Kick Mic

  • Thread starter Thread starter BurnBarfield
  • Start date Start date
Harvey Gerst said:
While most of these suggestions are great, I hafta wonder a few things:

When people are recommending these mics, are they speaking to the original poster's question? Are these mics you're recommending actually being used on a Tama Rockstar Bass Drum, for hard rock production?

My response was specifically made towards the actual drum make and model being used, and the style of music he wants to record.

If he had asked about a small old Gretch kick for jazz, my answer would have probably been different.

Just curious as to how many of these answers are generic, rather than specific to the exact question being asked.
Click to expand...


True enough...However what type of heads,beaters is he useing a front head.. ect. ect. there are so many variables besides the make of the kit..As with anything we can only make suggestions..The guy still has to "find" his "sound" and his personal way to acheave it IMHO..And some of that comes from technique :) .
 
I've used the ATM25 (gives a bit of "boing" which I don't really like, but it's amazing on heavy guitars and bass!); MD421 (nice full kick sound); and U87 AI at a distance of about 3 feet (great for kick but also picks up room ambience and the rest of the kit).

However my "sleeper" choice for a kick mic under $200 would be the CAD E-100. It has "crack" and "oomf" -- and the "crack" seems missing, to my ears, with most dynamic mics.

The E-100 is also quite a respectable vocal mic IMHO.

$0.02,

Johann
 
I dont think the crack is missing in most kick mics but most kick drums.

Danny
 
Henri Devill said:
True enough...However what type of heads,beaters is he useing a front head.. ect. ect. there are so many variables besides the make of the kit..As with anything we can only make suggestions..The guy still has to "find" his "sound" and his personal way to acheave it IMHO..And some of that comes from technique :) .
Click to expand...
But if a guy comes in with a Tama Rockstar set, I can usually expect it to have a Remo Ambassador or Emperor head on the kick, with a hard beater.
 
I disagree. The kicks I've miked have plenty of attack in a "live" setting. Whether it's the mics' faults or mine, I haven't been able to get that wicked snap I crave using just a single dynamic mic. I've often resorted to EQ, occasionally a second mic on the batter side, and more recently (now that I've discovered the dbx 163 :D), to compression, to give me that snappy attack.

When I used a CAD E-100 I didn't have to apply any tricks to get the same sound. It has lots of bottom end and lots of midrange smack.

$0.02,

Johann
 
Personally, almost any kick mic works for me. A little placement, drum tuning and EQ'ing and I can usually dial up what I want. However, there are a few mics oput there which I just plain ol don't like on Kick. First and formost, I don't like the Sennheiser 421's, the EV PL/RE 20's, or the Audio Technica ATM25. What I primarily use is either an AKG D112, a Shure Beta 52 or Beta 91, a sennheiser 602, or an Audix D6. All of these have worked great for me on a Tama Rockstar kit both live and in the studio.

Of course all of this is just prefernce and opinion, and for certain styles I might actually go backk to the PL20 or the sennheiser 421, but never the ATM25 because as of yet I have never had any good experiences with one (not for lack of trying).
 
Harvey Gerst said:
But if a guy comes in with a Tama Rockstar set, I can usually expect it to have a Remo Ambassador or Emperor head on the kick, with a hard beater.
Click to expand...

I guess I would throw you off your gameplan with my Tama Rockstar kick and Evans head then.

Do you expect every guitarist to use the same brand of strings, too? :eek:
 
jtienhaara said:
I guess I would throw you off your gameplan with my Tama Rockstar kick and Evans head then.

Do you expect every guitarist to use the same brand of strings, too? :eek:
Click to expand...
The Evans heads have been too inconsistent for studio use, at least at our studio. Very few drummers show up with Evans heads here for a hard rock or heavy metal session. Is that what you play?

And no, it wouldn't "throw me off my gameplan". If you chose that head for a particular sound that's "your signature", we'd try to record that, using all the different mics we have. If it wasn't cutting it, we'd suggest you at least "try" one of our two Rockstar kicks, or our Premier kick, or our Yamaha or Mapex kicks, or our North Drums kick. If that doesn't work, we'll go rent something.

And if we're talking rock and roll, I would be willing to bet a Les Paul or a Strat is gonna be used somewhere during the session. And we keep abput every gauge of sting on hand so a guitarist can use any gauge he wants, but some bets are safer than others.

Is Keith Stein still up there producing?
 
Last edited:
I hear very good things about Aquarian heads, like their coating lasting more than 10 times longer than any Remo or Evans heads, and them being more durable in general. I've never tried any myself, but I have yet to come across a negative comment. They're all pretty much of comparable sound quality at their best, so that's an awesome thing, considering how insanely expensive drum heads really are.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
While most of these suggestions are great, I hafta wonder a few things:

When people are recommending these mics, are they speaking to the original poster's question? Are these mics you're recommending actually being used on a Tama Rockstar Bass Drum, for hard rock production?
Click to expand...
Guilty as charged, I have zero personal experience with a Tama Rockstar Bass Drum.
 
No one has the exact same drums, heads, tunings, rooms, and drummers, so taking all that into account is kind of pointless.

The best thing to do is say what kind of sound you are looking for, and better yet, give an example of something to listen to. All the mics do have their own character, and it doesn't exactly completely change depending on what drum you have it on.

For example, if one mic sounds slappy and one sounds boomy on one bass drum, they aren't going to turn the other way around when you put them both on a different bass drum.

Just asking the generic, "Which is the best?" question with no elaboration is pretty much pointless, as is giving the generic, "I think this is the best mic," response with no elaboration.

Yeah, you eventually find out which mics are real lemons that way, but I think we all know that the $200 range of bass drum mics is pretty much made up of all solid contenders.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
And if we're talking rock and roll, I would be willing to bet a Les Paul or a Strat is gonna be used somewhere during the session. And we keep abput every gauge of sting on hand so a guitarist can use any gauge he wants, but some bets are safer than others.

Is Keith Stein still up there producing?
Click to expand...

Something tells me your studio isn't a "home recording" studio, eh, Harvey? :p

I don't know for sure, but I suspect Mr. Stein is still around (unless he's moved south?). The bands I hang out with can't really afford engineers like him or studios like Mushroom etc. :) Although I have met people who got some free "after hours" time booked at Bryan Adams' beautiful Warehouse Studio.

In the last band I played in, a hard rock trio, I played a Guild Blues 90. Guild may not have the brand names you can trust like LP or Strat. But hey, if Kim Thayil liked 'em... Also the P-90 pickups are sooo hot! Anyway if anyone told me to change my instrument because they couldn't record the right sound out of it, I would change studios.

Incidentally the 2 best guitarists in Vancouver, B.C. (IMHO of course) don't play Strats or Gibsons for their recordings. Dave Postnikoff (The Tecnhicians) uses a pair of custom built guitars, can't remember who the luthier was. Chad McQuarry (Assertion) uses a Tele.

Oh and I use 13-56 guage strings. I'd be willing to bet I'd have a hard time finding spares at your studio. :)

Cheers Harvey,

Johann
 
Oh, OneArmedScissor mentioned lemons -- I don't think anyone has mentioned the SM57 yet? For me it's a lemon, but lots of folks swear by it on kick.
 
I wouldn't swear by it. The way I think of the SM57 is that it is pretty much the ultimate all-around mic. You can use it on virtually everything, and it will give you a good respresentation of it with good, clear sound quality.

However, past that, you have to do the work to get it sounding GREAT. That means that its time to bust out the compression and EQ and really start messing with stuff. After all that, many of the good "tailored" mics for the given situation will probably be just as good, if not a little better, with no work required.
 
jtienhaara said:
Something tells me your studio isn't a "home recording" studio, eh, Harvey? :p

Oh and I use 13-56 guage strings. I'd be willing to bet I'd have a hard time finding spares at your studio. :)

Cheers Harvey,

Johann
Click to expand...
You'd lose that bet, Johann. A lot of our bands have member that work in music stores, so they're always bringing sets and individual gauge strings around for us. I think we've got just about every gauge covered.

And yes, I guess you can't really call us a "home studio" anymore.
 
This is turning into a good thread. I wonder what kick mics people dislike. For example… I’ve never really cared too much for the Shure Beta 52.
 
Has anybody mentioned the good old D12?

No? Dee twelve ee, by ae kay gee.

This used to be one of the most used kick mics and it still is a great kick mic!

I use them together with a MD421 all the time, for Rock, Metal and Jazz.

DJL, Don, ever tried a M201 in a kick? Very tight sound with a nice click and as usual very little bleed.
 
I use the Beta quite a bit..The thing I don't like about it is the mount .Mine can flop around and the dam input is too close to the stand threads!Its a pain it the ass when the front head hole is on the smaller side :mad:.. As for the D12 I've only used one a couple of times{I don't have one at my place}and it was a easy mic to use and it worked out nicely{I had forgotten about this mic}

Ya know I think that sometimes I have to move so quick that I fall into just grabbing a mic outta habit to keep the clients vibe up :)Anyone else do this?
 
Me too. I only ever spend a lot of time experimenting with mics on my own. With clients or even friends I go for my "standard choices". Ditto for compressors, favourite effects presets, etc...
 
We do it a little differently here. While the drummer is setting up, I go into the studio and watch and listen to him/her for a while. I notice where the drummer is hitting each drum and try to get a feel for his particular way of approaching drums. That helps me choose mics and position them out of the way, while picking what I think might be most appropriate for his playing. The way drummers approach cymbals is a big variable, and that's why we have some many different overhead mics available.

I do the same thing with the guitar player - just listen to him play live for a while and try to figure out what mics to use and placements that will enhance what he's doing.

It helps me to remember that no two players sound the same, even using the same setup. Each group requires special treatments, based on "their" sound. While I might use the same mic setups, I will probably eq them differently to emphasize their strengths, or tone down their weaknesses.

I wish there were a magic formula I could just apply to every group that comes in; if there is a magic formula, I unfortunately, haven't found it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top