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Whats your favourite kick drum mic?

I now have most of a setup to record the early 60's sparkle red Premier drumkit i scored the other day, save the proper kick mic.

I'm using a matched pair of Rode NT-55's as overheads, and a mic on kick, which at the moment is either a Rode NT2 or an SM57. That's it, more a live sound than a multi-mic, gatey, pristine thing.

The kick is set up kinda old school, too - no hole in the front head, only dampers are felt strips stretched between head & shell.

Please, share any thoughts & experiences

audix d6 or heil pr40 are my current favorites. the audio technica atm25, ev re20 and akg d112 are also great choices(i often use the d112). the new shure is pretty good also. all these mics are different in character, it's a very subjective choice, which is "better". if you only have one mic, all these will achieve nice results.

one thing to try, especially if you want a live drum sound, is to move your overheads further out into the room and record stereo xy. you'll get a much better more even, natural sound. the kick and snare mics will then be only for detail. many great tracks have been recorded in this style. one of the most famous is led zep's "levee".

Thanks Gary, kinda thought you would be well versed in this area.

Heil look fantastic - finding them in Oz may be a little difficult, it seems.

I'll try the XY - though my room is a bit small. These NT-55s seem nice at the price - sound good, cardy & omni capsules, 2 pads, 2 HPFs.

Saw a Bonzo re-release kit the other day in Adelaide -

- truly awesome.

Wayne - you ever tried Brady snares? Really nice ones, made in Oz. I've been playing a jarrah (sp?) wood Brady recently, really amazing. Great funk/hip-hop snare

Made here in the West. Sound amazing, heavy to lug!

if you want a heil, i can arrange it, but all the mics mentioned are excellent.

Have you seen these on ebay Australia today/tomorrow? Any use?

http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search ... category0=

woops ... double post

the first(sm91) is a boundry mic. they are mainly for micing a conference table, but can be used for micing almost everything. they are often used for kick drum. they actually mic any flat surface they are on(a table wall or ceiling), but are just placed on a pillow in the drum for a kick drum. a boundry mic for purposes other than kick can be made by removing the grill from a small diaphram condensor mic and getting the capsule as close as possible to a flat surface like a wall or ceiling or hunk of 3/4' plywood. pretty cool for micing a room and getting a nice even reponse...

the beta52 is a great kick mic in the style of the akg d112(it has it's own flavor though...). it would be a very good choice for kick drum, floor tom or bass guitar....

personally, i avoid shure mics like the plague, but then i can be contrary at times. no reason for any to share my predjudice....

I might call you about a PR-40 in a few months, G - when my instrument acquisition stocks are a bit higher at home

Irma has put up with my latest splurge in an honourable & dignified way, even though i promised i wouldn't buy any more mics or instruments

i'd try something like a speaker ripped outta NS10s or even a bass cab just for kicks

Now you're talkin' Michu

Been thinking about that way lately, too.

I use an AKG D112 along with an old subwoofer wired to my mic preamp.

kaboom

sure, an old woofer is an old trick, if you really need all that extra subsonic stuff....

Or buy one of these.

http://www.earthworksaudio.com/32.html

Finally scored an Audix D6 - good call, Gary - this baby was built to boom-boom





Has a "smiley" curve freq response, very good rejection.... no mucking around.

Might be a great tuba/double bass/bass cab mic as well. Happy day!

great kick sound, right out of the box....

great design, I can hear it

Yeah, good piece of work, hub, machined from a block of aluminium.

Sort of tailored for me, really - a simple way to get lo freq to the scope card

Bang 4 buck, too, at $175 US.

What i like especially are it's not-too-fussy placement qualities. As i mentioned above, my kick drums are both no-hole-on-front-skin setups, usually FOH guy will offer to cut one to make his life easier. This mic don't care one way or the other