kick drum technique?

[RAK]

First off, having a drummer that knows how to play helps a lot.

Remove the back head is good, often times draping a blanket over the open head is good, especially to keep out residual noise from other instruments (may not be necessary).

For mics I like the EV N/D868, or the Beta52 (note where I work).

When it comes to all drum sounds the acoustic issues are the places to fix first, for example:
performer
tuning
damping

then mic choice/placement,
then lastly EQ.

 

[surfmaster]

one time, i triggered an electronic bass drum to hit whenever the kick did, and had it in the sub frequencies instead of trying to get all the sub frequency out of the actual kick. it turned out great, the sub frequencies were actually constant instead of all over the place. and it just sounded sweet.

 

[mrface2112]

Evans EMAD head, lose the blanket and put the front head back on. Cut a hole in the front head and put the mic just inside the hole.

+1

assuming the drum's tuned well (aka: properly) and that the drummer knows how to play, this is all you need.

once you do that, take that blanket and drape it overtop of a couple chairs to make a "tunnel" coming out from the kick. put another mic inside the tunnel (i like the MXL V77 for that). make sure your mics are in phase and drum away.

add in a yamaha subkick (or homebrew version) to taste.


but it starts with the drum, heads, tuning, beater and the drummer. everything else follows (or compensates for the lack of one of these things).


cheers,
wade