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Author Topic: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!  (Read 30193 times)

daxliniere

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Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« on: February 12, 2009, 02:45:38 AM »

Hey guys,
My name's Dax and I run Puzzle Factory Sound Studio in Sydney, Australia.

Fellow engineer and friend of mine, Chad Halford (aka DangerousC), and I were talking about how, for many years, we wished there was a shootout of kick drum mics.
So I said, let's just do it ourselves!
We've both benefitted immensely from other people's shootouts, so this is our chance to give a little lovin' back.

So now, we proudly present to you a shootout of 11 microphones!

Audio:
http://www.kaleidoscopesoundworks.com/kicks/Kick%20Mic%20Sho otout%20Photos.rar

Photos:
http://www.kaleidoscopesoundworks.com/kicks/Kickdrum%20mic%2 0shootout%20FLAC.rar


THE list:
AKG D112 (forward and reversed)
Audio-Technica AE 2500 (2 channels)
Audix D6
Sennheiser e901
Beyer M88
Heil PR30
Heil PR40
JTS NX2 (Beta52 copy)
Sennheiser MD421-U5
Sennheiser MD421-II (vintage)
Shure Beta52

NOTES:
*Tracks recorded were kick, snare and overheads in stereo with no processing.
*Snare mic was Beyer M69
*Overhead mics were Audio-Technica AT4047
*Drumkit used was Brady Fibreglass, with 22" kick
*Recordings were also done with a Yamaha 20" DP Series kick, but it sounded so lousy, we only did a few tests, then abandoned it. (There are 3 samples included)
*Both kick drums were carefully tuned before recording
*D6 & e901 were used simultaneously as this would be a more common usage than e901 alone.
*Sorry, we forgot to take photos of the M88 in use.
*Files are encoded as FLACs - use a host that natively supports them (Samplitude, etc) or convert to WAVs (google: FLAC)

(Please don't complain that your favourite is not on the list. We tried to get as many as we possibly could, some of which we had to hire.)

Dax Liniere

PUZZLE FACTORY
SOUND STUDIO
Sydney, Australia

p: +61 412 599 533
www.puzzlefactory.com.au - now with VR!
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Dax Liniere

PUZZLE FACTORY
SOUND STUDIO
Canberra, Australia

p: +61 412 599 533
www.puzzlefactory.com.au
www.MixDirection.com

Tom L

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2009, 01:43:21 PM »

and here you go...

nuthin fancy but you can download from here:

http://www.kaleidoscopesoundworks.com/kicks/

Knastratt

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2009, 04:30:21 PM »

Thanks, Tom.

I'm currently shopping for a kick mic. The Beta 52 seems to fit my sound ideal. I'll throw in an SM7 as well while trying.

/P
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Bruno Gouveia

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2009, 05:31:36 PM »

But hey, the question is sound changes with mic position, meaning that you can practically have a great bass drum sound with virtually any professional(condenser?) microphone.. But I admit there are microphones easier to work with, meaning that we can get faster to a good result.

daxliniere

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2009, 03:46:23 AM »

Thanks to Tom for generously hosting those files! Smile
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Dax Liniere

PUZZLE FACTORY
SOUND STUDIO
Canberra, Australia

p: +61 412 599 533
www.puzzlefactory.com.au
www.MixDirection.com

George_

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2009, 01:25:53 AM »

thanx for the shootout!

try to position the audix D6 more to the beater and you will have the best kickdrumsound ever recorded Wink at least it works for me.. 99% of the time. it sounds quite shitty on this tracks.
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George Necola

tom eaton

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2009, 08:34:25 AM »

I own a bunch of the usual suspects and the only thing that works reliably time after time for me is a Beta 91 in the drum and a Subkick outside.  Printed to two tracks it allows the balance of click to boom to be tailored by the song... otherwise I'd be changing kick mics all the time during basics sessions.  Other mics that I have (Beta 52, D6, TGX50, Beyer M99/M88, PR40, etc.) all seem to work well for a particular kick for a particular song or session, but I would never say that one of them gets me the best sound every time.

The D6 in particular seems very specific to me in terms of the sound it gives me... tending to make different kicks sound very similar.  

tom

Knastratt

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2009, 12:57:41 PM »

I have a Lowther PM6 laying around - I'll certainly try that for a subkick!
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audiohhh

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2009, 08:38:30 PM »

where's the ATM25 in this list?  That's my go to.
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mr jason

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2009, 10:40:57 PM »

Yes, my goto is the ATM25 too. I use it for all kinds of music, on all kinds of kits, as well as on bass guitar and floortoms, and it's always useable with minimum effort & EQ, both in the studio and at gigs.

By the way, does anyone know if the XLR on these are hotglued in or something like that? I need to get mine apart as there appears to be a dodgy connection inside (happened at a recent gig), but after tightening the holding screw (the screw works backwards) to allow the XLR to come out, it doesn't come out. I've pulled it with needlenose plyers, but don't want to force it.

I've also unscrewed the head basket, but it looks like to take the mic out of the metal body I'd have to maybe force it out with some molegrips..

Anybody taken an ATM25 apart?
Any tips are appreciated, as I love this mic.

Thanks,
Jason

jimmyjazz

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2009, 05:50:28 PM »

Well, whaddayaknow?  I have an ATM25 and I've never used it on kick.  I've parked it on a few snare drums, but it never occured to me to try it elsewhere.  Kind of an underwhelming mic, but maybe now it has a home.  Thanks!
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tom eaton

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2009, 12:39:50 AM »

Underwhelming?  I have 4 ATM25s.  Love them on toms.  HUGE sound.  Not my fave on kick, but absolutely not a bad choice!

t

Miguel M

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2009, 04:33:26 PM »

Nice shootout!

I'd like to see the Sennheiser 441 there too!!
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George_

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2009, 02:58:20 AM »

hm.. most of my kickdrum sound is coming from room mics and such..

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George Necola

littlehat

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Re: Kick drum mic shootout - 11 mics head to head!
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2009, 11:34:30 PM »

I've used most of the mics mentioned and now that I have a D12...

Well I don't even think about it anymore.
No EQ, no attitude. Sounds great on every kick it meets.
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