Kick Drum Without A Hole--How Do You Handle That?....

I would put an SM57 near the beater 180 degrees out of phase to capture click and a decent bass drum mic out in front and blend them to suit the song.

I didn't have a mic stand that would work in that spot when I cut the track, but I have used that method when I encountered this before.  But now that we are not linear-locked I think every DAW should just eliminate the polarity switch entirely.  If phase cancellation is present, rarely, if ever is polarity reversal the best remedy.  Just put  the wave forms next to each other and nudge the channel with the microphone most distant from the source until the waveforms hit peak voltage at the same time.  Once you figure this out, another lightbulb goes off, what if something sounds more pleasing and complex with some degree of cancellation?   Think about the most amazing bass cabinet of all time, the SVT 8-ten inch comb filter factory.  Now you know why i don't sleep much at night....smile...

I was out and drove by this auction, and I just gotta stop.  Mostly housewares, but in a dusty pile was a bunch of drums.  Nobody seemed to even notice them, when they came up it started at 200 bucks, then 100., nobody reacted.  I raised my hand and said 35, and that was it.  A practically new set of Mapex, with a few hardware pieces, and a combination Tama set with this Star Classic kick drum with Aquarian head and sealed front.  Gee, street price on a Star Classic kick, somewhere North of 1000 bucks.  After de-griminig and dusting, I had to try it out.  Rest of tthe set was pretty cool also, pinstripes and mounts via the rim, huge upgrade to my little set.  Thing sounds killer in the room, but getting that to come out of the speakers was not so easy.  I suppose I will eventually mount some kind of mic inside, but on this thing I used a dynamic and a Rode NT2 on the front, and then fired a cross-stick sample off the dynamic and printed it.  Then used that to key a gate on the condenser and also the room mic, which I multed.  
     The sound of that kick influenced the rest of what I did, as well as some other things I have picked up in the last ten days for peanuts, couple of guitars, and a pair of Yamaha NS-4636 (2 bucks at Goodwill!!!) and a Presonus Dual Path mic pre-amp for 50.  That Presonus is pretty nifty for guitars and bass, small, basically a tube direct box, the mic pres are not stellar but I don't mind as it cost 20 per cent of street retail.  The main point being that switching things up and getting out of your comfort zone can get you re-engaged and reacting to different sounds impacts your art, hopefully in a good way......here is what I came out with.......

clyp.it/gzmtjmzn

I personally feel that the kick drum sound can lend a LOT to the overal feel of a song. It all comes down to serving the song. For the drums I personally own, I have different heads. Ported, non ported, big holes, small holes, dampening system, etc. Each of these, in combination with the beater type and how the bass drum is played and tuned are huge variables.

When Im using a non ported head, many times I'll add a felt strip on the reso head to tame the boom a bit, but it's not always needed.

If I can't get the sound I want out of a single mic on the front of the drum, I'll either change the beater, the head, or the drum. I don't see any sense in trying to fight the drum or the head in order to get the sound im after.


The whole thing about this drum was how it influenced the approach I used as an arranger.  I had an acoustic guitar part, and then I played with that as a guide to the changes, but nothing was spelled out.  So the whole ba dum ba dum ba dum sort of thing in the song is because of the decay of the kick, once that was in place the rest of the roles were obvious.  Then the laconic nature of the beat suggested the lyrics, so in a way the kick drum is the crucial creative element.  It is the best of times, and the worst of times, for writers and creators.  We can create and react to recorded material in a way that used to be the exclusive province of the creme de la creme, but that ease is countered by reduced value put on the creations.  I guess this site is more about the technical side, so Mr. Eppstein, that is an RE-15 dynamic, the poor musician's RE-20, and I chose the Rode over my usual AT-AE3000 because it has more "bloom" in the envelope.  But the room microphone, with a gate controlling its envelope was most predominant, even with a sealed front the kick is quite loud and when it barked it sounded alone even from six feet from the kit.  I react to sounds as i write, which is why I am so pleased to find myself surrounded by tools with their own signature, the guitar I picked up to play lead on is a neglected Hagstrom Viking, I hung it back on the wall so I would remember to use it now and then, it alters my playing style, as did the Oberheim/Viscount weighted controller I had put in the closet due to its large, heavy cumbersome nature.  But there is nothing like a  traditional wooden weighted keyboard to take you back to the feel of an actual piano, it forces a certain technique.  Don't tell my long suffering girlfriend/reality check that I am on the lookout for a Leslie 142, there is only so much she can take......