Kick Drum Mic Placement (for metal)

amra

amra

Well-known member
Here is something to try if you are having trouble getting a good sound out of a kick drum.

I was fighting with getting a good tone out of a kick I was recording last week. The front head of the drum had a soundhole, so I tried my usual method, which is stick my Beta 52 in the soundhole and go. This generally gets me a nice punchy thump, which along with a little judicious EQ, yields a nice punchy metal kick sound. In this case, I could not get a usable sound. It was all boom - no tight punch or 'click'.

I tried micing the back of the kick, on the beater side. Then I got click and no punch - along with an annoying little squeak from his pedal.

To make a long story short, a buddy of mine came over, who also does some recording. After I told him where i was at with it, he showed me simple little technique that made a BIG difference in the sound of this kick. We stuck the Beta 52 in the soundhole, like i had before, but he aimed it directly at the beater (or where the beater hits the head). Presto. Now we had a powerful thumpy punch, with a nice click. It was really night and day on this drum.

Just thought I would share this, in case it might help someone solve a similar problem.

(I can post some before and after samples, if anyone is interested.)
 
amra said:
Here is something to try if you are having trouble getting a good sound out of a kick drum.

I was fighting with getting a good tone out of a kick I was recording last week. The front head of the drum had a soundhole, so I tried my usual method, which is stick my Beta 52 in the soundhole and go. This generally gets me a nice punchy thump, which along with a little judicious EQ, yields a nice punchy metal kick sound. In this case, I could not get a usable sound. It was all boom - no tight punch or 'click'.

I tried micing the back of the kick, on the beater side. Then I got click and no punch - along with an annoying little squeak from his pedal.

To make a long story short, a buddy of mine came over, who also does some recording. After I told him where i was at with it, he showed me simple little technique that made a BIG difference in the sound of this kick. We stuck the Beta 52 in the soundhole, like i had before, but he aimed it directly at the beater (or where the beater hits the head). Presto. Now we had a powerful thumpy punch, with a nice click. It was really night and day on this drum.

Just thought I would share this, in case it might help someone solve a similar problem.

(I can post some before and after samples, if anyone is interested.)
Click to expand...


Yeah you kinda want to point the mic at the beater. I thought that type of placement was pretty typical. I've never just thrown the mic in there. For me it's always six inches off the beater from inside the drum cocked slightly away from the snare. A well tuned kit works nice too.
 
amra said:
Here is something to try if you are having trouble getting a good sound out of a kick drum.

I was fighting with getting a good tone out of a kick I was recording last week. The front head of the drum had a soundhole, so I tried my usual method, which is stick my Beta 52 in the soundhole and go. This generally gets me a nice punchy thump, which along with a little judicious EQ, yields a nice punchy metal kick sound. In this case, I could not get a usable sound. It was all boom - no tight punch or 'click'.

I tried micing the back of the kick, on the beater side. Then I got click and no punch - along with an annoying little squeak from his pedal.

To make a long story short, a buddy of mine came over, who also does some recording. After I told him where i was at with it, he showed me simple little technique that made a BIG difference in the sound of this kick. We stuck the Beta 52 in the soundhole, like i had before, but he aimed it directly at the beater (or where the beater hits the head). Presto. Now we had a powerful thumpy punch, with a nice click. It was really night and day on this drum.

Just thought I would share this, in case it might help someone solve a similar problem.

(I can post some before and after samples, if anyone is interested.)
Click to expand...



well that's cool, and it definitly works if it sounds good to you. I was just gonna say that a Beta 52 is definitly a thicker sounding mic than say a D112. When it comes to metal, I always seem to reach for the D112. Beta 52 seems to be more of a "thump" and the D112 seems to be more of a crisp "thap".

Also, eq goes a long way. So if you couldn't get it in the tracking stage, it can always be manipulated in the mix. Of course, just not to the exact same effect, but close.

However, multiple mics on the kick do give you more opens. So my usual configuration is with either a Crown PZM or Beta 91 boundry mic on the inside on the furthest end from the beater (close to the soundhole), and then I vary the distance of the outter mic (Beta, AKG, EV, whatever) depending on the sound I'm looking for.


If I want tight and focused, I tend to have the outside mic closer to the resonant head to minimize the distance between mics. If I want a bigger, roomier sound, then I ease the outside mic anywhere from 6inchs to 3ft depending on the kick tunnel I end up using.


Good heads up though.



I've heard of people using empty analog tape reels and taping them to the bottom of snares and kicks for wierd sounds.
 
multiple mics on kick...................my latest project I recorded the kick with an EVPL80 4-6inches from the beater, a D112 in line with front hoop off to the side & a 20db padded solid tube 1 1/2 feet in front of the kick in a SE electronics reflexion filter..............(I had to try it)

the EV gave me click, the D112 gave me the thwap & the S/tube gave me a luscious boom from the room

ANALOG TAPE REELS on the bottom of snares & kicks?? tell me more Lee??. I have a lot of tape reels of differing size

hmmmmmmmmmmmm intrigued
 
slidey said:
ANALOG TAPE REELS on the bottom of snares & kicks?? tell me more Lee??. I have a lot of tape reels of differing size

hmmmmmmmmmmmm intrigued
Click to expand...


Oh most def. Like I said, I've only heard of it, but I haven't actually had the chance to try. In fact, one of my ex-neighbors who's dating the drummer from nonpoint is the one who turned me on to that.

She walks into my apartment (at the time) asking, "yo Lee, you don't have any analog tape reels layin around, do you?"

and I'm like, "why the fuck would I have analog reels laying around my apartment? To use it as a coaster?"

Then that's where she tells me, "well it's cause (insert whatever the drummer's name is) was saying that taping a reel to the bottom of the snare gives it a (mystery) sound."

Like I wonder how you would hook that up? On the outside? Inside? Straight up against the head? Or slightly apart?

What the hell would that sound like?

I guess I'll have to try that out as soon as I get a chance :D
 
experimentation time......my favourite

well I can safely say it'll be at least 3 weeks before I get the opportunity to try it out

I have an empty 2" spool & a couple of metal 7" spools (amongst many more)

I wonder if the analog-tape-reel-taped-to-the-head plugin has been invented yet :D

whatever I'll report on this ere forum & might even try some sound clips as my PC is now running on gas rather than steam LMAO
 
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