How to get that open, ringy kick drum?

N

nato101010

New member
I'm looking to get a really open and sustaining kick sound, something like the black keys "brothers" tone, but I don't know where do start. It's probably in the tuning. Right now, I'm using a DW collectors 22 by 18 I think, with a remo power stroke 3, no front head and a audio technica ATM kick mic positioned toward and very close to the shell itself. I have no dampening on it. The power stroke is tuned to finger tight tension.

I have not experimented with kick tuning. Should I put the front head back on and tune it tighter? Is my mic positioning OK? Is it possible to get that tone because I'm using a modern DW, but "brothers" was recorded with a vintage Gretsch?
 
First of all, put the front head back on. It's not 1976 anymore. Most of the tone and resonance you seek is gonna come from the front head. Secondly, experiment with tuning and don't use any muffling. If you can only use one mic, cut a hole in the front head using the smallest diameter that will allow the mic to fight through. Stick the mic in there at various depths and check the sound. With both heads installed, tuning and mic placement will require some trial and error, but it can definitely be done. If you can use more mics, one outside the reso head and one pointed near the batter will allow you to blend the two together for attack and boom. If you really wanna get down to it, the Powerstroke might not be the best batter head for that sound. A single ply coated head might be more "vintage" sounding. The brand of drum you're using shouldn't matter. The DW is good and that size will do whatever you want it to do. The sound you're after is all in heads, tuning, and mic placement. And although I'm not too familiar with their music, keep in mind that the Black Keys probably had the best of everything at their disposal and do their own thing. Don't get too obsessed with sounding exactly like them. You probably never will. Just get a sound you're happy with.
 
Awesome, thanks. The only reason I took the front head off was to experiment with mic placements. There is a hole in the front head already so that's good. Ill put the front head back on and experiment a bit. I only have 1 kick mic, yes but I have an extra channel so I'll try throwing some different mics on it as well. The only reason I said the black keys is because they're a good well known example of what I'm looking for.

Thank for the help.
 
Yeah, definitely get that front head back on the kick, you're doing nothing but deadening your sound by not having it on. The "open, ringy" sound is primarily tuning. You'll probably want a room mic somewhere in there, or even just a second kick mic that's backed off the drum a bit.

Technique is important too. Playing "off" the drum as opposed to digging the beater into the head will help too.
 
I don't know about anyone else posting in this thread, but give the aquarian super kick II a look. Using that head provided just the right amount of dampening without anything inside the shell of the kick.

My only complaint (and it's somewhat a big one) is the outer ply eventually cracked.

Not the cheapest head either.
 
Super Kicks are great heads when you don't wanna use any dampening. I've used em for a long time. I'm not using one now, and I'm not quite sure why, but I plan to go back.
 
Huh, so all I have to do is type in a product and it will hot link to a review? I guess that's nice.

Greg did you ever have the issue I did with them (the outer ply busting).
 
Guitargodgt said:
Huh, so all I have to do is type in a product and it will hot link to a review? I guess that's nice.

Greg did you ever have the issue I did with them (the outer ply busting).
Click to expand...

No, not at all. The only issues I've had with the Super Kick is normal wear-and-tear stuff.

I'll tell you two kick batter heads that suck - the Evans EMAD and the Remo Powersonic.

The Evans EMAD sounds fantastic....until the little ring that holds the dampening donut splits and falls apart, and it doesn't take long for that to happen. Then you're left with a basic 2-ply head. Actually, when the ring on my head split and fell apart, I peeled the remnants of the ring off and stuck a small pillow back inside the drum. Sounds way better than it did with the dumb ring intact.

The Remo Powersonic is kind of the same deal, except it doesn't sound as good as the EMAD and falls apart even sooner. When I had one, it worked great for about a week. It's a 2-ply head that has this little muffling pad that snaps into place at the bottom of the head near the kick pedal. Neat idea, but the pad is held on by three cheapo plastic snaps and it rattles and eventually falls apart, and once again, you're left with a basic 2-ply head. Time for the pillow again. Gimmicky junk.
 
The sucks, good to know. I don't know if it was a goofy tention or seated weird but I've witnessed 2 super kick II heads with the outer ply cracked and broken across the head.
 
Try micing the beater side of the head. I found that to get that good open kick tone. Problem there was with snare bleed. I sampled the mic, and used SS Trigger to add the sample to the inside mic track.
 
I got this sound with a 1 ply batter head, tuned fairly loose, resonant head also tuned loose, then blend in a lot of OH and room mics (you'll want a beater mic too because its a fairly round sound, might want to give it some attack). Hopefully this is what you're looking for.

dl.dropbox.com/u/6627888/D_bird_kick.mp3
 
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