Kick drum. How do you control ringing?

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noisewreck

noisewreck

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I am curious to know something. I exclusively use sampled drums, so this is something just to expand my horizons so to speak. When recording live drums, how do you control the ringing of the kick drums to just get a nice solid thud. Is it what the pillows, blankets and such are for or do you also gate them during mixing?

Whenever I work with untreated samples (NSKIT, Sonik Implants drums, etc), I always find that I need to mess with the envelopes in the sampler to make them shorter, specially when compressing, to make them sound more punchy and clear.

Obviously you don't have the luxury of playing with the envelopes when dealing with straight audio tracks. So, what do you do?
 
I put a small pillow in the kick, however if its tuned up right you shouldn't have a problem with ringing.
 
you tell the drummer you're not hitting record until the drum sounds good (tuning and pillow). A proper kick drum shouldn't need anything "done" to it, other than having the mic placed in the correct position. this goes double for snare. The kick drum is so large that you can do a ton of stuff with mic positioning...
 
That is what some people use the pillows and blankets for, but a good head and proper tuning will yeald the best results.

It's also a common newbie mistake to try to micro-manage every last little thing. Like making the kick as short as possible, or cutting off a slightly ringy snare. (obviously if the snare or the kick rings for 2 seconds after it's hit, that is another story)

With the kick, loosen the head. That will take the tension off and keep it from going 'BOING!' Don't overstuff the kick. The more you put in it, the smaller the kick becomes and you effectively end up with an oblong 15 inch kickdrum. (not cool)

If the drummer doesn't have a hole in the front head, take it off and put the mic inside.
 
So... then what you're telling me is that those samples aren't recorded that well :eek: :D
 
Or, they aren't appropriate samples for what you are trying to do.
Or, You're compressing too much.
Or, you are trying to cut the kick too soon.
 
hi i'm new to the board but been drumming a longtime dealt with tons of drum issues. the pillow will dampen the head but as said previously you don't want to stuff it full or too hard. you tune the head in a star pattern getting equal tension on all lugs as close as possible then the back head should be a bit looser is what i was taught but not so loose to rattle and i also use remo heads and an aquarian back head with a port supposedly tuned don't know if it truly is for my kick but in general. then you use a good mic or two with high pressure i.e. my faves are a akg d112 and a pzm mic. the PZM tends to get the punch and the d112 gets the volume. you have to move it around on a mini boom for a bit. then if you want a little bit of what i call the hammer you can use an sm57 on the beater side to get the high pitched beater thud. however, that typically causes more problems than it's worth. lubing chain drive pedals and springs or switching to a leather strap style. kit noise and so on. if you still get ring and are exhausted the best way but it again deadens the sound you can use moon gels and it's always good to eq. some use compression but then you can be compounding an issue.

most important thing is relax take your time to get it right for a recording....live slap it together as best as you can pray that it works and holds. lol you shouldn't over tweak the sound unless you hear something really bad especially in the final mix cause some overtones and natural reverbs lead to very unique kit sounds. oh if your getting slapback from a bright wall thats when you use an isolation cage or throw a blanket over the kick but thats a bad scenario where your at your wits end only has happened to me four times. with drums anyway guitar feedback is another story. lol
 
i'm not saying this is the best idea, but it is an idea....
use a gate to cut the ring off.

hopefully the kik just sounds how you want it to though.
(listen to farview)
 
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I just noticed that I didn't explain something:

In some situations and certain styles of music, a longer kick note is prefered. For metal, you want a clicky short note. If you are using long-noted samples in a speed metal context, (for example) you aren't going to win. There are many, many different great kick sounds, you have to start with the right one for what you are trying to do.
 
Get an Evans E-mad head, tune the head low, but not so it sags (I hate when people loosen the head so it pushes in 2 inches), then tune your front head until the ringing stops (which it probably will just from using the e-mad and very little tuning will be needed).
 
Use samples :o ;) ....











It starts with head choice. Get a head (like the Evans series) that has a lot of punch, but still allows the drum to do some singing. Get the head tuned up to a tight, but not reefed, tension. Again, there should be some tone coming out of the drum that lasts a few seconds after the drum is hit. As for padding, the foam padding systems or a good ol blanket around the bottom half of the head works also.

I would sugest removing the resonant head for recording.
 
Farview said:
If you are using long-noted samples in a speed metal context, (for example) you aren't going to win. There are many, many different great kick sounds, you have to start with the right one for what you are trying to do.
Click to expand...
That hits the nail in the head. I was just not aware that one can have so much control over the length of the kick right at the source.

All the untreated drumkit samples I have seem to ring a lot, so I tend to muck with them in the sampler and layer them with some other hits or synthesized drums to get the desired sound.

Was just wondering how its handled during actual recording.

Thank you all for the very informative posts!
 
If I get any ring on the kick from this pussyfooted sissy asses I call myself lucky and dance for joy

Usually if you can find the exact resonances of the kick drum, turning up or down one of the first few harmonics can have an effect on the percieved sustain length

sounds weird I know, but seriously
 
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