SM57 on a kick drum?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kidkage
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kidkage

kidkage

Bored of Canada
So I have finally bought 2 Studio Project B1s to mic my kit with using the recorderman method. I'm setting them up right now (its 1:34 a.m so it's rough not being able to test it out now :eek: ) Ive only got two boom stands and a desktop mic stand the booms I'm using with the B1s and Im actually thinking about putting my SM57 (the only other mic I own) under the floor tom or on the kick just to experiment and see how it sounds blended with the recorderman method from the B1s.
I was wondering if
A- Any one here has mic'd a kick or under the floor tom with a 57, and/or the B1s with the recorderman method and can tell me how it worked out for you

B- will it do damage to the mic? I read that 57s can only handle so much.

...and C- if Im the only person here who has seen "The Human Centipede" and not understood the hype about it? :p

//Thanks for reading
:drunk:
 
kidkage said:
So I have finally bought 2 Studio Project B1s to mic my kit with using the recorderman method. I'm setting them up right now (its 1:34 a.m so it's rough not being able to test it out now :eek: ) Ive only got two boom stands and a desktop mic stand the booms I'm using with the B1s and Im actually thinking about putting my SM57 (the only other mic I own) under the floor tom or on the kick just to experiment and see how it sounds blended with the recorderman method from the B1s.
I was wondering if
A- Any one here has mic'd a kick or under the floor tom with a 57, and/or the B1s with the recorderman method and can tell me how it worked out for you

B- will it do damage to the mic? I read that 57s can only handle so much.

...and C- if Im the only person here who has seen "The Human Centipede" and not understood the hype about it? :p

//Thanks for reading
:drunk:
Click to expand...

What's *The Human Centipede*?
And if that's the only microphone you have ..... the 57 will handle either of those drums.







:cool:
 
Thanks.

the human centipede- "A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to "reassemble" them into a new "pet"-- a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others' rectums."
 
Sheesh kebab ! The things you kids watch !
 
A 57 will work fine in a kick, you will just have to EQ it a little more than you would a kick drum mic.

If your floor tom has a bottm head, you won't get much out of micing the bottom. It's normally just a strange resonance.

Put it on the kick, that's where you will need it with that mic technique.
 
SM57 on a kick drum

I needed a mic really quick and I grabbed the SM57 and have been using it ever since. it dosent take much to eq it, I just use the eq on the mixer and im ok in a room 50ft by 25ft. In a bigger room you may need to add a device.
 
A 57 can only handle so much? Surely this is madness!!! :confused::confused::confused:

:D
 
And you can record voice with a D 112

But that's really not what those mics were made for. Sure a SM57 will tolerate the spl's of a kick drum, but you won't get the optimum "bottom end" from it. The only time you'd use a mic like that for kick is because you don't have a kick mic. The good news is that a good kick mic won't "break the bank" and you can get a perfectly serviceable kick mic for only a little bit more than the SM57 will cost you.

I also have never found the need to mic the resonator heads on either rack or floor toms unless you're looking for a strange resonant sound. The reflections that you get bouncing off of the floor will give you plenty and then you won't have to get involved in all the reversing issues.

Your most important mics in recording drums are your kick mic, snare mic and overheads. Never cut corners on those. There is lots of room for playing around with other mics when you are close micing the other parts of your kit if you choose to (I normally just use those four mics and add one over my floor toms and occasionally one on my hi-hat).
 
Just use the 57 to trigger a sample .... then your all set. :rolleyes:







:cool:
 
Using an SM57 to mic a Kick is fine. I've seen many drummers use them for that application and actually sound pretty damn good. A little EQ and your set but investing in a good Kick mic is something to look into.
 
drumslinger said:
Using an SM57 to mic a Kick is fine. I've seen many drummers use them for that application and actually sound pretty damn good. A little EQ and your set but investing in a good Kick mic is something to look into.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, if you're losing the bottom end, you could use a signal generator set to a low frequency (such as 50Hz) and side-chain gate it to the kick, so every time the kick hits you get a little extra oomph!

It's not ideal, but neither is recording a kick with a 57 if you're looking for bottom end. It's a trick I've used in the past and gotten some decent results.
 
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