Can’t hear my kick!

mrfingers

Senior Member
I’m sure others have had this problem: band rehearsing in a small room with guitars cranked up, drums mic’d but you can’t hear your kick. What to do?
I have the small, ART MP amp, a Boom Stick ear bud amp and a single ear bud for playing to a click with the band and am thinking of, instead, using this gear plus a cheap kick mic to give me back my kick sound. So I’m thinking of micing the batter side. Nothing fancy. Anybody else do something similar? I don’t want to add to the wiring mess we already have by taking the kick from the board or splitting the signal from the actual (front ) kick mic since the volume to the ear bud would depend on the actual kick settings on the board.
 
Guitarists..Lol. IF I could count how many times the sound guy says to the lead guitar players.. 'turn it down!'

If you are playing in a small room and can't hear your kick then the other guys are too freaking loud. Tell them to crank it down to save all your ears and the band will play tighter if you can all hear each other. Once you find the right mix, bring that with you to the next gig and don't let your stage volume get away from you - and tell the sound guy that! He can crank it up front all he wants - but too loud in the stage mix is a killer.

The other thing is - are you hitting your kick loud enough? Try pushing down harder.. using your leg and focus on the toe joints.. and keep the heel out of the way..
 
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Sometimes I wonder if “band rehearsing too loud” is a phase. I think after a certain age, people figure out if they’re rehearsing or performing. Actually, they even figure out that they’re a team and maybe in a performance situation they’re not as loud as everybody thinks. Maturity, I guess.

Although I think there are situations where everything is too loud (like a badly run theater or stadium), that’s not always the case.
 
When it comes to kick sounds, often what sounds good in a room with no other instruments ends up getting lost in some of the other frequencies. If you normally tune to a "fat" low pitch gut punch, you might need to adjust so that you tune for a bit more attack and high frequency presence from your bass drum. A few times I had decent luck actually just changing out my bass drum beater for a more aggressive plastic one that gives a bit more slap.

Lastly, there's a reason that very often the only things sound guys will bother with in some rooms is literally just the kick... It gets lost easier than other sounds. You might end up with a mic on it even for just practice.
 
I practiced with a d112 or d6 in my bass drum for years. My 20" kick was losing the battle of Fender Twin vs Marshall JCM800 vs Ampeg SVT6 over 8-10. Subs make a big difference! A good mic makes a big difference too. Ultimately I went to a 24" kick and the mic became overkill and got phased out.
 
Tune it a bit higher. the low end gets lost when you jam with a band.. if you can hear your snares and toms it's the bottom that gets lost.

I have not been able to hear snare and toms.. THAT is jamming too loud.

Short of a mic / monitors or in ears etc. Turning down helps too.

When the band turns down remember those cymbals are freaking loud and so is the snare.. so you may have to dial back the hands a bit.
 
What heads do you have on the drum? I have found that Aquarian Superkicks are noticeably quieter than heads like a Remo Powerstroke 3.
 
I question micing a bass drum in a small room. Like others have said, try tuning the batter a little tighter, try a different batter or beater and, if you can, lay into your bass drum a little more.

I play in a power trio, the standard bass, drums and guitar. We're a pretty loud band, but I don't have any problem hearing any of the instruments or any of my drums, simply because we make sure to get a balanced sound before each rehearsal.

We start with me playing quarter notes on the bass drum at regular volume. Once I'm comfortable and consistent with my sound, the bass player joins in by playing his A string, and only his A string, in unison with my bass drum, and adjusts his volume accordingly. Then the guitar player joins in playing A chords in unison with me and the bass player. Once all three of our instruments are balanced, we start a little jam while the bass player and guitar player add their vocals. It's quick and it's easy. Once done, our volume is set and we rarely have to adjust anything during our rehearsal.

Another thing you may want to think about is the layout of your rehearsal space. I know very little about this (and electronics, mic'ng, sound, etc.), except that the layout of your amps, drums, PA, etc. can affect what you hear. Have you considered that?
 
Jeeezz Louise! Just stick a mic in the thing already. Your getting nothing but anti advice. "Don't do it" or "Have you tried different heads". I've done it and it works. It's eq'd and entirely adjustable. You'll spend less on a good used mic than changing bass drum heads.
 
why would guitars be cranked for rehearsals. Sounds like Rock Star wanna be's
 
Drums mic'd in a small rehearsal room?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you guys are playing too loud.

If you can't hear the kick, you certainly can't hear the vocals. And, in a few years, you won't be able to hear anything except for the constant ringing 24 hours a day :)
 
Jeeezz Louise! Just stick a mic in the thing already. Your getting nothing but anti advice. "Don't do it" or "Have you tried different heads". I've done it and it works. It's eq'd and entirely adjustable. You'll spend less on a good used mic than changing bass drum heads.

So if the volume is a problem in the practice space, the volume will most likely be a problem in some venues. You can't always mic drums in some venues, so I'm offering suggestions to increase his volume which will work in a wide variety of scenarios.
 
Jeeezz Louise! Just stick a mic in the thing already. Your getting nothing but anti advice. "Don't do it" or "Have you tried different heads". I've done it and it works. It's eq'd and entirely adjustable. You'll spend less on a good used mic than changing bass drum heads.

On the other hand you'll be happier if you play with plank wankers who understand that there is such a thing as an appropriate volume level for the room/situation.

Amplifiers do not always need to be turned all the way up to eleventy bajillion.
 
On the other hand you'll be happier if you play with plank wankers who understand that there is such a thing as an appropriate volume level for the room/situation.

Amplifiers do not always need to be turned all the way up to eleventy bajillion.

Yup, not even to rock out hard.
 
Drums mic'd in a small rehearsal room?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you guys are playing too loud.

If you can't hear the kick, you certainly can't hear the vocals. And, in a few years, you won't be able to hear anything except for the constant ringing 24 hours a day :)
Yeah, we are loud but i use shooter's ear plugs, so no ringing!The band leader wanted drums mic'd because he couldn't hear them over the other guitars.
So if the volume is a problem in the practice space, the volume will most likely be a problem in some venues. You can't always mic drums in some venues, so I'm offering suggestions to increase his volume which will work in a wide variety of scenarios.
We have this problem at gigs but the sound guy is not subtle..
 
I think Bo might be on to something with the maturity idea. The last few bands I've been in, have rehearsed without mega volume levels. At first I had trouble playing at a lower level, but after a while it felt good. Also someone mentioned that the band will get tighter. I think that is true also. I can play in quieter venues now while still rocking out. Something I couldn't do when I was in bands that played real loud all the time. I've never liked to tune my kick up higher, but it really does help. If you're playing metal you'll need the rebound anyway. Tell them everyone says to turn down. This is a world wide forum, so the whole world is saying, turn down!!!! lol.
 
Yeah, we are loud but i use shooter's ear plugs, so no ringing!The band leader wanted drums mic'd because he couldn't hear them over the other guitars.

We have this problem at gigs but the sound guy is not subtle..

Ok, well there you go. If you enjoy that environment, best of luck to you!!
 
So, you can't hear your kick because the amps are too loud (probably trying to compensate for the volume of your snare) so you put in ear plugs and turn up the kick?? You are in a volume war and there are no real winners.

Earplugs at rehearsal always seemed counter productive to me. You need to hear to learn to play dynamically. I was trying to coach a friend's son while he was playing in his band. I tried to tell him to ease up on the snare a bit but he couldn't hear me because he had ear plugs in :)

My advice would be to go back to the beginning and start over. The loudest part of your kit will be the snare/crashes. Don't hit the snare as hard as you can, in the center, if its tuned tight. Then mix in the amps at an appropriate level. The music doesn't have to be louder than a loud stereo to get all the sustain and fullness that you need.

Play without plugs until you get a decent mix that everyone agrees on. Then, leave the settings alone play with the appropriate force and THEN put in your earplugs if it's over 110 db.
 
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On the other hand you'll be happier if you play with plank wankers who understand that there is such a thing as an appropriate volume level for the room/situation.

Amplifiers do not always need to be turned all the way up to eleventy bajillion.

I agree with this totally. Getting dynamics from guitarists can be difficult (often/at best). A loud bass drum though, is not the enemy. I"ve played with a band that over powered my snare. Putting a mic on it sure got their attention! They got it after that and turned down. A little BD reinforcement is all i was advocating for the OP.
 
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