easy. Far from it - you won't find links on this site to my recordings because they sound plain terrible. I'm not going to deny that, but like you I'm here to learn, and what I do is to experiment with basic setups and equipment until it sounds good, and go from there.
 
skiz said:
I really resent that comment greg.. Ill ive done was ask a question about using 2 different mics on a kick to up the attack. I dont see that as bein a stupid question and ive learned a lot since that last post about doubling the track. You dont have to be a dick or make me feel stupid for asking a question like that. I learned my lesson posting that thread, was taught i was wrong with my assumption and didnt carry on arguing like others despite being proved wrong. Im here to learn. Not to be ridiculed.
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Lol. You're right and I apologize.

My point is that I'm finding it really hard to believe that you can't get enough attack with one mic and some EQ. You shouldn't have to use 2 mics.
 
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Thanks greg. I really appreciate it. Im still really new to recording so mayb ill learn to get the sound i want with time. I want to get that clickey kick sound u hear in metal but dont want to drum replace. I heard using a mic like a 57 by the beaters helps but i got crap results. So at least i know one method that doesnt work. Also i dont want to kill my kick with excessive eq boosting. I guess its back to finding better mic placing and better mixing for me
 
skiz said:
Thanks greg. I really appreciate it. Im still really new to recording so mayb ill learn to get the sound i want with time. I want to get that clickey kick sound u hear in metal but dont want to drum replace. I heard using a mic like a 57 by the beaters helps but i got crap results. So at least i know one method that doesnt work. Also i dont want to kill my kick with excessive eq boosting. I guess its back to finding better mic placing and better mixing for me
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With some eq work, and proper mic placement you can get a good kick sound with one mic. Greg's helped me work on eq a bit, and I've gotten some good sounds myself, and I'm a pretty sucky drummer in a sucky room.
:D
 
Skiz,

I don't want to instigate a thread riot but try getting a great, basic kick sound (tuning, mic position, beater head, etc) ..... track that, then clone the kick track - cut and boost frequencies on the cloned track to obtain your clickey beater sound and then blend with the original track.
 
yaknski said:
Skiz,

I don't want to instigate a thread riot but try getting a great, basic kick sound (tuning, mic position, beater head, etc) ..... track that, then clone the kick track - cut and boost frequencies on the cloned track to obtain your clickey beater sound and then blend with the original track.
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Please tell me you're joking.
 
I'm a bit confused by this thread.. but I hope people aren't suggesting that using more than one mic on a kick is a 'wrong' thing to do... I don't think I've ever worked on or seen a session (in the rock/pop/metal genre at least) that didn't use more than one mic on the kick.
 
Concrete_Lake said:
I'm a bit confused by this thread.. but I hope people aren't suggesting that using more than one mic on a kick is a 'wrong' thing to do... I don't think I've ever worked on or seen a session (in the rock/pop/metal genre at least) that didn't use more than one mic on the kick.
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No one said it was wrong. It's just not necessary.
 
RAMI said:
Please tell me you're joking.
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I'm totally serious. Please tell me you're not going to jump all over me for this suggestion?! :eek:

A difference of opinion I can handle though. This is a fairly common technique with DAW's, not just for kicks. Please tell me you already knew that.
 
yaknski said:
I'm totally serious. Tell me you're not going to jump all over me for this suggestion?! :eek:
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You're serious!?!?!?

It's the exact same thing we were talking about in the other famous thread. It makes absolutely no difference (other than volume) if he mixed a clone tracked and EQ-d one of them or if he did the EQ changes on the one track. Please tell me you know that already and you're just joking. If not, go back and read every post from the other thread.....again.:eek:
 
RAMI said:
You're serious!?!?!?

It's the exact same thing we were talking about in the other famous thread. It makes absolutely no difference (other than volume) if he mixed a clone tracked and EQ-d one of them or if he did the EQ changes on the one track. Please tell me you know that already and you're just joking. If not, go back and read every post from the other thread.....again.:eek:
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Rami,
I think you need to re-read my post. It's not even close to what we were talking about in that infamous thread.
 
yaknski said:
try getting a great, basic kick sound (tuning, mic position, beater head, etc) ..... track that, then clone the kick track - cut and boost frequencies on the cloned track to obtain your clickey beater sound and then blend with the original track.
Click to expand...

It's the exact same thing. It's a shame you just don't get it.
 
skiz said:
I want to get that clickey kick sound u hear in metal but dont want to drum replace.
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Alot of that click does come from triggering the drums but, to achieve the click play around with the placement of the mic. Try going closer then 10", trying going a little offset from the center of the drum with different angels, eventually with time you will find the sound you are looking for with one mic. Then you can add the beater mic in to add to the sound you already have and with that mic keep playing with the placement of the mic and the angels and distance it is from the beater.. Good luck.
 
RAMI said:
It's the exact same thing. It's a shame you just don't get it.
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Rami,

It's not the same thing. Think about it, you have one track, then you clone it. Then with the cloned track you change the EQ to achieve let's say in this case more click from the kick (cutting some freq's and boosting others like maybe 4 kHz and 11 KHz). Then you blend the cloned / EQ'd altered track with the original track. What you should end up with is a kick sound with more click to it (which comes from the cloned/EQ altered track). Yes it will be louder too because there's now two tracks so the level will need to be addressed.

The reason I mentioned this is the OP was wanting to get more click from the kick sound. This is one (of many other) method(s) to achieve that.
 
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Greg_L said:
No one said it was wrong. It's just not necessary.
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Well neither are overheads, vacations and whiskey ....... but it's sure nice to have them. :D It's a fairly common practice to use two mics on a kick, not always, but common. If you can achieve the sound you want - every time - with one mic, more power to you.
 
yaknski said:
Rami,

It's not the same thing. Think about it, you have one track, then you clone it. Then with the cloned track you change the EQ to achieve let's say in this case more click from the kick (cutting some freq's and boosting others like maybe 4 kHz and 11 KHz). Then you blend the cloned / EQ'd altered track with the original track. What you should end up with is a kick sound with more click to it (which comes from the cloned/EQ altered track). Yes it will be louder too because there's now two tracks so the level will need to be addressed.

The reason I mentioned this is the OP was wanting to get more click from the kick sound. This is one (of many other) method(s) to achieve that.
Click to expand...

You will achieve the exact same results by taking one track, boosting the 4khz and 11khz and bumping the fader up a dB.

I really don't think you understand how waves and sound energy work.
 
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