Low End Boom on the kick?

[tnelson494]

Most of the kick sounds I get nowadays seems to be more of that "basketball on the pavement" sound like with the AKG D112 or the Audix D6.

Could be my computer speakers but when I close my Eyes and listen to Night Prowler I here what sounds like a dribbl'n Basketball on the pavement. Granted someones hitt'n it hard but I don't here anything special about that kick tone?

[Jim Roberts]

+3dB 63Hz on an API 560

[absrec]

Originally Posted by opentune

There´s one thing that cannot be overstressed....

...the drummer should make sure that his playing is appropriate.

Thank you!!!

I'm not sure why that wasn't the first response. But hey, better late than never. I hear a lot of talk about tuning, heads, miking, etc. That stuff's all good. But I have to say that the physical part of the setup that makes the biggest difference is the pedal. Someone mentioned DW pedals. Those are great. The beater is important too. Probably more important than the heads and tuning.

As for miking, I'm with the "2 mic" crowd. There is no other way to get a big thunderous "boom" out of a kick unless or course, you get really lucky. I like the NS-10 trick, or a 414, 4033, U87, etc. eqed down to nothing but subs and then eq the inside mic (RE20, D112, SM7, 57, 58, whatever) so that they don't have much of a phase relationship. Meaning, nothing but attack. The eqing must be done while listening to both, though. Let the outside be the low end, and let the inside be the attack. I've never been happier with my kick tones since I learned this from a friend of mine.

[absrec]

Originally Posted by Doublehelix

Most of the kick sounds I get nowadays seems to be more of that "basketball on the pavement" sound like with the AKG D112 or the Audix D6.

I know exactly what you're talking about. Try putting a hand towel in the bottom of the kick. Nothing that will kill the tone. A peice of bed sheet will work too. That should take away your basketball court sound.

[thephatboi]

I use a 421 inside in the middle of the drum combined with a home-made subkick mic, like the NS10 thing, about 7 inches away on the outside head. Like absrec said, I filter any highs out of the sub kick mic so it's attack doesn't get phasey with the 421. Eq the 421 a bit with some 4k, I blend the sub kick in to taste for the lows. Get the click and mids from the inside mic and the lows from the outside mic. I think this is generally agreed upon by many here. This has been working great for a wide variety of music in my studio. I am not a big fan lf the d112 and d6 thing. Not much body in that sound to me, too scooped. I have a d6 but hardly ever use it.

[joeyjazz]

If you aren't already using the 441 on the snare, definitely try sticking it inside the kick. I've never had one available to do it during a session, but in playing around with sounds very few mics were able to represent as many of a kick's characteristics as well as a 441 by itself. Plenty of attack and thump to go around.

[andygomez]

Originally Posted by macr0w

Sidechain a gate with your kick track, in front of a signal generator set at about 50hz.

works for me.. after the recording stage... I usually go 50 or 60 Hz. play with the attack and release to get a more natural sound. I usually use slower attacks with digital tone generators to take away the click

[Blindside]

As a point of reference, I have a 20" Ayotte kick with Superkick II on the batter side and with the front of my D6 about an inch inside the hole, I get a huge low end boomy sound with just the right amount of attack.

I always hear people say that the D6 "can only get that clicky metal sound", but I think it's all about placement. That particular mic, in my opinion, doesn't like to be too far inside the drum. I get the best sounds with it just inside or just outside the hole. In fact, the other day I wanted some more click and just got a really fat (nice) boomy sound.

I personally love that mic, and I don't like clicky kicks.

[Jeff16years]

this is easy.
get a early 70's ludwig kit with a 26" kick. make sure it's tuned right and have John Bonham play the parts for you.

you may not get the low end you're looking for but but you will no longer need/want it.

good luck.
-Jeff

[river]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned a Sennheiser e602 for mic choice. Huge low end from this mic, not flabby either. Of course, a 26" kick will definitely help too.

[deve]

Before you do anything, place the bass drum on a solid surface. If you have an air cavity under your timber, make a solid riser for drums. It hugely effects the character of the bass response

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by bigbone

If you can't get a decent kick sound with a D112, the drums itself
is not well tune..............

And please don't start a war about tuning, it is personnal,but you should not
get a crappy kick sound out of a D112..........

I could never get a decent sound with a D112, I think and have always thought it's a piece opf Sh#$ mic. I've gotten great sounds with a D12e, and an M88 is fine a 421, and a RE20 all fine. THe D112 is caca.
As far as the D6 goes is you pull it out of the kick and have it outside the hole. You will have quite a bit of low end . Since Audix took all the mids out you might want to put some back. For a while now I've been using a D6 in the drum and a Soundelux U195
out of the drum

[Tad]

BOOM!

[opium89]

Give this a read.

Articles - Drum Clinic pt. 1: Kick Drum Viagra

[Blindside]

Originally Posted by Tad

BOOM!

Taddy boy, where ya been?

I'm still waiting for another how-to video. Can you tell us how to use a Newman mic for hip-hop vocals? Do I need rugs on the wall?

[D. Rumble]

The basketball effect usually happens when:
1. the kick drum is made out of "cheap" wood (such as Mahogany) and the shell is very thick (and won't resonate much)
2. the kick drum has toms mounted on top of them
3. the drum is tuned too high, and there is nothing inside the drum to break up the waves that bounce back and forth between the two heads and around the shell.

The Bonham method works great to get rid of the basketball effect, too: cut a newspaper into strips (of about 2"x12"). Put these inside the (otherwise empty) kick drum. The strips will bounce up on every kick hit, and break up some of the "bad" waves.

I'm not a fan of pillows, as they take away too many of the frequencies you do want to capture. I myself use a beach towel that I don't fold up nicely, but just toss inside. The messy texture breaks up the "bad" waves enough, but there's not too much sitting inside the drum to kill the sustain and low end rumble that I like to have.

Evans EMAD is definitely the best recording head on the market. Can't go wrong with a D6 either. If you can't get a kick drum to sound fat with a D6, there's something weird going on with your drum.

Keep in mind, though, that a cheap drum is cheap for a reason. Better (more expensive) wood = better sound qualities.
I played/tried many sorts of drums/woods. A thin maple shell definitely delivers the most low end, with enough definition, and generally no annoying frequencies (when tuned and played correctly).

d.