i noticed in the gear section that you have a couple D112E's. have you ever A/B'd it against the Shure Beta52? i had a chance a while back to A/B a Beta52 vs a D112 (is there any difference between a D112 and a D112E? ) and the beta 52 seemed to kick the AKG's ass... i'm assuming y'all have listened to the beta 52 under much better circumstances than i did (on NS10's, in a room with one brick wall, the right wall, UGH!) and made a better eval. just curious in what way the D112 performed better in a better environ.

The Beta 52 is a perfectly respectable bass drum mic. If you can only afford to have one bass drum mic around, this will work fine. If you are at a studio with a large mic collection, try some different mics on the bass drum.

I find that on some bass drums I like the D112, on others the RE20, on yet others the AT25, M88, 4033, 4047, Beyer TGX50, SM98, D12, 4047, FET47, 414, C12A, NS10, etc. Often a combination of more than one mic, possibly on different heads (batter vs. resonant). It depends on the drum, heads, tuning, full front head vs. no front head vs. front head with hole, beater type, style of music, average speed of songs, style of drummer, room acoustics, blah blah blah.

How do I decide what to use? Which ever one sounds best to me and the band. As you gain experience with the different mics and drum sounds, you'll be able to hone in on which mic(s) will probably get you what you want in each situation. So you won't need to try every available mic every single time.

But, yeah, throw up the Beta 52. It's fine.

Lately, I've been loving my RE20 a lot of the time for the rock bass drum.

best,
bob

PS
Oh yeah. I think the D112 is a D112E.

on a similar note - how do u know where the best place to put the BD mic is? Some people stick it right the way up inside the drum, others infront of the hole in the skin etc... does this depend on the natural drum sound or the sound u want to get from it?

For the last few years my fav has been using a M88 outside and a sm98 or a d112 on the beater side but have had the best kicks to date using a RE20!
as far as position of mic?!because of the human factor some drummers lay into kick more then others and that keeps it always changing.have totally put mic just inside to a ft out and had great results.
my band recorded with steve a few years back and I have to say the kick drum was bad ass!!!! from the pictures it looks like a shure?hope you will have a chance to try out a few others.
pretty amazing to change a mic and place in same spot and be blown away !
last besides what mic you use ,the sound before you mic actually plays a huge part.I hate putting any kind of padding inside kick but have become a fan of cutting up 1/4 a news paper/more or less depending on sound /in 2 inch strips and then crunch up and throw inside kick drum(double head or hole)this has made my RE20 capture all the lows and highs but kills all the unwanted overtones by the paper settling after every hit!kinda like a gate.
freaky but you should see how well the drummers love that approach instead of you putting a shirt or a bomb in there !!
Old school tip.

cool - some interesting things to try out there I'm always trying to improve my bass drum sound, but still looking for that special something...

will have to try the paper - even if it's just for the weirdness factor!

Hey Supermaff,

U should try recording a little bit with a mic in close, then a little further out, then outside, then etc. Listen back with the drummer and see where u guys like it. Then switch to a different mic and try a bunch of different positions with the new mic. You'll hear how position affects the sound.

I tend to end up with the mic just on the edge or outside the hole (u know, even with the plane of the front head or where the front head would be if there isn't one) for the rock drums. I rarely go any closer, but often go further away.

Also, I have this problem where I get a bass drum sound that I love, but then when all the other drums, guitar, vocals, etc get added, the bass drum doesn't sound so awesome anymore. So it's good to work on the sound/mic choice with everything going...in context

best
Bob

If still on the hunt for sounds ?try to listen to some of you favorite records and focus in on kick,you will probably be shocked on how well it is blended in mix to where you feel it and not really hear it.with this in mind try double mics on beater and hole to get attack(beater )and full weight of kick on outside or just in?always thrilled to have that beater mic to blend with main mic to add or pull back if guitars and bass are eating drums alive.
beyond all these tips you have checked out the truth is no matter how well you mic if the drummer sucks or is great but his kick drum blows?
try to be musical and make the best out of it because unless you have your own kit it will always be a chalenge no matter how long you have been recording and I think thats why i'm always excited about trying to get that sound down.
Just to let you know even the best can only try.....I sat in on a session @electrical a few months ago and even the man was appologetic about the sounds he was getting from the kick.honestly the drums still sounded amazing but even steve can feel like he could only do so much if drummer did not play well or had a drum that did not work well with his style of drumming.On a good note!the mix he did for that band sounded great and I would never have known if I was not there during tracking about kick vibe:shock: MIXING MIXING!!!!!!!

get some bass straight from hell. this thing will make your kick drum explode. i hve been using this for a while and love it. other mics i have used include RE20, AKD D12(circa 74) and B.L.U.E Ball(only good when placed a couple of feet away).

Could someone talk more about micing a bass drum with no hole in the front head. I assume 2 mics are usually used for this situation, one for the front, one for the beater side.

I tried micing the front with a D112 about 1 inch off the head at about 10 o'clock, maybe 5 inches from the rim. I then put up a 57 for the beater side angled towards the beater from the right side if you're sitting down on the thrown about a foot away. This made the snare sound terrible.

Any advice?

hey,
i have had good luck on bass drums with no hole using an re-20 anywhere from 1-3 feet in front of the head, directly in the center.

-ew