"Tenting" the kick

[metaldrmmer83]

What's the best way to go about tenting the kick drum? What mics do you guys recommend? Do you take off the front? I've got a session coming up soon and i want to try this technique out. Thanks

 

[metaldrmmer83]

No one's tried this?

 

[James Murphy]

what you saw on the Darkane video was one of the most elaborate "tents" i've seen.. usually it's common to just drape a packing blanket over each kick and mic set up.. nope, don't take off the head unless you want it to have that sound for some reason.

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

Yeah, I have done it. I was getting bleed through from the toms, so I draped a thick blanket around the kick and mic'd her up. Worked great. I don't see why you would take the resonant head off though, that would sound aweful. Just give it a try, if it sounds good, go with it.

 

[SPLASTiK]

I tried it out today. Miced the kick drum from the inside with a Sennheiser E602, then setup a tent with a nice thick blanket and a mic stand and had a Neumann TL103 torwards the end.

I don't know if I'll ever mic a kick drum differently again. The kick was so fat, so much great sounding punchy body.

 

[DracWell]

One question. Like on the darkane website says: there's no hole in the front head. Then wouldn't the head where the kick hits have to have a hole in order to have a mic inside it? *confused*

 

[Hellalpha]

One question. Like on the darkane website says: there's no hole in the front head. Then wouldn't the head where the kick hits have to have a hole in order to have a mic inside it? *confused*

No dude, the point of dampening it that much is so the sound is carried through essentially a bass-damping chamber and then mic'ed at the end of it..In the case of Wildoer's kick here it is about 2METRes away!!. It does sound kinda good too - there was a 320kb mp3 posted of him tinkering away behind that kit at the mic endorser's web site. have a look around, you might find it.

 

[DracWell]

Yes, but he also said that they had a mic inside the kick it self and another in the tent, but there was no hole in the front head of the drum.

I would love to dig deep into this topic but I don't have any time at the moment for long answers. But here's a short list:

Bass drum (no hole in front head): Beyerdynamic M99 (dynamic) inside, Milab VIP50 (condenser) outside (front head). 2 mics
Snare 14": Brüel & Kjaer 4015 (condenser) top and bottom. 2 mics
Snare 10": Milab VM44 (condenser) top and bottom. 2 mics
Toms 10", 12", 14", 16" & 18": Milab VM44 (condenser) top and bottom. 2 mics on each drum, 10 mics total
Hihat: Milab VM41 (condenser). 1 mic
Ride cymbal: Milab VM44 (condenser). 1 mic
Bell: Milab VM44 (condenser). 1 mic
12" & 14" stacked cymbals to left: Milab VM44 (condenser). 1 mic
14" & 14" cymbals on remote hihat stand to right: Milab VM44 (condenser). 1 mic
Over head (left, middle, right): Milab VM44 (condenser). 3 mics
Ambience: Milab VM44 (condenser). 2 mics
That should round up at 26 mics.

I've used to mic all cymbals before but with the over heads a bit higher above the cymbals I think I get a better cymbal sound and don't need another 4 mics.

Stay metal

Peter

 

[Razorjack]

Yes, but he also said that they had a mic inside the kick it self and another in the tent, but there was no hole in the front head of the drum.

I've worked with many drummers who have a mic permenently inside their kick, on a goose-neck. Either an XLR socket is put onto the side of the kick, or the cable is fed through a hole in the side.

I prefer drummers to do this (have it already set up) when they play at my venue as it gives more space on the already cramped stage (well, it's cramped with a double-kick kit on it anyway).