Calfskin head bass drum mic?

[Ted Nightshade]

I need a mic appropriate for a calfskin bass drum, 18 inch. Woefully short on dynamic mics. How do these sound compared to a condenser that can handle the spl? KM184 sounds great until it *clips*. Currently 2 inches above the beater. Keep in mind that the high end sound of calfskin is much more subtle than the slapthwack of plastic heads. Both heads will be intact. Good mics for the job?
Ted

 

[Dave McNair]

Double headed bass drums are challenging to record. Whether you use a dynamic or condensor, I'd use packing blankets to make a little tunnel around the front of the drum and put a mic inside looking at the front head. This allows you to crank some top end on it for pressence with out sucking too many highs in from snare, cymbals and such. A beater side mic can work too, but you might get a lot of the bottom of the snare, which is sometimes not a bad thing. As far as condensors go, I'd try an AT4050 or 4033. Dynamics could be an EV RE 20, Sennheiser 421, or an AKG D112 or D12e. You could also try a condensor in front and mix in a little of say, a 421 on the beater side. Hope this helps.