What's your go to microphone(s) and placement??

What really makes the kick drum sound (to me) is what comes out of it in the overheads and room mics

Top tip: make sure you replace your kick drum resonant head regularly. It's arguably the drum that gets hit the most, but a lot of drummers don't want to lose the logo head on the resonant side or feel it doesn't affect the sound that much. However it does lose its elasticity over time, and that does have an effect on the sound. I was recording a band last year whose drummer hadn't replaced it in 15+ years. It was flat and papery sounding, missing any weight and depth to the sound. Swapped out the reso, and all the low end and warmth came back.

I use a shure PG 52 inside the kick, WA 47jr on the outside about 20-30cm away from the reso head and I also use a DIY sub kick mic mounted to a snare stand I made out of an old 7in monitor woofer. When I added the Sub mic it made the low end magical. I get phase and levels right and send them to a bus where i do my processing

Ended up recording drums once where the kick had an AKG D112 close to the batter side inside the kick, and a Behringer BA 19a boundary mic about 2 feet in front of the kick on the floor. Gave a serious amount of attack while also a solid punch and image of the kick. Definitely going to be utilizing it in the future. Awesome video man!

Thanks, exactly what I needed to learn.

Yep. And when you space the outside mic from the inside mic just right, they'll be in phase/time aligned. I made a jig mic stand that both were mounted on. That way I kept the phase.

In my experience miking in the center of the kick yields a weaker sound. Inside mic I like off to the side pointed at the beater with a beta52. Outside mic about 6 inches away from the head and about 4-5 inches left of center with a large diaphragm condenser.

Pure respect. thanks again. You got a new follower

Subkick. Without a sub, it's hard to get that beefy fat sound of the kick. Then you compress that and add it to the front and beater mics. Altogether, you feed it to external sidechain for compression (I like to use 1176) and then blend it to the drums mix.

I use an 18" Yamaha Kick drum with Powerstroke 3 batter head with u87 clone pointed at the batter next to the beater contact point (Felt beater). Then I blend it with a Mxl R144 ribbon out front at various distances with resonant head off and a towel for dampening inside drum touching batter head. If I'm not happy with that then I'll sometimes use a Beta 52a just inside the shell for a third option to blend. Between the 3 I get fat and clear signal to blend.

one of the best kick sounds I ever got was a 57 inside (highpassed at 80HZ) and a Oktava 012 about a foot in front of the kick. Sounded exactly like the kick drum. No idea why I never see people use SDC on kick... it rules.

I love that sound of 18" kick, thank you for that tips

Best video on the subject I've found

If you ever get the time it would be cool to hear the differences in a mix.

D112 in, about 6'' off the beater (try a couple '' above the beater also to differentiate the kick's signature from floor toms and negate snare bounce-back off the floor) then a E/V ND46 on the beater side same distance with phase flipped pointed dead-on to the beater/head contact point. Then bring in a condenser from in front (I go a little farther than most, around 1' out and at least 4'' away from the port!!! play with these distances to get them in-phase with the beater-side ND46). The beater side mic is crucial for the Bonham slap thing. Listen back to any Zep album and it's super clear there's a beater side mic because he always used the same squeaky kick pedal that would only come through beater side. It's there in LZ 1 all the way to In Through The Out Door. Without that and the right amount of fast compression (~8ms attack / ~ 40ms release) on it you get no SCHWACK! A head is a head is a head is a head is a head, don't go thinking the kick head is some different beast just because it's bigger, its surface hits are just as important as any other drum when it comes to the perception of punch/slap. Play with that setup for a while (couple hours until you zero in on it) and you will be rewarded. Try it live at your own risk, I advise against it unless you KNOW about stage monitor phase issues and multi-mic'ing for foh. In studio, it's a must.

Funny AND informative, thanks again

That 18 sounds beast bro hope you didn't get rid of that one! Nice vid 👍👍

Yep, I have to use 2 mics on my bass drum. I use a Shure Beta 52a inside and a Shure SM7b outside. It sounds awesome!.!

That SJC kick sounds massive!

Micing the batter head near the rim is a good way to utilise 1 mic. Gets a good full sound, and adjusting the angle gives you a different ratio of tone to attack, just gotta tune the kick well. Very versatile sound imo.

I finally smashed the like button. I only did that cause you said the most important thing. THE INSTRUMENT HAS TO SOUND GOOD FROM THE START!

I like doing something similar to what you mention here. If you use a figure 8 condenser instead of a cardioid (and maybe place it a little further), you will get a killer kick drum sound. This will also depend on how the room sounds, but if the room is fine, you will get a much deeper sound.

Would be cool to see a video where you craft different kick tones suitable for different styles, tempos

Def thought that was a 20” x14” slingerland kick, but I’ve def used my 18” for a punchy traditional kick sound

Andy its so hard these days with the slate triggers SD3 etc but I love the content bro ... Please keep making vids they are rad and so are you my man ..

try an e602II, the response curve is basically what you would EQ a typical kickdrum to anyway, without the freq-dependent phase-shift. (or, a considered phase response across bandwidth) I found the Beta52's response curve to not align with many usable results (and with an extreme notch in the "wrong" place, lots of corrective EQ required). I found the D112 to have too much midrange and require a lot of scooping, and, of course the SM57 lacked bass and had a honking midrange that was very un-kick-drum-like. Obviously this is subjective, but considered across various styles of kick drums and their setups, and various genres, I feel that the Sennheiser e602II is the best kick drum mic from the common industry choices on offer. When in front of the sound hole, I had to cut bass, whereas in the INSIDE position aimed at the batter head, it "just works". I've used this with a PDP 22", a Tama Swingstar 22", and despite their physical differences, the mic captures the essential kick part of the sound. If anything, it's a bit the sound of the mic, rather than the drum, which could be consistent, and yet it sits so nicely in the mix everytime. I guess they have some notion of what they are building, although it is also used on horns and guitar cabinets,FWIW...

Nice

Great comparison. I am liking D112 more and more. Maybe I'm just tired with my b52a

Using a ribbon helps; it can be done with the aid of a pop filter. This is how they mic'd the kick at Motown, according to Bob Ohlsson. The modern philosophy seems to align with a very "pingy" kick drum sound, but IMHO this comes at the expense of the listener's ability to perceive the sub-bass frequencies--a big problem when you consider the kick is the only instrument in a typical mix that can truly reproduce these frequencies within its normal register. It will require EQ to bring out the attack and subdue the 100hz mud but it is well worth the effort because it captures the true sub-bass frequencies much cleaner than a condenser--the type of transformer used in the WA87 and most 87 type fet mics has small cores that saturate at bass frequencies when hit with high level (like that of a close-miked kick), producing distortion, poor phase coherence, and severely curtailed response. Ribbons are simple to make if you're the DIY type, cheap to buy, and if you are using it as a kick mic the shitty transformers used in low end ribbons are not a big deal because you're not using the top end.

Do you find much difference in sound for having the 18 on the floor rather than a riser? Does the short beater length not bother you for feel?

Great video, in addition to this I would say the key to a great recording starts with the musician, no matter what the instrument. Even on the same drums, someone like Vinnie will sound a million times better playing the same simple pattern than your average player because of how they hit each drum with confidence and an even touch. Then as you say, start with the instrument sounding good to your ears before even thinking of mic choice etc Thanks for the video, really enjoyed it 👍🏻

For those of us who can't throw $500 at a secondary kick mic, could you get a similar increase in detail using a generic budget LDC (say, a T.Bone SC400)? We're not capturing a piano here, after all; a kick is just a short transient.

Your kick sounds great! Do you phase allign the inside and outside kick? Any favorite mixing moves on kick?

Man how is possible you don't have tons of subs?! Great videos! Hi From Italy!

What's your thoughts on micing the batter head on the beater side

SM57 inside (close to the beater) and D112 looking into the hole.

What about the style or type of beater?

Bone Mic is where it's at. With a ribbon. God bless Tchad Blake

I think it sounds too plinky if the kick mic is centered in the drum. Too many resonance waves colliding. I like my Beta52 about halfway between the centerpoint and the rim and 6" away from the skin for most styles. Maybe a little closer to the beaters and 4" away if it is heavy on blast beats. I also built a subkick mic for the resonant head. They sound awesome blended. Otherwise I would use an omni or ldc on the reso head maybe 6-12" away. Gotta play with the field. The sound wave doesn't really develop until it is about a foot away from the drum.

Those '70s 14in deep kicks were awesome. I used to play in a band with a drummer that have a 14x22in Slingerland kick. It sounded so good. Is that a clear power stroke you're using on both batter sides?

Could someone help explain the kick drum sound and low end balance with the bass on Khruangbin’s album Con Todo El Mundo?

awesome video, thanks. do you know how to use Digital Performer by MOTU?

Is that slingerland actually 18"? Sounds awesome. How low are you tuning your kick drum heads? How much dampening inside? Thanks!

what about the expensive preamp for that expensive mic api 1073 avalon etc

Shure 91A inside, AKG D112 at the port, U47 or AKG4047 or your favorite LDC outside. Never fails.

Best way to mic a kick is like the other elements of the drum.. from the batter side. Have you ever tried it Andrew?

This SJC Kick drum sounds weird regardless of the mic. It has like two sounds in it. The click which is totally separated and artificial sounding + low end mud tail which comes second after the click sound.

What are your tips to get so little bleed on the outside mic?

When you use 2 mics on the kick do you usually have to flip the phase on one of the mics? If so, which mic?

Do you check phase on your 2 kick mics? How and when?

tbh I'm surprised how "thin" that 24" kick sounds with the different mic placements

That 87 looks backwards, what polar pattern is that?

I agree with the guy who has a white t-shirt.

I used 3 mic to record my kick

Need put a pop filter on the kick drum

Had to pause to put on headphones

Andrew, in all your examples of the mic placement you show a kick drum with a port hole. Does that mean you don't even consider a kick drum without a port hole?' Am asking because we recently git a Behringer X32 and want our drummer to make a port hole in his kick drum but he refuses because he says he has seen many yt video's by sound techs stating that port holes cause a horrible click sound and only are used by sound techs who don't know how to EQ / Filter a kick drum properly. But there are also plenty other yt video's that are pro kick port. Confusing....

Inside, Sennheiser e602- Outside, AKG P420....for now.

Get on that sub kick game

Jesus, everyone on the internet is Ryan George these days.

Don't believe the hype. You don't need a port hole in a resonant head. You can get way meatier and fuller bass drum sounds with an intact reso head. If you want more attack, stick a mic (any mic) by the beater too. Try it out.

A properly tuned kick, a mic inside and one outside... dude what does COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED YOUR KICK SOUND exactly? You described an every day kick mic placement that every studio in the world does...

Why don’t we fill the toms with moving quilts too ! And duct tape the strings on the bass and guitars…. We could get rid of ALL of the tone! Yes my comments are a little exaggerated…. But ( in my opinion) we are chasing each other done the path of less and less tone.

But, shitty sounding kick drums can come from good sounding kick drums.

NO….. recording sounds like a real live bass drum… and frankly the world is getting away that crap… 1) I’ve been both a classical / orchestral percussionist which includes playing 48” bass drums with huge bass drum beaters…. And almost NEVER did we mute, muffle or dampen the drum… the natural big round open dark floor…. Is…the…sound…. And just like we claim that the sound of a 1960s guitar amp is Hi Fi….. ITS NOT….. it’s not a lovable sound because the amp is so clean… the sound is lovable because it’s the sound we remember…. Like moms meatloaf that SUCKED…. but you love it because it is MOMS meatloaf…. Now…. We are buying into a dryer and more and more deadened bass drum tone…. THEN WHY BOTHER PAYING 600 damn dollars for a solid oak gold plated toilet that the first thing you do is stuff full of toilet paper and moving quilts. Just get a damn cardboard box out of a dumpster , mic the hell out of it and then layer on effects like McDonalds hides their crap under a pile of ketchup. There is a middle ground… And like politics most drummers and recording techs…. Are WAAAYYYYYYYY beyond middle. In the 60s ( was it the Z Philly sound or mo-town) the P bass added foam under the Crome cover to mute the strings…. That sound is LONNNNG GONE. ARTICULATION…? Ok… sure…. Cardboard box with a mic in it….? Actually I DID do that for rehearsing with a disco band in the 80s… no thank you

Every time I see a D12 I want to post how crappy that mic is. That mic SUCKS! etc.. I look and sound like a stupid troll. I just can't stand it. A Shure SM 57 has better results and control than that crazy, all-over the pace, hot output AKG D112. 2:44 Sound like an ordinary dynamic mic inside. So you can just put a SM57 inside for the attack and a nice Large condenser on the outside. Heck a simple DIY Sub-Mic and a simple SM57 will get you way better result than that D112. And leave your nice WA 87 Condenser mic for vocals. My 2 cents from an old fart.

That WA-87 sounds so poor, like lacking finesse

When you have a sick bass drum and a shit mic.....it sounds shit

Worst intro music possibly ever

sontronics dm-1b is a way better bass drum mic than dpa 4055. sontronics dm-1b is tighter , more open sound and realistic than dpa 4055.sontronics dm-1b captures the whole sound of the bass drum! check this comparison kzfaq.info/get/bejne/erpmqLqg2J_HnI0.html

just get a akg d12 and thank me later.. that 112 sounds awful