my kick drum sounds awful

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Jsn7821

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I have a sm57 up to my kick drum, and i cant seem to get a good sound out of it.

Right now I have the mic inside the drum, angled slightly away from the beater. The gain is set so it is just below peaking, I boosted the 2.5khz and 80hz slightly on the mixer but those were stabs in the dark.

I have also tried the mic 3" outside the drum, and got equally poor results. It is seriously to the point where I'm embarassed to post an audio clip on the forum, because it is so bad. It kind of sounds like tapping fingers on a desk.
 
Tune your drum. I don't care if you just did it, do it again. :D :D


Try a different mic, too. An SM57 will work ok, but there are many others that are better.
 
How much would an audio technica pro25 help me out?

I know I need a better mic, but I would like to be able to make a decent sound out of my decent equipment before I go ahead and buy more decent equipment...

I'm not a drummer, are there any walk throughs on how to tune a kick drum? I have a sunlite set.
 
Ahhh, not a drummer. Then I can almost guarantee you that it is the tuning. Check out this link for a GREAT resource for tuning drums. And yes, I think that the AT would be better suited for the kick over the 57, although a 57 isn't all bad.
 
why would you make any eq adjustments that are "stabs in the dark"? Either you can hear what you're doing or you can't. if you can't, why are you doing it? the places to try the mic are 1. on the beater, 2. inside the sound hole 3. right on the soundhole 4. a couple inches out 5. 3-6 feet out. thats about it. eq should handle the rest, *if* you can hear what you are doing! what does your bass drum sound like and what do you want it to sound like?
 


does this recording give any clues? acoustically the kick drum doesnt sound too bad, its a cheap kick drum but its not terrible.
 
It doesn't sound all that bad to me, but I am just listening on cheap headphones right now. From what you said, I expected it to be much worse. Falken gave some great tips on placement, follow his advice and you will be on the right track.
 
FALKEN said:
why would you make any eq adjustments that are "stabs in the dark"? Either you can hear what you're doing or you can't. if you can't, why are you doing it? the places to try the mic are 1. on the beater, 2. inside the sound hole 3. right on the soundhole 4. a couple inches out 5. 3-6 feet out. thats about it. eq should handle the rest, *if* you can hear what you are doing! what does your bass drum sound like and what do you want it to sound like?
Click to expand...

By stabs in the dark, I meant I don't actually know what frequencies to boost or lower. I did 2.5khz to add some pop, but I don't know if thats the pop-frequency. Same with 80hz becuase I wanted more umph. It seemed to help a bit, so I kept it.

The best placement I've found is about 12 inches out, when it goes further it picks up the rest of the set just as well as the kick.
 
First of all, what exactly are you trying to get out of it?

It's not going to sound like a 40" Symphonic Bass drum.

What I would do, rather than boosting those two frequencies, is cut midrange first.

Make a recording of the drum flat, and then start Eq'ing it on playback to see what works for you.

Generally, that is tuned a LOT tighter than most drummers tune a kick - usually, it's tuned just a little bit past the wrinkles - the metal parts will be somewhat loose - almost to the point of where they will start "jingling" when you hit the drum.

Also, personally - whenever I've mic'd a kick with an SM57, I aim it dead into the mallet strike spot to get maximum impact, but that's me. A lot of guys don't like that sound, but I do.


Make a Kick Drum Tunnel.

Use something as a frame (a chair will work) and drape heavy blankets over the chair and the front of the kick drum. DStick your microphone under there, so that it is isolated from the rest of the drumkit. This isn't a joke - this is the way a lot of recordings are made, and it really will help cut the rest of the kit out of the kick mic.




Tim
 
tourettes5139 said:
It doesn't sound all that bad to me, but I am just listening on cheap headphones right now. From what you said, I expected it to be much worse. Falken gave some great tips on placement, follow his advice and you will be on the right track.
Click to expand...

the clip i posted is significantly better then what i had at first... ive been messing around and trying some of the tips (which have helped a lot, thanks guys) and I've got it to sound like this:



this is with a flat EQ. any suggestions on EQ? How does this sound to you guys?
 
It sounds like you need to tune it a little lower. That's my personal opinion. Like people have said before me, if you're going for more of a modern sound, drummers tune just past wrinking on both heads. That's how my kick is, and I get a great sound out of it from a $30 dollar superlux mic. Just my two cents
 
Jsn7821 said:
the clip i posted is significantly better then what i had at first... ive been messing around and trying some of the tips (which have helped a lot, thanks guys) and I've got it to sound like this:





this is with a flat EQ. any suggestions on EQ? How does this sound to you guys?
Click to expand...


Before you do any EQ'ing, do you have a Noise Gate?
If so, Gate it, and set the gate so that it shuts down right after the mallet slap, and see how it sounds.



Tim
 
Don't worry about the fact that you're stuck with an SM57, I've gotten great sounds out of worse mics meant for completely different things. It's mostly about placement and tuning. If you're looking for more 'boom' move the mic away from the drum kit. It sounds kind of backwards, but the further away the mic is, the more boom you get, to an extent. The bass frequencies need more space to build up. Also, like the others have said, it's tuned a bit too high i think. I use a 24" kick so i usually dont have problems getting a nice umph from it, but i've gotten the same results with 22" kicks too, it just takes more work. tune that drum.
 
each of these are great suggestions. are you needing more pop or more bass? or both?

I have found to get that click that a lot of modern drummers go for, put the mic in the center of the drum, about 3" off of the batter head and aim it at your drummer's left leg. It'll get the outside rim (where the treble is located).

If you have two SM57s, put on on the batter side pointed towards the beater. (next to drummer's foot). Then take the other 57 and place it about a foot out from the port hole as you have tried already.

But the most important thing i have learned recently is to avoid using EQ and compressions if you can. They are always necessary, but if you can get the tone you are looking for from placement alone, it will always be more natural sounding because it is.
 
TravisK said:
If you have two SM57s, put on on the batter side pointed towards the beater. (next to drummer's foot). Then take the other 57 and place it about a foot out from the port hole as you have tried already.
Click to expand...

just a not very necessary side note to this - make sure your drum pedal doesnt squeak if you do this.

Sorry if i misread what you were going for if more click was your problem rather than boom or umph. I do boomy bass drums, i personally cant stand clicky sounding bass drums.
 
TravisK said:
I have found to get that click that a lot of modern drummers go for, put the mic in the center of the drum, about 3" off of the batter head and aim it at your drummer's left leg. It'll get the outside rim (where the treble is located).
Click to expand...

My experience is that I get more attack and click by pointing towards the beater. But hey, if it works........
 
Stick a big, heavy blanket in there. And gate it. You'll be fine.
 
My behringer mixer has that little effect pallet and it says "gate" on there, but im not entirely sure what settings to use... ill have to mess around with it tomorrow. Gating something lessons the impact of the kick?

After a lot of messing around I found I like the sound when the sm57 is about 4' back, pointing at the middle of the kick. I boosted 80khz and knocked off a little 1000hz. Knocking off 1000hz seemed to reduce some ugly resonance i was getting, does that make any sense?

Heres a clip I made just for fun
I played drums, then bass, then midi piano over it....

(my main instrument is guitar), any critiques? I'm using a $25 behringer C-2 mic overhead, and the sm57 on the kick.
 
Jsn7821 said:
My behringer mixer has that little effect pallet and it says "gate" on there, but im not entirely sure what settings to use... ill have to mess around with it tomorrow. Gating something lessons the impact of the kick?

After a lot of messing around I found I like the sound when the sm57 is about 4' back, pointing at the middle of the kick. I boosted 80khz and knocked off a little 1000hz. Knocking off 1000hz seemed to reduce some ugly resonance i was getting, does that make any sense?
Click to expand...


Well, what the Gate does, is basically turn the microphone off. So if you have it on the kick drum, and you adjust the Noise Gate so that it suts off right after the mallet strike, it gets ride of the drums resonance and just gives you a solid strike.

I'm not sure if that is actually a gate on your mixer, or a gated reverb.... I'm not familiar with any of the Behringer Mixers.


Tim
 
Jsn7821 said:
the clip i posted is significantly better then what i had at first... ive been messing around and trying some of the tips (which have helped a lot, thanks guys) and I've got it to sound like this:



this is with a flat EQ. any suggestions on EQ? How does this sound to you guys?
Click to expand...



The most important thing when micing is to be happy with the sound you hear from your equipment. Don't think a mediocre sounding kick drum is going to sound great (or even good) with eq and compression. The kick has to sound great BEFORE any processing. Thats how to get kick ass sound. Tune the drum, and find the perfect room placement of the drums and mic placement of the drums.
 
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