Earlier I posted about a couple of budget mics that I had recently purchased and thought that perhaps a follow-up on their performance to this point would be in order.
I had almost forgotten how powerful and complete a decent class A FET mic sounds on a kick drum! I have had the priviledge of using a nice old Neumann 47 fet on a kick in the past but that was many years hence. Its also a mic mentioned in the high-end sites as THE mic for kick drums. Its not just the brand that makes it for this application, its the type of mic that does this as well. The FET circuit in a well-built LDC such as the GrooveTubes GT55 I recently purchased is so fast in its response time and so well suited for plosive transients that I may never use a dynamic again on the kick drum! I also have custom-built sub-kick setups and these arent needed now either!
I want to qualify that a bit. Of Course I will use one of my dynamics again as well as the sub-kick. .All I'm saying is the application of the LDC with the tight pattern, great spl handling, and full-range response is a great go-to for a kick drum. I can think of several companies who make fairly budget conscious mics in this genre that I would trust for this.
You won't be sticking the mic inside the drum by any means so don't try it like that if you havent mic'd a kick like this before! This could destroy a decent mic! But if you have an LDC with a high spl rating I would say give it a go. I placed the GT55 about 8" slightly off-center and slightly out of squre with the resonant head. I did find that I will be changing the resonant head on this kick very soon as its a bit to 'plastic' sounding. I'll use a nice two-ply rocker type to increase the 'thud'. The tightness of the pattern is another place you're going to get better results. The GT55 has a very tight pattern and is a bit 'darker' in its sound that some 'fizzy' cheap imitation of a decent piece of equipment, so choose wisely. With a well tuned drum and a properly placed transducer, you my be able to achieve kick-drum nadir. I will see to posting a sample later today.
Comments
aj113, post: 382309 wrote: Didn't you have problems with overspi
aj113, post: 382309 wrote: Didn't you have problems with overspill from the rest of the kit with the mic in that position?
When I am choosing to use a minimal setup on a kit I am not looking for complete control over every aspect of the individual drums but I am looking for a cohesive sound from the kit as a single instrument in a solitary environment. I can move the gobos and position the kit to change tones and emphasis of different parts of the kit. This where tuning the kit properly becomes an artform. The tonality of the snare as well as the kick and the assorted toms cannot be atonal with each other but more of an extension of each. A more 'organic' sound if you will. This is also where you choose your mics for not only their tones but for the tightness of their pattern. Overspill or 'bleed' is your friend in this case. You ARE looking to have the mics overlap and create a complete soundfield of the kit as a whole.
Good points Dave. My absolute favorite kick drum mic is the Boc
Good points Dave.
My absolute favorite kick drum mic is the Bock u195. It's a cheapo compared to the 47, but sounds every bit as good (or even better!).
Using that in the kick with the HPF and the fat switch engaged and a set of M130/160 in front of a kit for M/S gets as good of a drum sound as you'll ever hear from 3 mics. The great thing is, you can place the Beyers in such a way that you get the "thwack" of the kick out of the "overhead" mics and thus minimize phasing issues across the board. (Since the kick's fundamental poses no real risk of phasing issues due to its wave length.)
IMO - for $2K, there's no better way ever to record a good sounding kit. Rock, jazz, ska - no matter what.
Cheers-
J.