To port or not to port

i HAVE A 20" Kick unported on a fusion size kit. It sounds awesome micd. I put the Mic on the Batter side and use a big fluffy beater for Swing and Jazz rock . Warm and full but not punchy unless i change to a hard felt beater. It sounds good on the reso side too, but not as punchy and a little more boomy.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
If you like the tone you're getting from an unported kick, then by all means leave it unported. While I'm VERY pro-sound tech, it's sort of their job to mic your kit and make it sound as good as possible in the house. They have to deal with a variety of guitar amps, guitars, noisy pedals, bass rigs, keyboards, etc., why is the kick such a big deal to EQ, compress, etc.? It's their job.

With that said, I always mic my kick drum at every gig. In addition, I always bury the beater like an unrefined Neanderthal. Because of these things, I always port my front head. However, some of the absolute best kick drum sounds I've ever heard on YouTube were from unported kicks.

Throw on your best ear-goggles and listen to this. It's perfect.

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Sounds stupendous. Sounds like Billy Ward or John Bonham circa 1970 with those big ol ludwigs…and no ports. Not a bad sound to shoot for at all
 
I use a Kelly Shu but don't want to do the XLR thing, plus sometimes the mic mount needs adjusting (low frequency rumble loosens the... um, round washer-nut that tightens the mic into position), so I port the front head. Acoustically, I prefer unported, and if I ever get a decent mic mount to mic from the outside (I don't like using a stand), I'll probably go for that- because, I once mic'd the ported front head from just off-center and opposite from the port hole, and just as I expected, it sounded like an unported head, albeit with less sustain, which was an added benefit.

Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
For my jazz/country band,I use a 22x16 55 Ludwig, unported. Remo P3 Fiberskyn on batter/Remo white custom logo head on front . It has a small towel that I get up against the reso head by tipping the drum up just a bit before final placement

We mic it from the batter side using a D-112. I aim the mic right at where the beater is hitting the head for the country gigs, and we get a real good mix of attack and sustain

for the jazz gigs (low volume/mostly brushes type stuff) we use the same mic, but aim it more towards the center between the beater and the head

then I just give the end of the mic cord to the sound guy. i very rarely get complaints

also, some sound guys will mic it from the front b/c they know how to get the sound they want that way
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Do you EQ the snare wire sound out of the signal? Or, just consider it a happy accidental way to pick it up without using a mic on the bottom snare head? I've often considered trying to mic it from the batter side, but figured the snare is the main reason people don't.
 
timmdrum said:
Do you EQ the snare wire sound out of the signal? Or, just consider it a happy accidental way to pick it up without using a mic on the bottom snare head? I've often considered trying to mic it from the batter side, but figured the snare is the main reason people don't.
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we don't eq it out. It does sort of become "ambient" resonant sound, but honestly, it doesn't come through the mic much at all. I have never had a sound guy even mention it now that I think about it
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
we don't eq it out. It does sort of become "ambient" resonant sound, but honestly, it doesn't come through the mic much at all. I have never had a sound guy even mention it now that I think about it
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Ya, snares are supposed to rattle. Makes the other drums sound cool and not dull. Only time it sucks is if you’re doing an a cappella song…or one with just vocals and no instruments ;)
 
I have a 20" kick. It originally sounded a bit muffled.I decided to port it. IMHO, it projects a lot more now. It's more of a boom, than a thud. I also use a Vic Firth fuzzy beater. It helps quiet my jazz kicks.
 
JimmyM said:
Ya, snares are supposed to rattle. Makes the other drums sound cool and not dull. Only time it sucks is if you’re doing an a cappella song…or one with just vocals and no instruments ;)
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yep...and then i just turn them off...but it is interesting how the sympathetic resonance of the snares become a part of the other drums that you don't really notice until they are off.
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
yep...and then i just turn them off...but it is interesting how the sympathetic resonance of the snares become a part of the other drums that you don't really notice until they are off.
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I used to have an Alesis HR16 that I had to artificially add snare rattles to the toms because the toms sounded awful without it. Fortunately there was a sound I could add in it.
 
Small port for me (size of a balled up hand)...mic and padding changes......"Is Starboard" an option.?"
But a 16"....NO. An 18".....probably not. A 20X16 Blaemire can handle a small port.
 
JimmyM said:
I used to have an Alesis HR16 that I had to artificially add snare rattles to the toms because the toms sounded awful without it. Fortunately there was a sound I could add in it.
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yeah...I have had a couple of studio sessions where they wanted me to record my snare seperate from the rest of the set to get rid of that resonance, and I really fought it. (It was engineers I was on friendly terms with). The toms and kick sounded so dull without that extra sizzle.

funny that someone thought to sample/program in "snare sympathetic resonance"....
 
JimmyM said:
I used to have an Alesis HR16 that I had to artificially add snare rattles to the toms because the toms sounded awful without it. Fortunately there was a sound I could add in it.
Click to expand...

When I worked in a studio it was a standard trick for making programmed dtums sound more real: run the track through a speaker sat next to a snare drum & mic up the rattle. Instant “real kit ambience “ on its own separate fader on the desk.

:)
 
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