Kick drum miking

[xterraguy]

I recently ran across an article about kick drum miking. It turns out that some people like to mike the kick drum on the back head and not on the front head. Some people claim that if you mike the kick on the back head, it will give you a more "warm" tone. I have always liked miking the front head with an AKG D112. What do you think?

[albee1952]

I would guess a lot more great kick drum sounds were done from the front than the rear but YMMV. I'm partial to the Audix D6, Sennheiser e902 and would kill to have a U47FET. Add a subkick(even a home made one) for some extra beef. The D112 is certainly a staple although its not my fav. You have nothing to lose by trying it(don't forget it will want reverse polarity). Just oil the pedal so you don't record squeaking. The really is no wrong or right. Some folks mic toms from top AND bottom too. Whatever gets you the sound you want. These days, I cheat and just use a Roland kit to "play" Toontracks ezdrummer(thanks to Chuck Ainley for his great sounding Nashville kit).

[guitardom]

obviously taste, kind of music, quality of kit all play in here. i was experimenting earlier with a couple things. but typically if you want more "snap" you mic the beater side, but usually the front head or inside is mic'd also for the fatness. rhere is also the tunnel with a blanket covering the bass drum and mic and back a couple feet and over the mic also (fet is a favorite) but all a matter of opinion! and i typically cant stand a d112 on kick. will take an audix d6 or sennheiser e602 any day

[TOM@METRO]

So many variables; beater type, drum head, diameter, room acoustics, etc. That being said, I sometimes do like the U47FET but not always. I almost always double mike a kick. A 421 up close to the beater and an RE20 just outside the drum woks a lot of the time. I have done the beater side but phasing and bleed do not always work in good way. The thing is, I get drums coming through here that are done in the most extravagant studios in Los Angeles. And before it’s over, producers are still auditioning samples from various libraries (BFD2) etc. Nobody ever seems to be done when it comes to drum sounds.

[Keybeeetsss]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

So many variables; beater type, drum head, diameter, room acoustics, etc.

Thus not forget the "Kicker"... It took me awhile before I noticed the difference of just the player too...

[TOM@METRO]

How true.

[mblanton66]

I use a Sennheiser 602, sits about halfway between the two heads. My experience pales compared to most who post here, but a couple years back while recording in a friend's basement I grabbed the cheap "mattress" off a nearby futon and sort of wrapped it around the front of the drum kit, about two feet behind the kick drum mic stand. It did wonders for the sound compared to the identical setup without the absorption for both the kick and toms. I used to use drumagog on that particular kick but after this tweak I get what I think are really good kick recordings. I still compress and use heavy eq, and also spend some time in protools making sure it's in phase with the overheads. Since then I've built some 2'x4' absorbers using heavy mineral wool that look more legit and have the same effect. And although not part of the question I've learned never to use clips to hold the mic to the rim of any drum; every mic has it's own stand. Maybe this stuff is elementary to you and if so my apologies.

[Third Eye Studios]

I always mic from the resonant head. The batter head usually sounds like a bouncing basketball to me. Since I got a D6 about 4 years ago, I haven't used another main kick mic. I also use a subkick, or sometimes a LDC. I put the D6 just inside the hole. If there's no hole in the kick drum head, I usually replace it with one that has a hole or take the head off for recording. I also have a preamp that I'm very accustomed to on kick drum, I don't like to hear anything else on it.

[rossi68]

Nobody mentioned beta52?
Not so smooth as the D6, but still one of my fav,s.
I use beta52 in the opening, and a beta91 inside the drum. Really happy with the result

[Ry-Fi]

Originally Posted by rossi68

Nobody mentioned beta52?
Not so smooth as the D6, but still one of my fav,s.
I use beta52 in the opening, and a beta91 inside the drum. Really happy with the result

I did! You just, em, time-travelled to before my post?....

Yup, dig the Beta 52 also, but I actually like it best as close to the beater skin as possible, about 6" away from the beater contact, kind of in the corner. I don't like it as much at the hole, but I've heard many reports of doing that along with a Beta 91, so there ya go! Since I only have one, I get the most proximity effect out of it as possible for the low end.