just wondering if anyone could offer any thoughts on this. i tried it recently (with a pop filter in front so that the ribbon wouldn't be damaged by "wind" from the moving skin) on a 22" kick with a resonant front skin that had a 10" hole in the center. the mic was about 6"s from the outer top edge and back about 4"s from the front skin.
i was worried about overloading it but even with the kick being played pretty violently i couldn't hear any clipping from the mic. and it sounded ace: nice and thumpy, which, when filled out with the overheads, gave a pretty sweet kick sound. i can post a sound clip of the session if anyone's interested.
so my question is: is this a wise plan? i've not come across any books or websites that can offer an opinion; everyone just recommends dynamics; a few cautiously hint at using condensors.
the mic i was using is a reslosound. i don't know the make or model of it (i found it in a bin at a church!) but it looks a lot like this:



any advice / thoughts / recommended reading greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!

I think I've read in Tape Op that they used an RCA 44 at Motown to record kick drums.

I borrowed a couple of ribbon mics to a friend who used one of them 20" in front of the kit and a M160 on snare.
They are still O.K. but he's not getting anymore of my ribbons.

I have popped a Beyer ribbon once on a kick drum. I would assume that means it too much air moving for a Coles or the like, right? That reslo you have pictured might hold up. I have an old Shure model 333 that is probably like that and it seems to be a different animal, more like a regular dynamic mic....sturdy.

i do this all the time.

i've used a royer r122, an oktava ml-19 and a really old oktava ml-15 for this job. the ml-15 is the balls. use a pop filter and put some distance between the mic and the drum.

the sharp off-axis rejection and high roll-off of most figure-8 ribbon mics works really well in keeping other shit like bleeding cymbals from being excessively annoying.


mike

The usual rules apply. I think using a pop-filter is a good idea if you can feel the air moving.

Incidentally, I heard someone recommending using that particular microphone (a Reslo RB) inside a kick drum with the microphone pinting perpendicular to the beater so that only the sound of the shell was picked up, and the beater sound was rejected.

You may find that there is fibre-glass wadding or a felt pad inside one of the shells of your Reslo in an attempt to make it more cardioid. I'd recommend removing that as it "opens" the sound up, plus fig. of 8s can be handy.

heya chaps - thanks very much, as ever, for the advice. guess i'll just keep experimenting. micing the shell sounds like a particularly interesting idea, too!

I'm not a fan of using any ribbons for close micing drums (even shitty Reslos or Octavas). There are enough durable mics out there to do that job.
If you're a millionaire, go for it. Otherwise, treat them like crystal.

Even carrying ribbon mics the wrong way will damage them.

what is a good rule of thumb when your transporting ribbon mics?

-aaron

This will sound over the top, but for some of the more fragile mics (like the Coles 4038, and older RCA), where there is a big, fat ribbon all but exposed to the elements, you need to be more careful.
Royer Labs has the ultimate anal retentive list of things not to do on their website http://www.royerlabs.com/dos_donts.html
You don't want the ribbon to be exposed to gusts of air right.? So mind the mic's orientation to the direction your walking. What I do is carry the mic with the length of the ribbon parallel to my travel. We have a little cradle/box thing that we use to carry a pile of mics from one studio to the other. This is a safe way to move. Anytime you transport the mic outside your studio, you should put it in a bag, or box.