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[Carey Davies]

AndrewY. wrote on Sun, 02 October 2005 05:03

we recently bought drum mics, but the kick bass sounds horrible. Its ahrd to exaplin in word but heres a shot. its a thummmmmp, not the bomb bomb. i was wundering if there are common solutions for this problem.

If you listen to the sound of the kick drum near the mic does it sound the same thummmmmp you describe? Perhaps the drum could be better tuned? Ask the drummer to hit the kick a bit harder while you listen. Does it sound any better?

Another idea... With the channel EQ set flat, record the kick channel direct output to cassette, CD, minidisc or anything you have around, and listen to it later on headphones and local speakers, even a hifi system. That eliminates the PA system and room acoustics from the equation. Does the recording sound the same or better?

You say the mic is placed in the hole. Is it on a stand pointing through the hole, or is it inside the drum resting on a pillow or something?

As others have suggested... Check the mic is correctly positioned with its pickup head facing the beater (some mics can be confusing as to which is the front). If it is inside the drum, make sure it is resting on a blanket, pillow or something soft. Often these help damp the boominess inside the instrument. Check the channel EQ. Flat is a good place to start. Boosting LF (bass) is not usually a good idea. You may find a little cut of the LM band between 200 and 300Hz may reduce some of the 'mmmm', and a few dB boost of HM around 2kHz or higher, and HF may enhance the beater click. But this varies according to many factors.

It should be possible to get a reasonably good sound before considering adding compression. The compressor may fatten the sound, but should not be expected to fix problems with the acoustic source or mic placement. ADding a noise gate is another option when you can't get rid of a long ring (tail) after the kick is hit.

Probably your best tools in this case are your ears next to the instrument and a drummer willing to tune his kit.
Regards,
Carey

[Jim Duyck]

Buy an Evans EMAD batter head.

Put it on.

Tune the drum.  

If the drummer is young and doesn't know how, find someone who does.

The D6 is a great mic.  It's got a great frequency response curve out of the box.  So, like other people said, start with the EQ flat.  

Try different mic positions and listen to the difference they make in the system.

Don't go boosting at 40 Hz on the house EQ to get more out of the kick.  The meat's at around 80 Hz.  The boom that rings out tends to hang out at around in that 150-300 Hz area.  The attack is at around 5k.  Boosting there might help bring it up in the mix.

Maybe consider a nice gate to put on it to help with excessive ring.

Lots of good advice on the thread already.  I know I just repeated some of it.

[Adam Kane]

This may or may not be part of the problem...

I've used those Mackie subs twice and in both instances, they didn't strike me as a "tight" sounding sub.  Sort of sloppy and woofy.

Depending on the size of the room and the volume you require, you may be asking too much of those subs.

Just my thoughts

[Rory Buszka]

The subs are  probably NOT part of the problem

We use some ancient Peavey RBS-1 ("Bandpass" cabinets which in this case are designed to use the resonant action of the vents to actually add gain to the sound, resulting in sloppy, woofy bass) and we still get great kick drum because we know how to adjust an EQ. I think that once these people A) determine that the drum itself is not the problem, and sounds the way by itself that they want to hear it through the system and B) learn how to set an EQ properly, they will be able to realize the kick drum sound they want. You don't solve experience problems by throwing money at nicer equipment, because better equipment does not necessarily impart better mixing ability. That is, unless the stuff is _really_ bad. I have heard Mackie subs sound good on many occasions in a variety of venues. Just make sure you have enough sub for your application.

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