I first used this kick drum recording technique when we hired Eddie Kramer to teach a workshop for some of our students (which, honestly was a trip and a half – when you’re mic’ing a drum kit and the guy standing next to you says, “So when we were recording D’Yer Mak’er, I had this idea to try something like…” )
Basic set up: Blanket around the kick drum, w/ a condenser mic on the outside and dynamic on the inside. (This isn’t my picture, stole it online, so whoever took it, thanks).
We’re going for a natural, but powerful kick drum sound recording here (the whole thing will sound even better if you have a large, bright, well-diffused room for some good room mics). This recording technique works well for Rock, R&B, Gospel, Alternative, and sometimes funk. The vibe of the kick drum sound depends on the balance between you inside and outside mics, as well as the room mics to a small extent. This sound is a little too lose and not “clicky” enough for metal, but you can still use some of the technique from the inside microphone placement for more agressive, cutting sounds.
Note: Don’t forget to search for drum mixing as well for when you’re recording drums. Planning ahead is a sign of a good audio engineer.
You need two microphones: One large diaphragm dynamic mic and one large diaphragm condenser mic. Personally, I don’t like the D112, but that’s just me. A lot of people do. The kick drum sound I like has a little more skin on the high end, so for the dynamic microphone I tend to pull a Sennheiser e602 dynamic mic for the inside (inexpensive, too). For the condenser you get get away with just about anything that has a cardioid polar pattern and a pad. Budget mics that work are the Studio Projects C1 or Rode NT2. Step up a little w/ a Neumann TLM103 (which further away from the kick will give a bit more natural tone than the others).
You also need three shortie mic stands and some gaffers tape. Two stands for the microphones, one sand to prop up your blanket, and the tape to stick the other end of the blanket to the kick drum (or to “tie” it around the rack tom poll).
For the inside mic: don’t be afraid to take off the drum head. Doing that helps keep some of he resonance down, and you can get the inside mic closer to the beater for a sharper attack. Also use weight, add some mass to that thing by putting a sandbag or similar inside; that helps tighten up the sound a little (paint can, hunk of metal, an old amplifier, etc. – personally I prefer solid items rather than sand bags they don’t absorb the sound so much as augment it, which is what you want). We’re not going for an 808 or a jazz kick here, we’re looking for a tight and powerful “tttthhhhhumppp” sound.
Microphone Inside the Kick Drum (dynamic): OFF AXIS (not at a 90 degree angle w/ the drum skin,). The tone will change further away from center of the skin, so try a couple different placements closer and further from the edge. This mic gives you the attack and power behind the kick drum. The boominess of the low end will also decrease (very slightly, we are talking a kick drum, here) as you pull the mic further away from the skin (proximity effect).
Microphone Outside the Kick Drum (condenser): Start about 10 inches off the ground, 10-24 inches from the edge of the drum. You also don’t have to point straight at the drum. If you have a hardwood floor, for example, pointing it down might brighten it up a little bit. This mic gives you the natural tone of the drum as well as the lower mids through what I would call the “cardboard” attack sound in your recording (hitting cardboard with a stick, as compared to a rubber attach that sound like hitting a car tire with a stick… there’s a difference). You can also play with reversing the phase of this signal (not while recording, just during the mix). Depending on the blend, that will impact the total power of the low frequencies.
Blanket the whole thing. Put that third shortie mic stand up as a T and drape the blanket across it up to the drum (as above in the photo). You will still get bleed into the condenser microphone, but the blanket cuts a lot of it down, plus the bleed won’t be a much of a problem in the overall drum mix once all the other mics are brought in to dominate the bleed.
Always remember while mixing: don’t pan the darn things. Both are straight up center. Keep the purpose of each mic in mind: they are a team. One for attack and power, and one for the natural tone and smoother attack as it sound in a room rather than in a recording.
Also always remember that the outside mic will never sound “amazing” on its own b/c it will have the outside bleed and not have the huge thump and power that you’re used to hearing for a kick drum recording. But it’s PURPOSE is to blend with the inside so that you have natural tone AND power at the same time. So blend them together at different levels, compress and EQ them separately (because the inside sound will need very different settings compressor and EQ settings than the outside), and work them in w/ the overall mix until you’re happy.
