kick drum mic placement and eq

[Jeff Taylor]

We just replaced our Roland Vdrum set with an accoustic drum set. Everything is fine except I can't get the same punchy bass sound from the kick drum. The mics we are using are Shure DMK 57-52 drum mics (a complete package of mics). On my console I can see the input levels of the kick is much louder than the vdrums were and the channel volume is pushed much louder as well. The kick drum is heard, but not anywhere near what we want. I would like to stay away from EQ as much as possible, but I do want that tight punch that we had with the Vdrum kick.

 

The mic is currently placed just inside the sound hole on the front of the kick with a +9db EQ at 80Hz.

 

What am I missing here?

[Prof.Sound]

In a few words ... "dynamic processing, compression and gates".

 

If you want that heavily V-Drum processed sound, you need to employ a compressor/gate. And while in theory its great to avoid EQ, unless you have a great sounding room and really well tuned drums, you will probably have to resort to some EQ and dynamic processing.

 

I will direct you to this link which is an article wrtten by S.O.S. mag on this specific subject. Worth a read even though it was written basically for the employment of LOGIC Audio. The concepts remain much the same through outboard effects.

 

Also, try pulling the mic to the outside a bit more. If you look at the mic curve, you'll note that the mic has a greater ability to capture the bass if the mic face is able to hear the resonant head. The attack will still register from the outer position. Inside where you have it, it can tend to sound a bit lifless and the hboost may need to be greater than is positioned to grab more of the resonant head.

 

Also, give the link below a read, it also may help.