My bass drum sound is now perfect..

Spectron

Silver Member
I have found the holy grail of bass drum sound..

heads
batter: Emad 1 without the foam ring
reso: remo ambassador with 2" chrome port hole
muffling: 6"x18"x1" studio foam in bottom barely touching both heads

Tuning:

batter: JAW
Reso: 1/4 turn above jaw

*Kelly shu internal mounted AKG d112

best bass drum sound I have ever achieved *live and recorded*
It's an open bass drum sound that projects like a champ, the 2" port hole provides an air escape that gives me the batter feel I like
but doesn't kill the low end boom of an intact reso.

The internal mounted mic captures mostly the batter head sound so the BOOM
of the reso is way in the background.

I tell you it is the perfect setup whether I am live or recording.

the key for me was the 2" port hole on a coated ambassador reso.
I have been sold on the emad since I got it but I have went through probably
5-6 different reso heads looking for that perfect balance of tone...

I wanted the non-ported reso sound with the ported reso feel and the 2" port hole did just that.

SO there it is: my version of the holy grail bass drum sound:

Emad/coated ambassador
2" port hole
kelly shu internally mounted AKGd112

Dudes, I am in bass drum heaven...
 
What's a chrome porthole?
Kickports are more than 2" across I think.
 
That's an interesting discovery that will no doubt benefit many drummers here. Most drummers us a 4" or better size port. What you're saying is the 2" hole strikes a good balance between ported and unported. Good stuff. Too bad Bull didn't read this before he took the knife to his 26" head lol.
 
thanks for the tip. always fun to experiment, but i know personally i could never stand the feel of a batter head at JAW. I need some fair amount of rebound for feel.
 
Here is a sound clip.

I'm not implying the best bass drum sound in the world or anything
but my bass drum with this combo of heads and tuning is just rockin my world.
 

Attachments

  • ambass.mp3
    1.9 MB · Views: 471
muffling: 6"x18"x1" studio foam in bottom barely touching both heads

If you mean this stuff:

51JFqxTPL7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Then I use it too, much better than an EMAD EQ pad I have found, as it just fits perfectly touching both heads in my 22x18"

Great stuff
 
If you mean this stuff:

51JFqxTPL7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Then I use it too, much better than an EMAD EQ pad I have found, as it just fits perfectly touching both heads in my 22x18"

Great stuff

Does the foam just sit in there or is it attached to the shell somehow?


I really like the bass sound you got there, very open and boomy.
 
well almost...

I did some more recording over the weekend and my latest discovery
is using both the internal d112 mic and an additional mic outside the
bass drum. I place the second mic about 1 ft in front (sm 57)
of the reso head at an angle. (this angle prevents proximity effect and reduces boomyness)

Now my bass drum recorded sound is even better - I get the sound of both heads on separate tracks and I can blend them....mua-ah-ah!

I detuned the front head a tiny bit to get more rumble.
I'll post some clips - you're gonna love this new sound...

Two mics on the bass drum is the way IMO...
 
Interesting clip. I thought the kick sounded pretty good, although I like a bit more body to my kick. (Think Bonham) I do want to say THANK GOD that kick was not clicky at all. Nothing I hate more than clicky bass drums.

Personally I like my kick drum heads without holes and tuned a bit higher than you have them. (Say 75 on a Drum Dial for a Powerstroke 3 or an Aquarian Superkick 1.) I find that I get a much better feel that way, and I have more flexibility on how I play it. When I have the heads at JAW, I feel like I can only play a rocking style, which is fine for some kinds of music. When I tune it a bit higher, I can alter my playing more easily to fit the tune. Bury the beater, if I want a rock sound, lightly feather it for a more expressive jazzy tune, etc... Just gives me more choices.
 
well almost...

I did some more recording over the weekend and my latest discovery
is using both the internal d112 mic and an additional mic outside the
bass drum. I place the second mic about 1 ft in front (sm 57)
of the reso head at an angle. (this angle prevents proximity effect and reduces boomyness)

Now my bass drum recorded sound is even better - I get the sound of both heads on separate tracks and I can blend them....mua-ah-ah!

I detuned the front head a tiny bit to get more rumble.
I'll post some clips - you're gonna love this new sound...

Two mics on the bass drum is the way IMO...

Give this man a shure Beta 52 and a 3rd channel for the kick drum. Then give him a few minutes to record it, then give him some fresh underwear.....
 
I use a piece of 1" polyfoam at the bottom of my bass drums, but it's not the waffle or spiked stuff in the pic. It's just flat, kinda spongy...and cheap (best kind haha!)!!

I've used this in there around 13 or 14 years years.
It soaks up the sound bouncing around, but doesn't mute the drum at all.

The foam doesn't touch the heads either. I have it secured by strips of packaging tape that doesn't leave residue if I remove it. No muss, no fuss!

Totally removes the chance of "inside the basketball sound" from being able to happen live, or recorded.

It seems like it's fashionable for people to say "I have nothing in my bass drum" these days, but I've heard too many "open" bass drums (some big name drummers) with the pre-muffed heads go "oooing" after the drum is hit, and the sound guy has to take 5 minutes getting it out.
That's in a big place with a sound check. It happened last summer at an outdoor shed (DTE Energy Music Theater, played there twice last summer) on a kit who's band was on their 25th Anni tour, and the drummer has his own company (enough hints haha!). A Kely Shu was used in those bass drums also.
They did sound good after the sound was EQ'd, but it took a few minutes.

The small places it happens to drummers...they have a few songs with a crappy bass drum sound (which I don't want to happen to me) or a quiet bass drum while the guy dials it out.

With the foam inside, I set mine up, they say "give me kick drum" and after about 30 seconds they say "good" and it sound awesome through the mains (which is very cool I have to say).
In the smaller places, even with no check, it's sounded good right off the bat.
Not acting like "I'm better", or anything like that, it just works every time, big place, huge place or small place.

I'd post a song, but the files don't seem to be the right type to attach on this forum.
I've tried a few times, but it doesn't work.

I use a 4" HOLZ, but I want to try a 2" now that a few people have talked about them. I use a D112 also (if I need/want to bring a mic), just at the hole (not inside the drum), so a 2" would probably work for me.
 
Since I got my new kit (Mapex Saturn Maple/Walnut), I've experimented with heads, damping etc and come up with a powerstroke pro batter, tuned about 3/4 to 1 turn above JAW, no internal damping materials, a Kelly Shu with my BD mic, whose make and model escape me and a 6" ported front reso - not sure exactly what it is as it is a custom graphic head, but it's pretty thick and with the hole right in the middle opposite the beaters to suit the graphic- tuned slightly lower than the batter and a remo falam contact patch on the contact point for both double pedal beaters. Lots of bottom with good attack for definition and if you stand in front of the bass bins at a gig, it makes your trouser leg flap! It's not right or wrong, but I like the way it sounds, both behind the kit and out front.

Incidentally, it doesn't oooooooo.... ;0)
 
Mmmm....Maple Walnut....No "oooooooo" is probably from the thick front head like you said, and you know the sound I mean then.
Plus the Walnut helps too (in a great way!)

A drum with a 6" hole, and a thick front head is going to get most of it's sound just from the chamber and batter, and hardly any action from the front, so the sound isn't really "bouncing around" between 2 heads all that much.

It's pretty bad when that "basketball" thing happens, and I've seen it enough to know I don't want it.
I don't use a thicker front (or batter) head, just a normal white coated or smooth white.

And being as my bass drums are 26" and from 16-20" in depth, a smallish piece of foam sitting at the bottom of a shell is probably really "nothing" too in the scheme of things.
Once the bass drum is dialed in at those shows, there's no problem, but I just get faster results with how my drum is set up (and I love the sound too). Nothing worse than a lame bad bass drum sound when you are playing. That's awful.

Hey, no arguments from me, whatever works for people.

You never hear the "basketball" sound until a mic gets involved.
If you guy's out there aren't getting any bad effects with a totally open inside happening through a medium to big PA, great.
You guy's are doing something the other people I've seen have this happen to aren't.

Playing at home, we have the luxury of tweaking til it sounds cool to our ears, and don't have to worry about a mic (unless you record at home, and then you can just fiddle til you get the sound you like).
 
here are two clips

one is just the overhead mics positioned 4' up about 5' infront of the kit.
overhead eq = flat - this pretty much the naked sound of my drums
the other is a mix of the close mics and overheads.
I emphasize a little at 2k on the close kick mic

maybe not perfection but I think I've dialed in a good tone.

I use a small piece of foam in the bottom and it is more to squelch the "basketball effect" than muffle the heads. It just sits in there not attached - it is wedged between the bungee cords that hold the kelly shu and it stays put like that.
 

Attachments

  • kick_ohs.mp3
    3.1 MB · Views: 128
  • kick_mix.mp3
    3.1 MB · Views: 161
Sounds pretty good. I tune my reso head like you, but my batter head is significantly tighter than JAW. Not sure where you place the D112 inside the drum, but that will make a big difference. Also, make sure the cable is not touching the reso head. I don't think an SM57 is an optimum choice for mic'ing the front head, as it's a very mid-range-y mic. Another bass mic like the D112 or even a good condensor mic with a flat low end response would probably be better.
 
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