Bass Drum Microphoning

Can you mic a resonant bass drum head without a hole in it? I'm thinking that I could just put a mic on the outside of the bass drum and it'd be fine, but my buddy is arguing that I should just cut a hole in my resonant head and put the mic in there. I'm not really too pumped about taking a knife to my bass drum and I like the rebound I'm getting on my pedal so I'd like to avoid that (and I don't want to buy a new resonant head). So what do you suggest? Do you think it would work if I put it on the outside? If not, what are some tips for cutting a hole in your resonant head.

Thanks!

you can most definately mic your reso head with no hole.

experiment with position for best sound

try positioning the mic 8-12 inches directly infront of head but angle the mic slightly
off-axis

mic'ing the kick with reso intact like this will give you a round sound and not much beater attack.

try positioning the overheads behind the kit so they can pick up some beater slap

Well in the room I'm setting everything up in, I'm pretty cramped for space. After I put up the egg crates on the walls to kill the reverb in the room, I'm going to be pretty much at my limit. So I won't be able to go a few inches off of the mic.

This might just be my super cheap mennonite brain talking here, but I was thinking that I could cut a hole in my resonant head and just put the mic inside and rest it on the pillow I have in there and not even have to buy a mic stand for it. What kind of sound would that give me? I'm thinking that I would get some good attack, but I wouldn't get any round sound because all the bass would be going right out of the hole. I dunno, would that work?

You don't "have to" cut a hole in the front head.

If the drum isn't super deep, you should be just fine.
Just move the mic around until you get a sound you like.

Even with a hole, just readjust the tension until it feels and sound the way you want.
I wouldn't go bigger than a 4" hole if you end up doing it.

You're recording, but I'll mention that at one venue I've played in, the F.O.H. guy always mic's the head as opposed to inside a hole.

It sounds great that way. More like a "bass drum" than just a somewhat clipped "thump" you usually hear at a club through a big PA.

I use a D112 live on my bass drum, and I have a 4" hole because the shell is 20" deep. I still just put the mic at the hole, pointed away from the center (because I hate a click sound). It always sounds fantastic.

If you bass drum is 14-18" deep, no problem. Even if it was deeper, you should get a sound you like out of it.

Good luck!

I thought you didn't want to cut a hole in your reso head?

if you don't have enough room to get the mic at least 6 inches
away from the resonant and are ok with with porting your bass drum
then yes, you could get a usable kick sound by placing the mic on padding of some sort in the drum but you'd get mucho better results buying a $15 short mic stand -
you have more placement options with a stand and with kick drums in particular
when moving the mic as little as one inch can drastically change the tone.

Experiment, listen back, adjust, experiment again...
repeat... and you will learn alot about what tones
you are capable of.

as a side note:
I wouldn't even bother with egg crates on the walls
the affect on sound is so negligible - it's pretty much a waste of time.
use either real acoustic treatment (auralex etc...) or those foam matress pads
to reduce flutter echo - but seriously, if your room is really small...no matter what you do you will be hard pressed to get rid of that boxy-small-room drum sound.

Drums sound best in larger rooms - I myself noticed a HUGE difference moving from a small 11x12 room to a medium-small 14x20 garage.

good luck - experimentation is your friend

BTW - what kick drum mic are you planning on using?


if you do port you resonant head - make the hole 5" or less because
bigger hole = less low end

Bass drum with no port hole: put the mic dead center for more attack, out towards the edges for more "tone" or "boom". If you decide to cut a porthole, for the love of Gadd DON'T use a knife! Use a heated can instead. There are plenty of threads describing how to do this...

If you know how and where to mic a bass drum's resonant head for the sound you desire, a hole is not necessary. Much of the time the sound guys like ported holes, that way they don't have to do very much thinking when it comes to it, lol.



Dennis

Running an Sennheiser e602 on a Kelly Shu with a full reso head. I run the XLR cable up through the tom mount. When I pack up, I roll up the XLR cable, velco strap it up, put drum in case, and go. Very simple, mic never moves. Same sound, everytime, regardless of room dynamics.

Kelly Shu fits any bass drum mic in the world and is about $50 for the composite model (which I use).

Thank you for not cutting a hole in your head!

GastricPigeon said:

Can you mic a resonant bass drum head without a hole in it? I'm thinking that I could just put a mic on the outside of the bass drum and it'd be fine, but my buddy is arguing that I should just cut a hole in my resonant head and put the mic in there. I'm not really too pumped about taking a knife to my bass drum and I like the rebound I'm getting on my pedal so I'd like to avoid that (and I don't want to buy a new resonant head). So what do you suggest? Do you think it would work if I put it on the outside? If not, what are some tips for cutting a hole in your resonant head.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have always miked my bass drum from the outside. I think it is bad to cut holes in drum heads. My bass drum has always sounded fine, even with freaked-out sound guys who thought all bass drums needed to have a hole in the head.