Various sub kick mics

I absolutely dig subkick mics. Currently I'm using four mics to record my unported 24":
  • DIY subkick (earthquake range)
  • SHURE Beta91A inside on Kelly Shu Flatz Bass (typical plastic'y bass drum mic sound - full range)
  • AT4047 on (undamped) front head (kind of a kettledrum sound)
  • Modded AKG C1000 pointing at the kick pad (precise kick transient and an unexpected amount of low end)
I don't have to use the typical amount of parametric EQ bands to make it sit just right in the mix, it's more like mixing those four signals into each other without any EQ to get the desired results.

Subkick is made of a 12" wood shell, containing a 10" Gallien Kruger, wired through a very linear "Atelier der Tonkunst" DI box.
How do you synch the audio from these four sources, and then with the overheads?
 
How do you synch the audio from these four sources, and then with the overheads?
The overheads are in phase among each other with the bass drum shell and the snare by setting it up as ORTF like this:

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...although they're not supposed to support the kick, so I tend to set a low pass at around 60-80Hz on them occasionally if they're not needed to replicate the floor toms. Subkick and AT4047 do have the same distance to the front head (around 2"), C1000 has that same distance to the batter. So switching the phase of the C1000 perfectly aligns it with the front mics (first wavefront goes towards front mics and away from C1000). Beta91A sits in dead center of the shell. 50Hz means having a wavelength of around 7m, so the distance between Beta91A and the external mics (maybe 30cm) is negligible and doesn't affect the low end.

tl;dr: switching the phase of the C1000 generally is enough to align things to my liking.
 
The overheads are in phase among each other with the bass drum shell and the snare by setting it up as ORTF like this:

index.php

...although they're not supposed to support the kick, so I tend to set a low pass at around 60-80Hz on them occasionally if they're not needed to replicate the floor toms. Subkick and AT4047 do have the same distance to the front head (around 2"), C1000 has that same distance to the batter. So switching the phase of the C1000 perfectly aligns it with the front mics (first wavefront goes towards front mics and away from C1000). Beta91A sits in dead center of the shell. 50Hz means having a wavelength of around 7m, so the distance between Beta91A and the external mics (maybe 30cm) is negligible and doesn't affect the low end.

tl;dr: switching the phase of the C1000 generally is enough to align things to my liking.
Or:


It’s probably the one plug-in that improves the overall sound of my [basic] recordings out of all my plugins.

Free trial, too. 🧐
 
Or:


It’s probably the one plug-in that improves the overall sound of my [basic] recordings out of all my plugins.

Free trial, too. 🧐

Actually a good idea, maybe I should develop this concept into my own plug-in suite, since I'm on Linux/Ardour, using Calf studio plug-ins.

Edit: this would also help with moving musicians being recorded with multiple microphones like acoustic guitars, violins and the like. Cool concept!
 
In the back of my mind is an eventual rack mounted mixer specifically if I decide to add a second (or 3rd) mic to my kick and/or a snare reso mic or dedicated hihat mic or if I mic my side snare etc.......I would prefer to mix the kick mics into a single kick track etc.

That all being said, I am getting compliments on the drum sounds I have been getting so part of me is like "if it ain't broke don't fix it"....... but I have rack spaces open so..........lol
 
Here is mine.

3688528A-61AF-4CDF-9B54-B227413B0D53.jpeg

Im waiting for the interface, and then its measuring and testing again with this new setup.

The Yamaha model uses a special speaker with a much larger coil:
1653630669954.jpeg

I love how it captures the lower frequencies so easy, without having to resort to the editing of other microphones.

I sometimes have the feeling people think the device is to add lows. But its a device to capture the lows.

If you kick doesn’t have them, a sub won’t add them.
 
I built one myself, you just need a speaker, XLR connector and housing (I used a cheap tom).
Easy and cheap, I think it cost me around EUR / USD 50 total. Edit: and it works great.

The speaker size will affect how sound is captured, I made a video about it once.
 

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Here is mine.

View attachment 119778

Im waiting for the interface, and then its measuring and testing again with this new setup.

The Yamaha model uses a special speaker with a much larger coil:
View attachment 119779

I love how it captures the lower frequencies so easy, without having to resort to the editing of other microphones.

I sometimes have the feeling people think the device is to add lows. But its a device to capture the lows.

If you kick doesn’t have them, a sub won’t add them.
Actually, they _doesn't_ capture, but _add_ the lows. More specifically, the resonance frequency of the driver determines the output, the cone is excited by the kick energy, but has very little dependency to the actual bass drum sound.
There are a lot of articles about this on the net, check them out.
 
Actually, they _doesn't_ capture, but _add_ the lows. More specifically, the resonance frequency of the driver determines the output, the cone is excited by the kick energy, but has very little dependency to the actual bass drum sound.
There are a lot of articles about this on the net, check them out.

But it captures the frequencies. It doesn’t add lower frequencies.

An acoustic subwoofer like DW’s woofer drum does (by extending the size of the kick, or sometimes the diameter too).

When using SK with a smaller drum (say 18”) it doesn’t suddenly give you extra lows as if you would play a 24”.

So it is certainly depending on the actual size it is used for as different sizes give different frequw cirs (and thus audible sounds).

Otherwise we would all just play one easy to go size for our bass drums.

That is why Yamaha calls their SK a sub frequency capturing device.

1653754485655.png
 
But it captures the frequencies. It doesn’t add lower frequencies.

An acoustic subwoofer like DW’s woofer drum does (by extending the size of the kick, or sometimes the diameter too).

When using SK with a smaller drum (say 18”) it doesn’t suddenly give you extra lows as if you would play a 24”.

So it is certainly depending on the actual size it is used for as different sizes give different frequw cirs (and thus audible sounds).

Otherwise we would all just play one easy to go size for our bass drums.

That is why Yamaha calls their SK a sub frequency capturing device.

View attachment 119855
Well, I have experimented quite a lot and built subkicks, but you don't have to take my word for it:
"So really, the Subkick isn’t capturing the kick drum’s mystical subsonic LF at all — it’s basically generating its own sound. In other words, what we actually have is an air-actuated sound synthesizer, not an accurate microphone!" (Source: https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-can-i-make-subkick-mic-any-speaker-cone).
 
Well, I have experimented quite a lot and built subkicks, but you don't have to take my word for it:
"So really, the Subkick isn’t capturing the kick drum’s mystical subsonic LF at all — it’s basically generating its own sound. In other words, what we actually have is an air-actuated sound synthesizer, not an accurate microphone!" (Source: https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-can-i-make-subkick-mic-any-speaker-cone).
OK, that was interesting - thanks for posting the link - having a long time SOS subscription and respecting Hugh's (and most editor's) articles and having experimented with DIY subkicks as well.
I can't really comment on this issue but it would be a nice experiment to tune a bass drum to several notes and check what the subkick captures: is it just one note or not?

Edit: although including a subkick signal can be cool, I do agree with Hugh that a regular good recording of a bass drum can deliver all the lows you usually need.
 
OK, that was interesting - thanks for posting the link - having a long time SOS subscription and respecting Hugh's (and most editor's) articles and having experimented with DIY subkicks as well.
I can't really comment on this issue but it would be a nice experiment to tune a bass drum to several notes and check what the subkick captures: is it just one note or not?

Edit: although including a subkick signal can be cool, I do agree with Hugh that a regular good recording of a bass drum can deliver all the lows you usually need.
Definitely agree on this, I only add a touch of subkick when appropriate for the music, in most cases when I would otherwise trigger an 808 or similar (i.e. electronic or very "dancy" beats.
 
Definitely agree on this, I only add a touch of subkick when appropriate for the music, in most cases when I would otherwise trigger an 808 or similar (i.e. electronic or very "dancy" beats.
It also depends on the audience / playback setup: cheap earbuds / laptop speakers or full range speakers with a good sub?

(Not wanting) to derail this thread but another trick (in post production without a subkick) is to add a sine wave triggered by the bass drum signal.
 
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