Can you explain a bit more about how your currently recording the bass drum?

it starts with a well tuned drum... crap in -> crap out... what mic are you using??? what's the room like???

dementedchord wrote: it starts with a well tuned drum... crap in -> crap out... what mic are you using??? what's the room like???

the mic im using for my bass drum is The Audix fusion

No - What kind of and size drum, drum heads, beater? Do you have a front head? Is there a hole in the head? Are you using any damping material? Where are you putting the mic? How big is the room? How is it treated acoustically? How does it sound?

- tune drum higher
- muffle less
- don't compete for bottom end with the bass guitar.

personal taste addressed to a vague question

BobRogers wrote: No - What kind of and size drum, drum heads, beater? Do you have a front head? Is there a hole in the head? Are you using any damping material? Where are you putting the mic? How big is the room? How is it treated acoustically? How does it sound?

Answer Bob's questions first.

Then, make sure you know how to tune the drum. As a drummer, I learned how to tune my bass drum from an engineer (thanks Krisjan!).

If you are not good at tuning yet, I really recommend a Drum Dial. It doesn't do the job for you, but it is a huge boost up the learning curve.

Your question is way too generic and has no detail in it to allow anyone to help. All of Bob's questions are pretinent to the solution and without them we are simply dealing with a moot point subject.

Proper tuning is 75% of the sound.

THeBLueROom wrote: Proper tuning is 75% of the sound.

Agreed. But you will most always need some sort of dampening on the head that the beater makes contact with. (excluding some obvious music genres) Try less damp, try more, or even try an evens emad head, some times they are a bit dull, but work with it.

Use your ears...
1. Great sounds don't come quickly.
2. Great sounds don't come from expensive mics, its kinda a package deal.