Just got my 1st drum kit and wanting to know where and how big should i cut the hole in the kick head for micing in my studio?
Where and how big should I cut the hole in my kick drum
- Thread starter SwambA
- Start date
Sloan
Sounds like shit!
i prefer the hole higher, simply for making it easier to stick a low boom stand in there.
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Revson
Member
Why not just take off the entire front head first? You may find yourself not even needing that front head and don't need to spend the time cutting that hole.
nervirasme
Dismember
Revson
Member
Why is that wrong? If you read the Acoustic Drums for Metal guide, Glenn routinely takes off the resonant head. Sure, he started putting it back on but he still got great sounds without it. In the "Making of" DVD that came with Lamb of God's Sacrament, you can see they aren't using resonant heads there either. Those are just a couple examples out of many and getting rid of that head just means there is one less thing to tune.
Trevoire520
Member
No reso head makes the drum quite a bit drier sounding, less sustain. You can lose out on a bit of sub bass aswell I think. There's certainly no rule that you HAVE to have a front head on though. Mind you I've never had a kick drum sound I've liked using a reso head without a hole.
arv_foh
Brian K
Revson
Member
For metal, do you even want a lot of sustain though? You can still multi-mic it with a subkick to get those super low frequencies, but again, is that even something you really want in fast, dense music?
Certainly, if you don't like the sound with the reso head off, cut a hole in it. I'd follow Sloan's advice about how to cut it.
heshian46
Member
This.
The only issue I have encountered with not having reso head is that the stuffing in the kick will move off of the batter head, making it sound and feel different for the drummer, which makes them play shittier than they already do because they freak out about it.
But if you want to keep it on, I recommend putting it at 3 o'clock. I despise when drummers have it at 4, and hate when they have it at 5. 3 o'clock is perfect for when you have to stick a microphone in the kick, those little kick mic stands only go so low...
iarebrandon
Member
+1
only thing to add to that is dont cut it with scissors. buy an actual kick head cutter.
Trevoire520
Member
Doesn't necessarily have to be alot of sustain, just a little is sometimes nice. Kicks with no reso head can be VERY dead though. Just depends on what the music requires. I've had good results with both.
Trevoire520
Member
If you want to use samples of the kit you're recording instead of just using Slate/SD2/whatever then it does
jackbraglia
Member
Tommy Evans
Member
I've seen a lot of Truth kits that have two holes. One at 3 and the other at 9 o clock. Out of curiosity, what does that do?
Loren Littlejohn
Lover of all boobage.
Loren Littlejohn
Lover of all boobage.
heshian46
Member
Kick head cutters work well.
But if you're looking to save some money:
Heat up the end of a metal coffee can over the stove and then put it right through head at the location you picked. It makes a perfect hole, and it melts the ends a bit helping to reduce cracks radiating from the center.
+1. This method works really well, just don't burn yourself on the can
Also keep in mind that a hole larger than 8" is pretty much like having no resonant head on the drum.
