Tuning and miking a bass drum.

[Rickson Gracie]

Right now my bass drum sounds like one of those marching band bass drums recorded. What is the best way to get a tighter sounding bass drum?

Right now i have the blue dragon fly mic about 2 feet in front of the bass drum at shell level. I am using a felt beater and i have no dampering on the drum or heads.

Any suggestions?

Also...i have 2 MXL 603s's as my overheads and the cymbal is way to high pitched sounding in the recordings. i was thinking of maybe switching the one 603s with the dragonfly and would the 603s work well as a bass drum mic?

Is it terrible to have two different mics as overheads?

thanks.

 

[tmix]

I assume you have both heads fully intact on your kick... or do you have a micing hole in your resonant head?

Typically what I do is put a micing hole as small as possible in my res heads as far away from the center of the head as possible. The more of the center of your head you keep intact the more tone you can get out of it.

Anyway, .. I tune the beater head just tight enough to get the wrinkles out, some times I go a little tighter if I need the head rebound, but typically I dont. This gives the dry punch sound. I then tighten the front res head to my desired pitch, but then lightly dampen it with a small towell or such in the bottom of the shell.

If you want a lot of hit sound try a wood or rubber beater.
If you want a totally dead punch, take the res head off completely.

Hope that helps some.

Tom

 

[charger]

It would be good to know what kind of a sound you are going for, and what kind of heads you are using. Personally, I use an Aquarian SuperKick II, tightened up a bit, no pillows or anything like that, and the original outside head with a hole cut in it off center, with a felt beater. I stick my Beta52 into that hole about 2" or so. The sound I get is great for rock, tight and punchy.

 

[Rickson Gracie]

yeah, im looking for a tighter punchier sound...i just made another thread with a recording i made this afternoon. check it out if u can...thanks for the suggestions.