Kick Drum Speaker???

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brodgind

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Maybe a bad question... but has anyone ever tried using a speaker as a mic for a kickdrum? I'm going to give it a go tonight and was looking for a success / disaster story or two!!!
 
Philgood uses one. Do a search and you should find a clip of his kit using one. He said that he uses it supplement an already good sounding miked kick. I don't think you would want to use it as your main kick mic.
 
Not going to use it for the main. I'm thinking that if I use a d112 or re20, this will add some chest notes, rather than using the "tube" effect. I'm thinking that the slower response of the speaker will yield a lower fundimental note?
 
brodgind said:
Maybe a bad question... but has anyone ever tried using a speaker as a mic for a kickdrum? I'm going to give it a go tonight and was looking for a success / disaster story or two!!!
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oh yeh, it's done all the time. That's what that yamaha subkick is all about. Frankly, it may even be a rip off in my opinion.

It helps to know a thing or two about electronics and soldering, saves you cash.

There's really no rocket science to it. Take a speaker and hook it up in a way where you can plug it into a preamp and you got a sub kick (depending on how large the speaker is). The larger the diaphram, the lower the frequencies you can capture.

Same applies to headphones. In fact, plug any headphone into your pre, then talk into it. On the converse, you can turn a mic into a speaker (however, not advisable with some mics).
 
I took apart a busted subwoofer and use it's 8" speaker for kicks, only because I don't have a proper kick mic and I need to blend it with another mic to get some lows. Be careful though because you can really get those speaker cones pumping if you play back the track loud enough because it's nice and loud all the way down to 20Hz.

It might be too hot for your preamp, like mine, so I have it hooked up to a a cable with a quarter inch end to plug into a direct box, which cuts down the volume to a better level.
 
I tried this last night with a punk band with the worst kit I have seen in a while! His kick batter was way too loose, and the front head was torn from the sound hole to the other edge!! Holy god of low end!!! I used an Re20 in the kick pointed at the beater, then a 6 1/2" polk 4 ohm woofer in free-air about 6" out from the kick on the floor. With the Re20 I get a good overall sound ofthe kick, and the speaker adds all the low end anyone could handle!! It gave the perception that his kit sounded good(not the case at all)!! Everyone has to try this once! We are going to play with different sizes and cabinets with changes in port sizes and such to see if we can tune it a little better, but what a great kick sound for free!

P.S. Used the pad on the console with gain all the way down, and still had clipping until I moved the speaker back to 6"!!!
 
I tried it with a bassdrum tube (20, 22 & 24) & what a bottom end

FTR I used a 12" black widow peavey

I intend to try it on a bass cab at some point in the near future for fattening a few bass parts by re-recording them in a BIG room

BTW nice hat Lee :D
 
I use one of the Kevlar 6" speakers from a KRK monitor... it works great as a second kik drum "mic" [which seems to be about the only thing I've found that anything "KRK" does well].
 
I wonder if a speaker's frequency response is consistent with it's frequency response when used as a mic.
 
pass...................

I have noticed that everybody seems to be using smaller sized speakers where I used a 12"
 
Fletcher said:
I use one of the Kevlar 6" speakers from a KRK monitor... it works great as a second kik drum "mic" [which seems to be about the only thing I've found that anything "KRK" does well].
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A-fucking-men brotha! Their monitors are annoying to me! They are harsh sounding to my ears!
 
I have an unused Wharfedale 6 1/2" kevlar woofer that might work well for this. Maybe it will work better as a mic than a woofer.
 
slidey said:
BTW nice hat Lee :D
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Thanks :D


My "slightly corky producer's/engineer with a hint of woody allen" hat. I hope to make it a trademark :D
 
LeeRosario said:
Thanks :D


My "slightly corky producer's/engineer with a hint of woody allen" hat. I hope to make it a trademark :D
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I have a black leather fedora
 
brodgind said:
Maybe a bad question... but has anyone ever tried using a speaker as a mic for a kickdrum? I'm going to give it a go tonight and was looking for a success / disaster story or two!!!
Click to expand...


i use it on kick drum nearly everytime we track.

it's easy to do and combined with a beater side mic, it's fantastic.
 
brendandwyer said:
i use it on kick drum nearly everytime we track.

it's easy to do and combined with a beater side mic, it's fantastic.
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what a black leather fedora :D
 
slidey said:
what a black leather fedora :D
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yeah, and you know what, every time i use the fedora on kick drum i think to myself "self, i need something warmer."

So then i come on here and ask "what's the absolute BEST hat for recording kick drum...for rap"
 
brendandwyer said:
yeah, and you know what, every time i use the fedora on kick drum i think to myself "self, i need something warmer."

So then i come on here and ask "what's the absolute BEST hat for recording kick drum...for rap"
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LMAO!!!!!!
 
Ford Van said:
A-fucking-men brotha! Their monitors are annoying to me! They are harsh sounding to my ears!
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KRK V8 IIs are a different story all together.
 
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