Bass drum Mic help

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:45 pm

Okay, so I painted the bass head on my set (don't use acryllic or anything from a regular store, the paint will just flake off!) but there might be a problem: There's no hole in my head (of the drum...of the drum). Now a sound guy at our last show said I NEED one and recommended setting a Coke can on a stove util piping hot and burning a hole in my head. This person may have been on drugs at the time, so I'm confused.

Drummers: Do you NEED a sound hole in your bass head? Is burning one with a can recommended? (it just doesn't seem the right way to do it to me) If not, how then?

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:24 pm

You don't need anything..but it will both sound different, and play different depending on what you do. When I first cut a whole in the drum head, many years ago, I was shocked at the difference in rebound control. I always put one in (I use an exacto knife myself... but burn away if it works...seems risky) anway, I put one there because for live gigs, you just don't get the same sound without it. However, you could ...could mount a mic inside the drum... if you don't use your tomtom mount ( I don't cause it stresses the shell... I'm a weenie that way) you can rig up a mic holder there...and then position the mic where you think you want it.. it's a pain for adjustments, but then you could have the best of both worlds. Personally, I like the tone of the hole cut out...just about 6-8 inches, dead center. I've tried off centre, and it worked fine as well, but lately I've been buying Evans ..or is it aquarium? Some such ting with a pre-fab cut out hole...sounds great...punchy, you get that slapback tone, it sounds deeper and fatter...at least, in my world it does!!

Oh yeah... to use the knife, place a coffee can or some such thing on the head where you want the hole. Trace it with the knife VERY FUCKIN SLOWLY!!! YOU do not want to slip. And use very slight pressure...it's better to take a long time doing this than to screw it up. Start with a small hole that will accept your mic, then make it bigger if you like...you'll notice less change in the play of your pedal that way. Also, if you're used to no hole, you may want to put it off center.

IN FACT!! Get another head, cut a hole, and make sure you like it and all that first before screwing up the painted one!!

.... and yeah.

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:24 pm

Don't know about the method, but if you're going to mic it (D12) you need a whole hole. Or You can get a set of clip on mics, and possibly might get away without a hole.

Me$$iah · Post by **Me$$iah** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:43 pm

A whole hole??
just out of interest wats a half hole look like

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:46 pm

Me$$iah wrote:A whole hole??
just out of interest wats a half hole look like

Much like the sound of one hand clapping

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:43 pm

A hole is not necessary. Sound guys tend to think everything HAS to be a certain way, where 'certain way' is the first way they ever did it/saw it/ was told to do it. Sound guys hate changing up their routine.

I know this, I am one.

But yeah, leave your drum how it is, and tell him to quit being a whiny bitch and learn how to eq. Tell him I said he's a pussy.

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:48 am

Cool, thanks. For some reason, it just didn't seem right to burn a hole in the drum head. Seems like it might fray or fold under or something. I'll use the knifey-spooney method. (I see you've played "knifey-spooney" before!)

ken · Post by **ken** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:44 am

Don't make the same mistake I did and not take the head off the drum first.

YOU MUST REMOVE THE HEAD BEFORE YOU CUT INTO IT!!!

Ken

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:46 am

ken wrote:Don't make the same mistake I did and not take the head off the drum first.

YOU MUST REMOVE THE HEAD BEFORE YOU CUT INTO IT!!!

Ken

oh yeah.... good point!!

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:48 am

Done and done. Hey Ken, I heard you might be paing a visit soon. That would be super cool! Don't let Glenn talk you into an AAD, though. However if he offers you some pills for AAD, then by all means take those.

ken · Post by **ken** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:07 pm

Justincombustion wrote:Done and done. Hey Ken, I heard you might be paing a visit soon. That would be super cool! Don't let Glenn talk you into an AAD, though. However if he offers you some pills for AAD, then by all means take those.

Yes. I am going to Spokane for the Brian and Alex show. I don't know about an AAD, but a collab is a MUST.

Ken's Super Duper Half Racks 'n Rachael?

Ken

blue · Post by **blue** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:05 pm

you can buy little stick-on plastic rings to put around your basshole, too. i have one - it's a good way to make up for sloppy cutting. they're only like a buck at your favorite music store.

a coke can-sized hole would be much to small for most real bass-drum oriented mics. i'm assuming that same sound dude was gonna stick a '57 in there.

micing bass drums with a tuned resonator head works out a lot better if you mic the batter side, in my experience. not many people have the time to keep a bass resonantor head both damped and tuned. it is an exacting process. you'll have a much easier time getting a satisfying thump out of a holy head anyways.

Me$$iah · Post by **Me$$iah** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:45 am

Never mind cutting holes for mics :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4637203.stm

Miking up a drum kit will never be the same again

Justincombustion · Post by **Justincombustion** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:18 am

Woah!! Easy set up? Less work? More time to drink? I (and I bet 90% of all drummers) would go for that! Sometimes I see something like this and say "Man that was so simple, why didn't I think of that?"

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:58 am

put a mic on your drum shell sometime and then ask yourself if that's really the sound you're after.

i got a neat tone out of my bass drum tonight by filling it with loose foam (leftover bits of wall foam that i didn't want to throw away) and tuning it almost completely slack. it's a nice, solid thump with almost no rattle or bounceback from the front head.

ken · Post by **ken** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:40 am

I can't really imagine that is a good idea. Sound is a reflection of both the instrument and the space it is in. The drum is a combination of the head and shell. This is like plugging your guitar straight into a soundboard and saying it sounds like a Marshall stack.

Ken

Dan-O from Five-O · Post by **Dan-O from Five-O** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:31 pm

Me$$iah wrote:Never mind cutting holes for mics :-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4637203.stm

Miking up a drum kit will never be the same again

I'm no drummer but I do play guitar, and that looks like the same principle as a piezo pickup on an acoustic. They sound OK, but not the same as with a mic in front of a good acoustic. Ask Josh Woodward how he feels about piezo's sometime if you don't believe me.

blue · Post by **blue** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 1:22 pm

so the muppets at expressions recorded my bass drum with the mic just inside the hole, pointed directly at the nearest shell - what you'd think of as "sideways" if you looked at it from the front.

it sounded like a very solid bass thump, but it turns out that they had it compressed and gated to shit and back, and were basically just using the mic as a freakin' trigger. same thing on my snare. so all the loud single hits came thru as a normalized WHACK sound, but none of the ghost notes or fills made it thru.

sad.

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:40 pm

blue wrote:so the muppets...

I have a friend (who shall remain nameless) who recorded a whole live set to tape with gates on the cymbal mics. He was not popular.

Oh yeah Bass drum recording... AKG D12. Mmm. (Deja vu)

john82 · Post by **john82** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:34 am

a whole in the bass head really isn't necessary when it's for performing only.
if you want to record with it, then it's worth the work.
it allows you to position mics more closely and get different sounds.
Johnny from guitars101

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:31 am

Our drummer doesn't have a hole in his bass head either. Sound guys frown but we don't care. HOWEVER, we have a gig where we're bringing our own P.A. equipment and may need to mic the kick. Now where it's always been 'somebody else's problem' it has suddenly become ours.

I'm gonna go with Sober and not be a pussy. However, I'm afraid that the kick mic will pick up everything around it therefore heightening the risk of low end feedback. (theory: if there was a whole, the mic would be IN the bass drum and out of the direct line of other wave forms.

Would some sort of cone or mic cover help? Or would this just cause even worse problems?

We're gonna test this out on Sunday WAY before the show in February but I thought I'd try to get some advice before then. I want to go into that practice with some ammunition.

Rabid Garfunkel · Post by **Rabid Garfunkel** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:54 am

Small stage + ported head + heavy footed drummer = surprised singer, when he (or she) first gets the airgun goose.

The facial expressions are worth the price of admission.

/off topic