[Jay Kahrs]

Didn't I see this somewhere else a little while ago? Whatever.

Dealing with a closed kick is pretty easy. Make a mental image of dividing the batter head into three equal circles. I'll place the mic in the middle circle and keep it about three fingers off the front of the drum. From there the big problem is finding the right mic for that spot and making sure the drum sounds good. If it sounds bad, your kind of ****ed. I like it when there's a little bit of tone to it and not just a short, choked "bap". Dealing with that or something that sounds like an 808 can be a nightmare.

If you need more attack you can try putting a mic on batter head right next to the beater. It's usually a tough thing to do because it's pretty tight but it works. Also, then you really need to listen for phase problems with the overheads. Like Fibes said, phase on drums is what seperates the men from the boys.

If neither of those is working and you want the mic farther out in the room then you become very dependant on the system. What's the system? Player, kit, room, mic choice and placement. You'll spend a lot of time fine tuning those to make it work. Also, Even if I end up with a mic farther away from the drum I still like to have a close mic printed just in case. It's saved my ass a few times, even if it's just so people can hear the kick better while doing overdubs.