This is a good trick, and i would mention that the bigget the speaker, the boomier the sound. You can also adhere the speaker directly to the resonant head. You can also use ultra small speakers, like from a car, as long as it has a cone, and combine the two on the same head. A smaller speaker yeilds more "thwack". Although, one mic in the right spot can sound just as good, but this is definitely more fun!

I have heard of this and it seems to be a valid approach.. I am wondering however, if one were to use a speaker in a cabinet, would the cabinet have an effect on the sound? To put it another way, if you were to use the same type of speaker in different cabinets, would the cabinets size, venting or being sealed, make a difference?? My guess is mechanical damping could effect the response..

Howdy

Scott Dorsey used to extoll the virtue of using a 45 ohm intercom speaker in a box as a kick or front of kit mic. Its not for everything but its good for somethings.

A good resampling trick is the old "snare drum on top of a 15" speaker driven by the original snare track".

Originally posted by Nate Tschetter:

A good resampling trick is the old "snare drum on top of a 15" speaker driven by the original snare track".

I have done this with an Auratone coupled to the snare via a 2" reel hub on the snare head ... It works quite well. I have also heard of laying a pair of drumsticks across the snare and placing the speaker across those. This trick works great on snare tracks that have lots of thwak from the top head but no sizzele from the snares on the bottom..

I do this all the time...I have a small (and old) MusicMan RD50-110 with a rebuilt MM eminence 10" speaker in the open-back cab...to use as a mic, I simple plug the speaker cord into a 1/4 -> XLX connector, then run to a preamp...doesn't take much pre gain...this really works best with open back cabs...

Then when drums are done, I usually plug the speaker cord back into the amp, as the RD50 is one of the best sounding guitar amps out there for country/clean pop...

different 10's have different sounds, obviously...tried a JBL E110, didn't like it...tried an EV EMV12L...LOVED it...

Originally posted by Nate Tschetter:
Howdy

Scott Dorsey used to extoll the virtue of using a 45 ohm intercom speaker in a box as a kick or front of kit mic. Its not for everything but its good for somethings.

A good resampling trick is the old "snare drum on top of a 15" speaker driven by the original snare track".

Wow... any pictures of how this actually works?

Stevie Wonders "innervisions" LP. Kick miced w/ an auratone.

You can also record bass-guitar with a speaker.
Listen to "Paperback Writer" with the Beatles.

thought you all might enjoy this. it's a picture of the drum sessions from the latest Alkaline Trio album... i'm pretty sure that looks like the woofer from a NS10. that gets your low end 'thump' while whatever mic that have on the inside (can't see) is probably right up on the beat for the 'click.' somebody described how to wire a speaker up like that, but i can't remember it. if i find it again, i'll post it up.

any idea what some of those other mics are???

cool responses here,,,

nice pic,

FYI,,, the 1st post has a link that also shows a picture and how to hook it up,,

Sanity

What if you used a speaker with a woofer and Tweeter within a box. (sounds dumb but) would the tweeter pick up mid-to-high frequencies, or would it just pick up low frequencies on a smaller scale? Also would the sound of a woofer and tweeter pick up a some-what useful sound? I'm only asking because I have a set of cerwin-vegas here collecting dust.

Welcome to RO :c:

My thought would be too much noise/hiss with the tweeter..however, I'm even wondering what kind of noise/hiss one would get from performing this technique in the first place. is that an issue???

Originally posted by Extreme Coffee Jesus:
What if you used a speaker with a woofer and Tweeter within a box...would the tweeter pick up mid-to-high frequencies...

:) I don't think the backflow on the crossover would help much there, however Devin DeVore once told me "Isn't it amazing, as a transducer, a tiny mic can pick up super low frequency, yet it can't reproduce it."

--Rick

This is not hard to at all. It sounds like eveyone is over thinking it. Take a speaker either in a cabinet or not and run an instrument cable from it into your signal chain. Remember you're using it as a mic. It's the same as using headphones as a mic. Give it a try it's fun! Don't think so much.