Micing Kick Drum for Live Show...

[fajy6]

Anyone have experience doing this?

I'm playing a show and there is no soundboard, just a PA and amps with only vocals going through the PA. I've previously used an AKG D112 through the PA but it just does not have enough oomph to make that much of a difference before it starts peaking and spitting feedback.

I have an extra bass amp that has an XLR input and was wondering if i Mic'd the drum and played it through that, maybe that would do the trick and people will be able to "feel" the kick drum. Any pro's or con's to this?

[frankencat]

No soundboard?

[fajy6]

It's for an outdoor party and i'm using my own stuff, i dont' own one.

[Joisey]

Originally Posted by fajy6

Anyone have experience doing this?

I'm playing a show and there is no soundboard, just a PA and amps with only vocals going through the PA. I've previously used an AKG D112 through the PA but it just does not have enough oomph to make that much of a difference before it starts peaking and spitting feedback.

I have an extra bass amp that has an XLR input and was wondering if i Mic'd the drum and played it through that, maybe that would do the trick and people will be able to "feel" the kick drum. Any pro's or con's to this?

What do you have? What speakers? What power amp(s)? There must be something if you are mixing vocals. I doubt a bass rig is going to cut it outside where anyone would feel it. Sounds like a tall order.

[michael30]

Originally Posted by Joisey

What do you have? What speakers? What power amp(s)?

...and what kind of drumhead on the front of the bass drum? Does it have a hole in it? Do you have anything in the drum to dampen the resonance?

[fajy6]

Its a Yamaha PA system from about 8-10 years ago, not sure of the type, but i'm guessing its 150-200 watts. It has about 8 inputs. Its plenty loud for vocals but its not doing much for the bass drum.

Last time we did this, the drummer forgot to bring a head with a hole in it, so that maybe why it wasn't working too well through the PA. This time around he will have a hole, and usually has a pillow in it.

[Tadams]

I doubt not having a hole is the problem. I don't have have one in mine.
Generally, if you don't have subs you probably won't have enough to make a miked kick drum sound good.

[aeolian]

If you go to the live sound forum, there are "what is the best kick drum mic" threads every week. Much to the consternation of the regulars and pros.

Basically, there's nothing wrong with an AKG D112 (I have one and one modern drummer I work with prefers it to everything else). The other old school choice is a Senheiser 421 (or for real old school jazz, an EV RE20).

The most popular right now is probably the Audix D6. Gets that modern thwack with the deep bottom end. The Shure Beta 52 (my other personal kick mic) is similar but not quite so extreme in character.

Metal folks like to put an SM91 PZM condensor inside for more of the click and boom sound.

Another under the radar choice of professionals is a Beyer M88

But as Tadams says, you need to have some real bottom end in the PA to make any of these mics worthwhile. Which basically means subs. A common thing for pros is to run the subs off an aux bus so that they can feed in only kick and bass. Keeping everything else completely out of the subs. Makes things much less muddy. The converse is that if you try to get a modern kick sound out of the same drivers that are reproducing your singing, the vocals will suffer from bluring and distortion. So your idea of a separate kick drum rig has some merit. But you may find that kick drum is pretty rough on the bass amp's speakers. Typically with a PA, everything below 35Hz or so will be rolled off and the kick drum you hear will be somewhere between 50 and 80Hz. Without subsonic filters, the bass amp may be overwhelmed.

[fajy6]

If i were to get a powered subwoofer, do i connect that to my PA system? Or is there a way to just plug the mic right from the drum into the subwoofer? I'm really not familiar with this

[loudboy]

I would consider renting sound.

[jtm622]

Why not go "old school" and use the PA system only for vocals??? You're not playing "The Meadowlands" here, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with not slapping a mike in front of that bass drum for a small gig - If the drummer gives you any sh#t, just tell him:

A) he needs to step up and rent a bigger sound system...
or -
B) he needs to bang harder...
Seriously...

[Tone_Terrific]

Originally Posted by fajy6

Anyone have experience doing this?

I
I have an extra bass amp that has an XLR input and was wondering if i Mic'd the drum and played it through that, maybe that would do the trick and people will be able to "feel" the kick drum. Any pro's or con's to this?

Been there, done that, it works fine, watch the eq and peaks.
It WILL help.
It's not 'pro' soundguy approved.

[Hambone]

If your running a kick, a compressor with a gate helps a ton. Set the gate so it will close immediately after it opens. Many times without a tight gate, the kick will rumble through the mix, then compression helps with the overall sound. And it does help to have subs.