Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About How To Record a Kick Drum

Now, it often happens that the drummer wants a kit that sounds one way, when his actual kit sounds completely different. That's a problem, but not one that you can't overcome. You have to be realistic, though, and let him know that his brass snare isn't going to sound like a wood shell.

And in the case of the kick drum, he may have to make some changes. In the session yesterday, the drummer wanted a rock kick, with a good attack, and a short decay, and that sort of quick sub thump. His drumkit had a large thin shelled kick, with a resonant head, both heads were tuned rather high.

The first thing we did was to remove the resonant head altogether. That gets you a shorter decay, with fewer overtones.

Next, we added a blanket to the inside of the drum, to shorten the decay even further. We lowered the pitch of the batter head quite a bit, as low as it can go without losing the bounce needed to play effectively.

I chose a D112, the typical sort of rock kick mic, which has good lows, and good attack around 5k. I put it a few inches off the batter head, right in line with the beater, but this was way too much attack. I moved it back a bit and to the side, and got the blend I wanted.

I threw a packing blanket over the front of the drum, to reduce the amount in the overheads a tiny bit, and to prevent too much bleed onto the D112. Probably not really necessary, but I thought I might be compressing this mic a lot, which will bring up background noise like cymbals.

We layed down a few test tracks with the whole kit (57 on snare, e609 on toms, GT44s on OHs, RSM4s as Room mics.) I felt like the kick was sounding punchy, but lacking a little low end. I added an Oktava MK219 about 3 feet off the ground, 5 feet out in front of the kit. This mic picked up lots of thump, and added a good center image for the drumkit.

Mic preamps were from my PM1000 channels, and a modded Yamaha M406 mixer that has direct outs added. Both of these are vintage Yamaha units, with Tamura input transformers, which I really like on drums, guitars, etc.

Once tracked, I added some peak limiting to even out the kick a bit, and had to gate the kick, since this drummer likes to keep the beater against the head between hits. This style of kick playing works, but you sometimes get a 'fwap' sound everytime he lifts his foot for the next hit. I wouldn't tell him to change his technique, as this would likely ruin the session. Just deal with it.

This is session is just one example, but the idea is always the same:

1. Get a Clear Vision - Spend a few minutes discussing and thinking about the right kind of kick drum for the material you're recording. If it's a slow, moody tune with a lot of open space in the orchestration, a big, resonant kick with lots of room tone may be appropriate. On the other hand, a blazing metal tune will sound muddy and unfocused with that type of kick.

2. Get the Sound in the Room - Don't try to 'fix it in the mix' if you can possibly get the sound in the room first. Resonant heads are great, especially if the tune calls for a vintage drum sound, with lots of character. Tuning the resonant head tighter gives longer decay and more projection, muting the heads or removing the resonant head shortens the decay. If you're after a clicky, fast kick, try tuning the batter head tight, and even try taping a credit card or quarter the the head, where the beater hits. Deaden with blankets inside, and think about mic'ing the beater, too.

3. Choose the right mics - Different mics have different characteristics, and positioning makes a huge difference. Being close to the beater give more thwack and attack, moving to the side gives more ring, moving back from the beater gives more bass, an a bit more sustain. Mic'ing a resonant head will give maximum sustain, for a long, boomy kick. The D112 is a good all-round kick mic, with lots of attack when placed in tight, but lots of bass if pulled back a bit. Using a Large Diaphragm Condenser out a few feet from the kick will give a whole other range of tones, and the room mics will pick up still more. Blending these correctly will get you to the kick you want.

4. Get it in the mix - Now that you have a great kick sound, you'll likely need to do some eq carving and some limiting and compression to help it cut through the mix. Think of it like drawing a caricature. You need to bring out the distinctive features, while eliminating any parts of the sound that aren't necessary. A limiter can help even out the performance a lot. Follow that with a transient designer or compressor with slow attack, to get more point on the kick. Eq around your bass guitar, cutting out the sub lows (anything below about 30hz isn't going to be hear, but eats up headroom in a hurry.) You'll likely be cutting some mid mud around 400hz, and boosting some highs, depending on the signal you got to tape. Don't be afraid of extreme settings or piling on several compressors, if necessary. You want to get that sound you envisioned in the beginning, in the context of the other instruments.

I realize this has been a good bit of writing about kick drums, but there's loads more that could be said! Search around online, read the books listed below and experiment. But mostly THINK! Get a clear idea of what you're trying to do, and whether what you're doing is getting you closer or further away.

Practice makes perfect, as long as you're always paying attention to the results you're getting, and adjusting your technique accordingly.