18x14 bass drum not only to jazz?

It depends on how much you need. If you're miking up all the time, you can go with a 16" bass drum if you like. But if you need to fill up the bottom end and there is no sound system, the 18 would be a little small. You could make it work, but then you could be defeating yourself when a bigger drum would make your life so much easier. All those hits Bernard Purdie played on were with an 18 bass drum, but he was mic'd all the time.

True, mics and sound systems make drum size irrelevant. Heck, many people play on e-kits that have no resonant qualities at all! Most drummers will play unmiked anyway a lot of the time, so an 18 should be fine. I've been playing almost 30 years and I've never, ever heard anyone ask the drummer to play louder.
 
Question: How do you guys mic a bass drum with no hole?

Isn't it very difficult to get the attack that way?

You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that said. Microphones are transducers which change mechanical vibrations into a very small electrical current. If they are good quality microphones they'll do just that with very little manipulation to to the sources frequency response that is entering the mic, so even being amplified, an 18" drum should sound exactly like the 18" before a microphone was ever introduced. There are multiple things that can shape the sound, but that's really not the responsibility of the microphone itself. So by very deliberate positioning of the microphone, anything can be amplified, go to tape or hard drive or whatever. Some microphones work better at picking-up some sound sources than others, but they are all work basically the same way. I own ported resonant heads, but hardly ever use them because I like the sound and feel of my drums unported. Most microphones used for miking the front head of the bass drums are usually a dynamic coil microphone, but I have in many cases used condenser microphones if the studio has what I want.

All situations are not exactly the same, you must use your experience and above all your ears when positioning microphones.When miking the resonant head, I'll position the microphone about 1 inch in from the edge of the hoop. This way the cardioid pick-up pattern of the mic will see across the entire area of the head and not just one concentrated spot. I always use a microphone with little or no proximity effect so that it will not muddy up the low frequency energy from the bass drum. Heads, tuning, the microphone and its placement and the room all contribute to the overall sounds of the drums.

Yes, you can get great sounds, even without a hole.

DSC_0222-1.jpg


Dennis
 
I've been playing almost 30 years and I've never, ever heard anyone ask the drummer to play louder.

Perhaps I was being too jazzy, but I did play a rock n roll bar once and the patrons wanted to know if I could play louder. True - you never hear that one everyday. After that, I'll just bring in my own PA system too ;)
 
You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that said. Microphones are transducers which change mechanical vibrations into a very small electrical current. If they are good quality microphones they'll do just that with very little manipulation to to the sources frequency response that is entering the mic, so even being amplified, an 18" drum should sound exactly like the 18" before a microphone was ever introduced. There are multiple things that can shape the sound, but that's really not the responsibility of the microphone itself. So by very deliberate positioning of the microphone, anything can be amplified, go to tape or hard drive or whatever. Some microphones work better at picking-up some sound sources than others, but they are all work basically the same way. I own ported resonant heads, but hardly ever use them because I like the sound and feel of my drums unported. Most microphones used for miking the front head of the bass drums are usually a dynamic coil microphone, but I have in many cases used condenser microphones if the studio has what I want.

All situations are not exactly the same, you must use your experience and above all your ears when positioning microphones.When miking the resonant head, I'll position the microphone about 1 inch in from the edge of the hoop. This way the cardioid pick-up pattern of the mic will see across the entire area of the head and not just one concentrated spot. I always use a microphone with little or no proximity effect so that it will not muddy up the low frequency energy from the bass drum. Heads, tuning, the microphone and its placement and the room all contribute to the overall sounds of the drums.

Yes, you can get great sounds, even without a hole.

DSC_0222-1.jpg


Dennis

I have never cut a hole in any of my drum heads. It seems like cutting a hole in any reso head - tom, snare or bass - would affect the sound. I can see a small hole in the shell to reduce pressure, but why have a reso head if you're going to remove 20 percent of its area?
 
No, but you can make an 18" sound pretty close to a 20"

So then in theory since it sounds like a 20" It should be hard to get it to sound like a 22". And if it sounds like a 22", a 24" isn't out or the realm of possibility. And Since you can get it to sound like a 24" it'd be easy to get it to sound like a 26!! Who knew! An 18" bass drum can sound like a 26!!

That's how it works right?


*ahem*

Yup I have an 18" birch bass drum, and it sounds phenomenal in low volume settings due to its resonance. It really helps fill out the bottom end, and it has great attack to it too!

of course mine is 16" deep, but to answer the title question, No, IMO 18" bass drums are not only for jazz.

-Jonathan
 
So then in theory since it sounds like a 20" It should be hard to get it to sound like a 22". And if it sounds like a 22", a 24" isn't out or the realm of possibility. And Since you can get it to sound like a 24" it'd be easy to get it to sound like a 26!! Who knew! An 18" bass drum can sound like a 26!!

That's how it works right?

No.

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