I am delightfully baffled. I still remember my very first bar gig where the sound guy absolutely chewed me out for not having a port, as if I walked into his living room with muddy boots on.
As an engineer, I started this video ready to tell you why you're wrong... because... I am a sound guy... but I learn a lot and stand corrected. Thank you for sharing. Cheers
Sound guys are often skeptical with my no-hole. But they are always pleasantly surprised how good it sounds. I really feel like I lose something when I go to ported. For some reason I find that reso-side mic'ing sounds best with a non-coated reso head. I use a coated or calftone batter and a clear or smooth white Powerstroke 3 reso with the least amount of muffling I can get away with. The most annoying thing with no-hole is it's hard to adjust internal muffling. I usually use external methods. Final note, I don't bury the beater (but my kick still sounds decent when I do). Happy experimenting to find your sound!
I found that the main difference for me was burying the beater vs. bouncing it. With the port, every note has no time value. I vary the force of the stroke for volume dynamics and I can play right on top of wherever I want that beat to land. But wit no port, I have to bounce the beater, so my foot mechanics need to begin a fraction of a second earlier to land on the right spot, which alters my entire physical relationship to the part I’m playing. Plus, with a reso and no muffling a note can be an 1/8, 1/4, or even a half note depending on how hard I stroke. I tend to start thinking of the kick as if it were one part of the drum section in a Jazz band or marching band. The whole thing gets a lot looser that’s like a rumbling old engine in an antique car - it sounds like it’s about to fall apart until you realize that you’re boogieing down the road.
I'm a drummer, and I also run sound at a local venue of mine, and every time I suggest mic'ing the batter head on the kick, the dudes freak out on me. If I can finally find some excuse to convince them to let me do it, they freak out again because it's the best live sound they've ever had on their kick. It has so many advantages, mainly for me, making sure the mic doesn't get kicked over on smaller stages. Word of advice from a drumming, guitar playing sound guy to the musicians, let us do our fucking job! Hahaha
I'm having the exact problem with our guitar/ player sound man! I have noble and cooley bass drum, what I feel can speak on its own without whacking a hole in the reso head.
At my small live blues venue, we only mic the bass drum. Pearl Reference Pure with two Powerstroke 3s, 5-inch port, and an Audix D6. Our subwoofer is a QSC K118 set at a volume of minus 7. First off, the Reference Pure kick tone is phenomenal. Small Pearl pillow touching both heads slightly. Direct sound to the audience. The low end, punch, and tone are awesome not to mention hearing the wood. Yes, that mahogany/maple. The Audix D6 placement makes the biggest difference in our subwoofer. We put it just inside and pointing across to the top of the shell near the batter (floor tom side). The D6 works best inside the kick. We capture the low end and tone, and surprisingly a warm beater sound. That's what what works best for us with a ported head. We've experimented extensively. As far as a non-ported head, we know how to do it, but haven't done it yet. We're definitely open to trying it when the chance comes. I think that in my situation, because it's a house kit, more drummers will be more comfortable with the feel of a ported head. Therein lies the most important factor, the feel. I can play both, but not every drummer likes it. Choose which feel you like better then learn how to maximize that setup and sound. Both are legit at all times.
This video makes an excellent point. I stopped cutting holes on BD resos years ago, I learned from playing jazz that even small bass drums can sound MASSIVE with medium tuning on both heads and minimal damping. My go to kit is a Ludwig USA Clubdate with 20" kick, clear Evans batter and coated Remo Reso. Massive sound. Don't bury the beater. This thing will eat 22 and 24 inch kicks with ported heads. I had to learn to play with more dynamics because with all things being equal, the unported 20 will just overtake the rest of the kit. It's tone is somewhere between an 808, John Bonham, and Keith Carlock. I also use a small Tama Silverstar kit with 16" Bass drum for jazz/hip hop gigs and it gets really punchy sounds with no port. I encourage all of you to pick up a coated ambassador for your outside head, tune it to medium pitch with minimal or no damping. I guarantee it will be the biggest sound you get from your bass drum. Again, don't bury the beater... It will just flam and bounce with all that added rebound. Goodluck!
I used coated ambassador on reso heads for my vintage slingerland. Also smooth. Any big reason you prefer coated over smooth? Do you think they are a touch warmer?
I play hiphop, d'n'b, dub, neo soul with a 16" kick. No port, pinstripe batter head just above wrinkles, stock single ply reso with a small external felt clip-on dampener to reduce sustai and four pieces of moongel to kill some overtones. The sound is huge, especially if I remove the felt dampener which works for some songs. Now, if I'd cut port in the reso I'd lose the big sound.
I’ve been using the “Kelly Shu” mic’ing system for a few years now with an Audix D6 mic, and I’ve never been happier. I play in a band that has our logo on the front kick head and I didn’t want to obstruct it and wanted to keep a vintage look since we play 60s British rock. I use the old tom mount hole in the top of the drum to run the XLR cable and mount my tom on a snare basket. I place the mic directly at the beater and about 2” away. Fantastic results!
Micing the batter side is an old trick which I learned back in my days recording Jazz. Pretty common with a resonant head without a hole, but in pictures you can rarely see this mic. There are different techniques to approach this, but off course you have to be careful with squeaky pedals and seats. 😉
I once had a snare bottom mic holder get loose and accidentally rotated to the batter side of the kick drum and I now believe that this is one of the best ways to do it! Great video. I'm stoked to record some drums now!
This is great info, man. There’s so much ‘group think’ out here that has us all thinking there’s only one way to do everything, but especially with kicks. Why is that the only drum on the set that we mic on the opposite side?! 🤔 Even on my iPhone speakers, that kick sounded better mic’d at the beater.
In a live situation, I usually double patch one kick mic on a half-way in the port of a kick drum, and EQ one input as the boom, and the other as the slap/knock/punch. They stay in phase, and you can vary the tone as needed by blending the two. Edited for clarity.
@@SoundsLikeADrum this was a half in/half out with a port. Without a port I would probably keep it on center. I really liked the sound from the batter side that you showed us too.
Super demonstration. The best pure sound for any bass drum is to have single ply clear heads on both sides. If you want to embellish the punch attach a quarter inch width of silk across the entire head of both sides. This will give you the exact sound of the drum ( wood) you are playing. Enjoy.
I generally agree that you can get a great sound with a closed front head. There are several problems beyond “can you get a sound that you like” - 1. Mic bleed. It’s not that a sound person “can’t” mic a drum from the outside of the drum, it’s that in the majority of instances, you’re just making the job harder than it needs to be. 2. It requires a mic stand. I have been on a ton of ridiculously small stages, and the option to ditch the kick mic stand altogether is a great option that goes away without a port. 3. In the vast majority of modern music styles, the length of the kick drum note needs to be as short as possible. If the kick sound has a “tail” it will lack focus and begin to cause problems with the other bass instruments. A lot of drummers don’t want to hear this, but I promise you won’t regret paying attention to this.
The bass drum sounds dead no matter if you have a port hole or not. He`s using a batter Emad bass head with the foam going around the entire head as you can see in 7:23 in the video. More deader sound than the Power Stroke 3 head with the ring around the entire back head. I just use the old school tuning with a felt strip on both bass drum heads and of course no port hole. This gives me a more open sound with a note to the bass drum. If you like the dead sounding bass drum, than go for the port hole with pillows inside the bass drum and that emad drum head.
I evolved where I put the overheads to get as much beater in them as possible because I don’t have a port, there’s a lot to be learned from moving them forward and backward and up and down in terms of blending that and the cymbals in a 4 mic setup
I have been using solid heads on my kick with a Randall May mic system since 2004. I have tried many different placements as well as different muffling techniques over the years to finally get the sound I was looking for.
When I have done live sound, due more to constraints of mic placement, I have mic'd the bottom head of toms, the batter head of kicks, and the sides of snares. I was able to make all of them work. Yep, the drummers were usually terrified that it wouldn't be ok... lol. One thing I haven't tried is micing the side of a kick drum. Have you tried that? How was it?
As long as it sounds good, anything goes! As far as miking the shell of the kick (from the outside) that doesn't really produce much of a bass drum sound (the shell isn't moving anywhere near as much as some people might think). We're going to cover this a bit more in the future. Cheers!
@@SoundsLikeADrum I know you've covered it, but side or shell of a snare is a really usable sound many times. Yeah, first time I tried "alternate micing" was when I had a drummer on stage who had his cymbals so low that I couldn't fit a mic on top of the toms without being in his way. I just ran them underneath and it sounded fine. No over heads. The room was small enough that you could hear the attack ambiently and through the vocal mics. After that I would spend about 2 seconds trying to mic from the batter and if that wasn't happening, I'd go right to the reso. Thanks again for busting myths and opening minds!
I know this video is an older one, but I just watched it today. I have no interest in cutting a hole in my kick drum reso head or buying another one with a port. After this video, this evening I moved my Beta 52A around to the batter head. I love the difference that I'm hearing with my in ears with this mic position. Thank you Ben and Cody!
I love this show, I love this channel, I love these videos and these themes and especially y'all's incredibly well-thought-out insights. I just played a show at a venue without a kick port, this info will definitely be coming in handy in the future 😁
Thank you so much for this! I have always preferred a front head without a port for more tone…and have had to deal with the eye rolls and snarky comments from the sound guys. No more!
I caught two grumpy sound guys over the years with a knife in their hands about to cut a hole in my unported bass drum head just before soundcheck! To the idea that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a sound out of a bass drum without sticking a mike inside of it, I would reply that there are about 15 other mics on the stage and none of them are not 'inside' their instruments. Or inside their singers...
I also experienced a situation where the technicians wanted to cut a hole in my bassdrum reso head. But at the end they were kind of surprised with the sound. I do not like that punchy pop/rock kick sound anyway so I wouldn't bother the bring the mic around to the batter side.
I love drums with both heads on and no holes. I always mic a bass drum as if you were mic’ing a snare, with the mic on the side of the drum, resonant side. Much more depth, in my opinion! Although most of the drummers I have mic’ed were into John Bonham….
I use a full reso head and an internally mounted D112 using a Kelly Shu mount and that works well for me. I have an old 1984 Tama Royalstar and since I no longer use the tom mount on the top of the bass drum, I fabricated an XLR jack in place of the tom mount. Live sound engineers seem to like it (or maybe they are just being nice, lol).
An engineer I regularly work with likes the Shure Beta 91 plus a reso mic but I came in one time with a lightly pillow-muffled kick without a port so we cabled the Beta91 through the tom mount holes. The combo between the mics gave us plenty of mixing control. A nice alternative to those permanent internal mic systems. Maybe not ideal for live. Recommended experiment for those who can!
My Yamaha Stage Customs came with a solid reso head. It shiney black with the Yamaha logo at the top. So my first instinct to mic it was to put it on the batter side. It definitely gives a nice deep sound on my kit. And if you think of it as an extension of the toms this makes perfect sense.
One thing I have had to do for live gigs is a reso-muffle that clamps on to the front BD hoop and has a spring holding it against the head. This works to dampen the sound, especially with no port.
I don’t know if it’s still available, but didn’t Evans make a “vented” BD head? I believe the vents were hidden in the logo at the top edge of the head.
loved this episode! I recently discovered how awesome a non ported head can be (fancy new kit came non ported). I feel like it can give the drum more character. it sounds more like a drum than just a low fundamental. although I prefer the feel and pedal response of ported, I prefer the sound of nonported greatly
For the batter side, I just bought the brand new remo emperor SMT head and it sounds AMAZING! I didn't like the idea of clothes in the bass so...this eliminates that. Plenty of dampening! Now, the reso head is black with LUDWIG in bold letters and...I really love that head. Doesn't have a hole in it but...I don't want to use any other SO...thank you for explaining that I can mic without a hole.🤭
I like less attack, full tone. I use a DTP 640 (it has a condenser and dynamic mic - 2 outputs) and I just point it at the middle of the unported reso head like an inch away. With some muffling I can get a punchy sound, or unmuffled I get a huge, full sound that’s beautiful.
I spend a lot of time and thought getting a good sound. I like a front resohead. One of our sound guys said "sure it sounds good back where you are" when he was trying to talk me into using a port. That gave me the same idea. I've been miking from the back ever since.
Thank you! This should be required viewing for all sound engineers... I get, at the very least, a little comment from the soundman when I show up with a non-ported BD. Seriously??? A very disheartening way to start the night. *But, last week the guy mic'ed BOTH heads. Fantastic response to my personal choice to not port the head! It sounded great.
My beginner drum set had an uncut head, when I upgraded years ago it already had a port hole. Kinda made it easy to put the sweater and towel I put in there. Awesome video btw, I really like the sound of the head with a port hole. I never had a chance to record with by first set, never really thought about what it would have sounded like. Thanks guys
Love the idea of micing the bass batter 👍😀 Best reason to port the reso is so that you can move the muffling around, inside the drum, without having to remove the head. I use a "snake" draft excluder which I can pull through the port if I don't want any muffling at all.
I love your channel, and this video is great. However, for me the FEEL of an un-ported kick drum head is of much greater consequence than the sound. For me, it's night and day. I do hear the difference and I enjoy both sounds, but I find it extremely challenging to switch between and ported and un-ported kick drums. Today I unboxed a new drum set and the stock head has no port. It sounds excellent, but I can barely play it because the batter head keeps hitting the beater again after it strikes the head. For me, this is enough reason to port the drum because to my ears both sound good and at this point I'm far more comfortable with the feel of the ported kick drum. I guess I just felt like that was worth mentioning. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! The basis of this episode is that you already prefer a non-ported reso. We’re not trying to convince anyone that they should switch from ported to non-ported if they’re happy. The message here was that you don’t need a port to produce a punchy sound and that the often perceived miking issues are really non-issues if tryouts willing to think outside the box a bit. Cheers!
Very cool, the way I did it last night with my 20 inch diameter 28 inch deep kick was with an akgd112 centered in front of the reso head about 4 inches off and I put a hohner harp blaster harmonica microphone pointed where the beater strikes the batter head but I was also using it to get some snare side sound. After some tweaking to get it all in phase I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for another awesome video!
My main reason for porting is I don’t want to annoy sound engineers! This video is so timely as I’ve ended up getting a 70s style large hole, current 5” hole and my vintage premier original reso head. Sound engineers have complained when there was no port years ago
mic'ing the batter side is absolutely brilliant. Reverb did a video on getting the drum sound for Iggy Pop's Lust for Life. Now I use a kick mic on the reso AND i throw a generic dynamic mic on the batter side and together they make a fantastic sound that is strikingly similar to what i hear in the room.
I have seen the mic on the batter side a lot of times, but never alone, always combined with another one on the reso side, so to get the attack from one, the low end from the other, and then you can do in the mix whatever you need to do with them. The down side of this (besides you need 2 mics) is that if the drummer doesn't have a very smooth and silent pedal, you may be capturing a lot of squeak as well. On the other side, I can't even imagine listening to some Led Zeppelin's songs without that squeak, like Since I've been loving you... And yes, you definitely can get great sounds with both, ported or unported reso heads, however I usually prefer ported ones, mostly for practical reasons: if you need to manipulate whatever inside the drum, mostly muffling or a mic, it's obviously way easier and quicker to do with a ported head. If you have to do it with an unported one, well, you know, take the head out, adjust what you have to, put the head on, tune, try again... and if you aren't satisfied, repeat.... you know... And concerning the feel when I play, I have no problem with it. Many people tend to tune the batter side very loose and the reso tighter, I do it the other way around. It's not that I tune very high the batter, just enough for feeling it "alive" and having some tone and some rebound, then I tune the reso side lower, and it also gives low end. Anyway, even if you use an unported reso, if you tune the batter too low and use much muffling (like a fat pillow touching both heads), it's not that you're gonna have much rebound, I think...
Fab video. For some reson I've never tried the batter side micing option but I will now. I like having an unported head on my bass but the reason I stick with a hole isn't so much the micing as the desire to be able to faff about with the muffling without having to remove the heads. I think you guys covered external muffling. I even got one of those old-fashioned disc-shaped clamp-on mufflers for a bass but never got it to sound the same as a pillow or whatever inside. I was going to do some productive stuff tomorrow but I think I may find myself faffing about with this instead haha
It seems a little funny to me that you have this very large drum, 20 or 22 inches, that is deadened to the point where it doesn't even sound like a drum anymore, to get a sound that you could probably get out of a thick piece of card board. Card board would be way easier to move around and much cheaper! I use a full reso head, nothing inside the drum, and lay a pillow against the front of the reso head so I can deaden or not deaden as I like without taking heads off. I mike the batter head, add a snare mic and overheads, and I'm done. The kick drum mic picks up the snare and hi-hat, and the snare mic picks up the hi-hat and kick drum, which inevitable. For home recording it sounds great, and with a little mixing you get a pretty good stereo image. I've thought about building a product with a piece of cardboard mounted on a wood frame attached to a foot pedal. Great for recording the dead slap sound so many drummers are looking for. Probably wouldn't look so cool on stage.
Thanks a lot for suggesting this option. Another one I'm experimenting is what the finnish custom drums company Kumu came up with: a hole in the shell! Sure, I hesitated a lot, but I did make a side hole in my 18' bass drum shell (about 4 inches diameter), with a medium-low tuning, no muffling. It works perfectly in terms of tone, punch and micing situations! Besides, I still can reach the inside of the bass drum if muffling needed or changed.
@@arachpanahi8082 Yes, though we're curious about the use of a plug for the shell from the outside so that you can regulate the airflow. As we've mentioned and demonstrated in previous episodes, minimizing the escape of air from the shell allows for even lower tuning so we'd love to know if you've experimented with altering the size of the port with some means of plugging the hole in the shell to varying degrees.
@@SoundsLikeADrum I see. No, I didn't go this far in my experimentations with the possibilities of the side hole. But I surely will! Thanks a lot for your suggestions here and your whole dedication to our beloved instrument!
10 out of 10 as always. I did a brief search on a new found idea the other day. The sound professional at my church who works at Sweetwater suggested a better sound hack. Place the snare mic aligned with snare wires. This means turning most of most drums sideways to accomplish this which is fine. But does this actually sound better with mic pointing down the snare drum as norm? only point down the wires instead of perpendicular. Keep up the great work! Mic - -- Wires 🥁🥁🥁
The batter head mic is a great old idea! If anyone happens to try it at home make sure the phase is correct, especially if you use two microphones or more on the kick drum!
I literally just changed my kick attack mic to the beater side too!! cuz I've always been using the no porthole! this is so great, I was thinking the same EXACT thing that that is how we mic everything else haha!
I use a small port well off-center, but no internal muffling, just an EMAD with the smaller foam ring and a PowerStroke 3 front head to control overtones (plus a plastic port protector, if that matters). It behaves more like an unported bass drum at low volumes, but still has good punch at higher volumes, just with a slightly longer note. For someone who is too lazy to change setups most of the time, it's the best compromise I've found so far (the drum also hardly ever leaves the house). I thought your methods came close enough for most use cases, and I can understand wanting to keep the front head unported if you switch sounds a lot and can't afford two heads, but the first two didn't have quite the same punch, and I thought having the mic on the batter side sounded a bit too clicky and plasticky (perhaps some EQing would make it sound great). Porting a front head isn't hard, and with everything else set up the right way, still sounds the best. If I could do it all over again (I ported the stock head with logo), I'd figure out a way to do the multiple tiny perimeter ports thing, instead of a single 4" mic port (a drill with a large bit, maybe?). I really like the way that sounds. Do any of the drum head companies offer such a head, or is it just something they do for the likes of DW and Sonor?
I first heard a DW 18" kick with those those multiple tiny vents/holes and couldn't believe how good it sounded. I couldn't find any such heads where I live, so I ended up making one myself very easily from a standard reso head, using a 1cm hole punch to punch the holes evenly around the perimeter of the head, about 3cm from the edge. (obviously taking head off drum first and laying it upside-down over a wooden work surface) With that head, I need no muffling at all. It basically gives you the extra tone and acoustic low-end body of an un-ported head, but it becomes significantly drier and more controlled without losing the un-ported feel.
I don't like ports. As you have so gratefully stated, we've put mics in front, and on top of, everything for decades. My reasoning: would you cut a hole in your snare batter, and fill it with pillows? Great vid, by the way. Love your work.
Thanks for your comment! In response to the question within your reasoning; if it sounds good, go for it! A snare drum and a bass drum are pretty different instruments. Most people also wouldn't play their bass drum with sticks but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play your snare drum with sticks...
I have a new 24” x 14” Ludwig Classic Oak unported kick. I play shows at bars and dont mic anything. Whats the best way to get the best sound, so it projects to the back of the bar?
another good one. first rule of recording - there IS NO WRONG. if it sounds good, it IS good. and you won't know what that is until you've gotten down in the weeds to see/hear. having said that, i like to have a port in my kick drum so i can put a mic inside, or take one out, or move it around, or put some muffling in there and/or move it around without taking one of the heads completely off. on a completely related note...... i'm lazy.
If a player prefers no port on the reso head, the absolute best option for a sound, that will satisfy all situations, is an internally mounted mic. In a live situation with a significant amount of sound reinforcement, a bass drum with no port and mic external, is asking for a sound that will not translate the way you want it to... at least without a lot of heavy lifting by way of processing. The problem with the "why can't we do it that way?" thinking on this is, the majority of drum sounds that we are trying to produce were created with ported reso heads, or no reso head at all. In this video, the clear standout for a sound with all the qualities you could want is the mic on the batter head position. *Incoming unpopular opinion.* 😏 Honestly, the very popular trend of the last couple of decades, of the mic position reproducing the sound of the air blowing out of the port, onto the diaphragm, is one that I wish would wane in popularity. That position in this example is the clear loser, from what I'm anticipating as a balanced, usable sound. Mic either in, or out of the drum, but the air hitting the mic just isn't anything resembling a balance of what the drum is producing. My thought on how this came to be is because of mics like the RE20 and MD421 being used for decades, but because of their size, the diaphragm would actually be in the drum. Newer mic designs in similar positions are just micing a puff of air. Low end bump? Sure. Sound "like a drum"? In my opinion... No. Too much mic positioning because of look, and no critical listen. Can it work with a bunch of mics in different positions being blended, and/or processed? Of course. But why not just put a great mic, on a great source, and be 99% there already?
I didn’t like the way my kick pedal reacted without having a port to let the air escape. It was giving me a weird double bounce on the batter head. Dw collector 23” bass with original heads with the small holes round the reso head.
That's an option but, as mentioned at the end, requires setting something up semi-permanently. What we're demoing here is that you don't need additional gear to make this work. Internal mics are great but, keep in mind that the vent hole isn't just for show. You want some air to be able to escape. Blocking it with a cable can prevent that.
there are full size XLR passthrough jacks that you drill a fresh 7/8" hole to install, unless you've got a collector's piece or an expensive set it might be worth it. I've been thinking about installing one just to keep the cable off the edge of the reso port.
In that particular drum a standard XLR will fit in one of the tom arm holes. That is what I use in my gigging kit. I actually replaced the tom mount with a plate that has an XLR jack mounted in it. Just velcro the 91 down and you have consistent kick mic placement and one less thing to worry about. Also gives the sound person an extra sound source if they want it.
If you never mic the bass drum do you even need a port at all?.... this video would suggest no. At least that’s what I got out of it; also I think I agree. Excellent video as always! Thanks
It depends on the sound/feel you're looking for. We approached this from the standpoint of already preferring the sound and feel of a bass drum without a port. That said, plenty of people enjoy how a ported bass drum sounds and feels even when they're not miking it up.
hot take new kick drums should come with XLR passthrough jacks on the side as standard so you can have a beta91 or whatever inside and still have a full front head.
Great examples, but you missed one that used to be done in small Jazz clubs. Put a bar towel around a mike place it in the Bass route the lead through the air port. Great job👍👍
Cody doesn't usually answer questions on here and since I engineer all of our sessions, I'll jump in on this one. Placing a mic inside the kick can work really well in certain situations. It all depends on tuning and what sound you're looking to capture. I would generally use an internal mic more for the attack and would likely run a high pass filter. Depending on the amount of muffling present, you could end up with a lot of that "basket ball tone". Cheers! -Ben
I find all of this to be true when playing off the head, I struggle to play a non ported reso head if I am playing a style where I am digging in instead of playing off the kick. Any tips for how to make it work with a heel up dug in approach?
I don't like the hole in my bass drum and I like the feel without the hole but I get a lot of flack from sound guys that they can't mic my bass drum properly. My bass drum sounds amazing . How do I explain this to these sound guys.
That’s pretty much what this video was all about. Have them mix from the batter side for more attack or from the reso if that captures the sound. Have the discussion.
i use no port in the reso head and i mic the bass drum with a boundary layer microphone Sennheiser Evolution 901 in front of the reso head. i tell the sound man to take out or play with the 5k "heavy metal" frequency. that's about the punch or not.
Hi Cody et al A very informative video that got me looking to experiment with kick recording. We did remove the whole of our reso head as too bouncy - thought about leaving it on with an internal pillow but worried about pillow movement/control - any thoughts? So long as you’ve two channels, using two mics i.e. a ‘proper’ kick mic for the reso ‘boom’ and a 57-type dynamic mic for the batter ‘slap’ may work, if phase alignment is checked? Appreciate it if you’d look to do a vid using two mics, be it ported, no head, or dual heads, as this tends to be the studio norm to capture both the 'boom’ and ‘slap’. Thanks, Chris, Sheffield, UK
Do you have any tips on how to make a tiny bass drum sound more punchy or/and loud? I have a 16" bass drum and i often hear that it's just inaudible during rehearsals and recording and i don't want to buy a new, bigger one nor punch a hole in the reso head. I thought about putting a trigger on it but i haven't yet figured out how would i then pass it further into some speakers
I also use a 16" kick on my gigging kit, with unported reso head. I use an Audix D6 mic internally mounted on a Kelly Shu. It sounds great through a PA. Not quite as BIG sounding as a 22" or 24", but punchy and full.
If you're feeling brave, for more volume try this - remo controlled sound black dot batter, clear ambassador reso, tuned medium with a tea towel stuffed between pedal and batter for a bit of muffling. Use a wood beater, put it on a riser, give it angood wallop. Plenty of volume
I would recommend tuning the bass drum a little bit higher; higher frequencies can be perceived as more audible and experiment with different beaters if unmiked. Also, changing position of the drum set in the room may help. A port hole would decrease the volume a little depending on the port size and the placement. After all, if your bandmates play too loud even a 24'' kick will not cut it. Rehearsing in lower volumes also unmask potential errors in playing, while they may be unnoticed with high volumes.
I never understood why people are so precious about the port holes. Seems like an example of group think. I have ported kicks right now, but it’s a kick port and it sounds great, but I generally prefer imported. It sounds better for most styles, except for those stripped down dead, muffled drum sounds that are popular right now.
What an excellent episode! I was using a ported reso head as preferred by the sound engineers, but I found that especially with smaller bass drums (18'' in my case) it lacked life. I have recently changed the reso to an unported G1 with an EMAD as a batter without any additional muffling and what a great sound out of that 18''. That ported head is now a back-up in case the engineers could not get around of that unported kick. Also, I like the miked batter from a visual point of view as the mic boom stand is not in the front of the bass drum - what a sleek and elegant look. What is your experience with the unported bass drums on live settings?
Agree about the smaller kick! I also use a bop kit for rock, with an 18 kick. Ditching the hole in the head and tuning a little higher than I first preferred filled out the sound much better.
I used exclusively un-ported kick drum for at least the last 5 years of gigging full time live (always "the convention" of ported before that) and often carried a ported head if I felt the sound engineer might get anxious, but I always found that using a decent kick mic (usually an AKG D112 or Shure Beta52A ) placed well worked perfectly. In my experience, if it was a smaller venue or stage, or if the FOH speakers (and especially subs) were quite close to the stage, that mic'ing from the batter head was not only an all-out winner, but was often better at rejecting low-end feedback than the old ported mic-in-the-hole method.
I didn't even realize this was a thing. I have been playing out on an unported head for years and nobody, sound guy or musician, has ever once mentioned it lol.
@@SoundsLikeADrum Thank you. Not only do I love your videos (I'm an OG subscriber) for the content but the little discoveries like this. Can't wait to try these.
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Tune the reso up for tone, tune it down for punchiness. This has always worked for me!
Bohnam had both heads mic'd and no hole..... pretty legendary bass drum sound!
Micing the batter head just blew my mind. Not only does it just sound good, I actually think that it's my favorite sound you got in this video.
It is the clear winner in this example. 👍
Agreed. I like that it gives the sound the player hears to the listener.
I am delightfully baffled. I still remember my very first bar gig where the sound guy absolutely chewed me out for not having a port, as if I walked into his living room with muddy boots on.
As an engineer, I started this video ready to tell you why you're wrong... because... I am a sound guy... but I learn a lot and stand corrected. Thank you for sharing. Cheers
Thanks so much for sharing that with us! We really appreciate it.
Sound guys are often skeptical with my no-hole. But they are always pleasantly surprised how good it sounds. I really feel like I lose something when I go to ported. For some reason I find that reso-side mic'ing sounds best with a non-coated reso head. I use a coated or calftone batter and a clear or smooth white Powerstroke 3 reso with the least amount of muffling I can get away with. The most annoying thing with no-hole is it's hard to adjust internal muffling. I usually use external methods. Final note, I don't bury the beater (but my kick still sounds decent when I do). Happy experimenting to find your sound!
I found that the main difference for me was burying the beater vs. bouncing it. With the port, every note has no time value. I vary the force of the stroke for volume dynamics and I can play right on top of wherever I want that beat to land. But wit no port, I have to bounce the beater, so my foot mechanics need to begin a fraction of a second earlier to land on the right spot, which alters my entire physical relationship to the part I’m playing. Plus, with a reso and no muffling a note can be an 1/8, 1/4, or even a half note depending on how hard I stroke. I tend to start thinking of the kick as if it were one part of the drum section in a Jazz band or marching band. The whole thing gets a lot looser that’s like a rumbling old engine in an antique car - it sounds like it’s about to fall apart until you realize that you’re boogieing down the road.
this is my favorite drum channel ever
I'm a drummer, and I also run sound at a local venue of mine, and every time I suggest mic'ing the batter head on the kick, the dudes freak out on me. If I can finally find some excuse to convince them to let me do it, they freak out again because it's the best live sound they've ever had on their kick. It has so many advantages, mainly for me, making sure the mic doesn't get kicked over on smaller stages. Word of advice from a drumming, guitar playing sound guy to the musicians, let us do our fucking job! Hahaha
I'm having the exact problem with our guitar/ player sound man! I have noble and cooley bass drum, what I feel can speak on its own without whacking a hole in the reso head.
At my small live blues venue, we only mic the bass drum. Pearl Reference Pure with two Powerstroke 3s, 5-inch port, and an Audix D6. Our subwoofer is a QSC K118 set at a volume of minus 7.
First off, the Reference Pure kick tone is phenomenal. Small Pearl pillow touching both heads slightly. Direct sound to the audience. The low end, punch, and tone are awesome not to mention hearing the wood. Yes, that mahogany/maple.
The Audix D6 placement makes the biggest difference in our subwoofer. We put it just inside and pointing across to the top of the shell near the batter (floor tom side). The D6 works best inside the kick. We capture the low end and tone, and surprisingly a warm beater sound.
That's what what works best for us with a ported head. We've experimented extensively.
As far as a non-ported head, we know how to do it, but haven't done it yet. We're definitely open to trying it when the chance comes.
I think that in my situation, because it's a house kit, more drummers will be more comfortable with the feel of a ported head. Therein lies the most important factor, the feel. I can play both, but not every drummer likes it.
Choose which feel you like better then learn how to maximize that setup and sound. Both are legit at all times.
Hallelujah. So great . Thanks The dramas I’ve had over decades. Leave you with 2 words - Bonham & Buddy .
And Morello...Former 10 year student of Joe and owner of his silver sparkle DWs. No muffling inside the kick except for some felt strips.
This video makes an excellent point. I stopped cutting holes on BD resos years ago, I learned from playing jazz that even small bass drums can sound MASSIVE with medium tuning on both heads and minimal damping. My go to kit is a Ludwig USA Clubdate with 20" kick, clear Evans batter and coated Remo Reso. Massive sound. Don't bury the beater. This thing will eat 22 and 24 inch kicks with ported heads. I had to learn to play with more dynamics because with all things being equal, the unported 20 will just overtake the rest of the kit. It's tone is somewhere between an 808, John Bonham, and Keith Carlock. I also use a small Tama Silverstar kit with 16" Bass drum for jazz/hip hop gigs and it gets really punchy sounds with no port. I encourage all of you to pick up a coated ambassador for your outside head, tune it to medium pitch with minimal or no damping. I guarantee it will be the biggest sound you get from your bass drum. Again, don't bury the beater... It will just flam and bounce with all that added rebound. Goodluck!
Coated ambassadors. My go to, every time.
I used coated ambassador on reso heads for my vintage slingerland. Also smooth. Any big reason you prefer coated over smooth? Do you think they are a touch warmer?
I play hiphop, d'n'b, dub, neo soul with a 16" kick. No port, pinstripe batter head just above wrinkles, stock single ply reso with a small external felt clip-on dampener to reduce sustai and four pieces of moongel to kill some overtones. The sound is huge, especially if I remove the felt dampener which works for some songs. Now, if I'd cut port in the reso I'd lose the big sound.
Love it!
I'd add, make sure your kick pedal is greased up, to eliminate the squeaky pedal sound when mic'ing the batter head! : )
Unless you want that authentic Zeppelin III experience, ha!
Agreed
Literally just recorded with my bass drum with no port yesterday. Excited to see how you did it
I’ve been using the “Kelly Shu” mic’ing system for a few years now with an Audix D6 mic, and I’ve never been happier. I play in a band that has our logo on the front kick head and I didn’t want to obstruct it and wanted to keep a vintage look since we play 60s British rock. I use the old tom mount hole in the top of the drum to run the XLR cable and mount my tom on a snare basket. I place the mic directly at the beater and about 2” away. Fantastic results!
Micing the batter side is an old trick which I learned back in my days recording Jazz.
Pretty common with a resonant head without a hole, but in pictures you can rarely see this mic. There are different techniques to approach this, but off course you have to be careful with squeaky pedals and seats. 😉
I once had a snare bottom mic holder get loose and accidentally rotated to the batter side of the kick drum and I now believe that this is one of the best ways to do it! Great video. I'm stoked to record some drums now!
This is great info, man. There’s so much ‘group think’ out here that has us all thinking there’s only one way to do everything, but especially with kicks. Why is that the only drum on the set that we mic on the opposite side?! 🤔 Even on my iPhone speakers, that kick sounded better mic’d at the beater.
I feel less alone ! I just love the feel and the sound of my 24" bass drum reso head without port hole, and I never had problems to mic it.
In a live situation, I usually double patch one kick mic on a half-way in the port of a kick drum, and EQ one input as the boom, and the other as the slap/knock/punch. They stay in phase, and you can vary the tone as needed by blending the two.
Edited for clarity.
That's always an option. Where do you place the mic?
@@SoundsLikeADrum this was a half in/half out with a port. Without a port I would probably keep it on center. I really liked the sound from the batter side that you showed us too.
Thank you for being so open minded and breaking this stuff down. I really enjoy your content thank you.
Thanks for the kind words- that means a lot!
That's cool. I never thought of micing the batter bass drum head . I like the feel and sound of a front head without a port. Thanks
This video is amazing. I legitimately feel smarter after watching the whole thing. Thank you!
Full resos work great for smaller bass drums like 16s and 18s
Super demonstration. The best pure sound for any bass drum is to have single ply clear heads on both sides. If you want to embellish the punch attach a quarter inch width of silk across the entire head of both sides. This will give you the exact sound of the drum ( wood) you are playing. Enjoy.
I've got an Audix D6 mounted internally with the Kelly Shu closed reso head. All the sound guys love me😉😊
I generally agree that you can get a great sound with a closed front head. There are several problems beyond “can you get a sound that you like” - 1. Mic bleed. It’s not that a sound person “can’t” mic a drum from the outside of the drum, it’s that in the majority of instances, you’re just making the job harder than it needs to be.
2. It requires a mic stand. I have been on a ton of ridiculously small stages, and the option to ditch the kick mic stand altogether is a great option that goes away without a port.
3. In the vast majority of modern music styles, the length of the kick drum note needs to be as short as possible. If the kick sound has a “tail” it will lack focus and begin to cause problems with the other bass instruments. A lot of drummers don’t want to hear this, but I promise you won’t regret paying attention to this.
The bass drum sounds dead no matter if you have a port hole or not. He`s using a batter Emad bass head with the foam going around the entire head as you can see in 7:23 in the video. More deader sound than the Power Stroke 3 head with the ring around the entire back head. I just use the old school tuning with a felt strip on both bass drum heads and of course no port hole. This gives me a more open sound with a note to the bass drum. If you like the dead sounding bass drum, than go for the port hole with pillows inside the bass drum and that emad drum head.
I evolved where I put the overheads to get as much beater in them as possible because I don’t have a port, there’s a lot to be learned from moving them forward and backward and up and down in terms of blending that and the cymbals in a 4 mic setup
Cutting a port is sacrilegious.
I have been using solid heads on my kick with a Randall May mic system since 2004. I have tried many different placements as well as different muffling techniques over the years to finally get the sound I was looking for.
I just found your channel a few days ago and think I'm addicted haha! Keep up the great work and much love!
Search for about any drum tech topic and SLAD probably talks about it.
Man your videos are fantastic, very professional and extremely informative for every skill level of drummer.
When I have done live sound, due more to constraints of mic placement, I have mic'd the bottom head of toms, the batter head of kicks, and the sides of snares. I was able to make all of them work. Yep, the drummers were usually terrified that it wouldn't be ok... lol. One thing I haven't tried is micing the side of a kick drum. Have you tried that? How was it?
As long as it sounds good, anything goes! As far as miking the shell of the kick (from the outside) that doesn't really produce much of a bass drum sound (the shell isn't moving anywhere near as much as some people might think). We're going to cover this a bit more in the future. Cheers!
@@SoundsLikeADrum I know you've covered it, but side or shell of a snare is a really usable sound many times. Yeah, first time I tried "alternate micing" was when I had a drummer on stage who had his cymbals so low that I couldn't fit a mic on top of the toms without being in his way. I just ran them underneath and it sounded fine. No over heads. The room was small enough that you could hear the attack ambiently and through the vocal mics. After that I would spend about 2 seconds trying to mic from the batter and if that wasn't happening, I'd go right to the reso. Thanks again for busting myths and opening minds!
I know this video is an older one, but I just watched it today. I have no interest in cutting a hole in my kick drum reso head or buying another one with a port. After this video, this evening I moved my Beta 52A around to the batter head. I love the difference that I'm hearing with my in ears with this mic position. Thank you Ben and Cody!
I love this show, I love this channel, I love these videos and these themes and especially y'all's incredibly well-thought-out insights.
I just played a show at a venue without a kick port, this info will definitely be coming in handy in the future 😁
So you leave the pillow inside touching both heads, and no port hole?
Thank you so much for this! I have always preferred a front head without a port for more tone…and have had to deal with the eye rolls and snarky comments from the sound guys. No more!
I caught two grumpy sound guys over the years with a knife in their hands about to cut a hole in my unported bass drum head just before soundcheck! To the idea that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a sound out of a bass drum without sticking a mike inside of it, I would reply that there are about 15 other mics on the stage and none of them are not 'inside' their instruments. Or inside their singers...
I also experienced a situation where the technicians wanted to cut a hole in my bassdrum reso head. But at the end they were kind of surprised with the sound.
I do not like that punchy pop/rock kick sound anyway so I wouldn't bother the bring the mic around to the batter side.
I love drums with both heads on and no holes. I always mic a bass drum as if you were mic’ing a snare, with the mic on the side of the drum, resonant side. Much more depth, in my opinion! Although most of the drummers I have mic’ed were into John Bonham….
I use a full reso head and an internally mounted D112 using a Kelly Shu mount and that works well for me. I have an old 1984 Tama Royalstar and since I no longer use the tom mount on the top of the bass drum, I fabricated an XLR jack in place of the tom mount. Live sound engineers seem to like it (or maybe they are just being nice, lol).
An engineer I regularly work with likes the Shure Beta 91 plus a reso mic but I came in one time with a lightly pillow-muffled kick without a port so we cabled the Beta91 through the tom mount holes. The combo between the mics gave us plenty of mixing control. A nice alternative to those permanent internal mic systems. Maybe not ideal for live. Recommended experiment for those who can!
My Yamaha Stage Customs came with a solid reso head. It shiney black with the Yamaha logo at the top. So my first instinct to mic it was to put it on the batter side. It definitely gives a nice deep sound on my kit. And if you think of it as an extension of the toms this makes perfect sense.
One thing I have had to do for live gigs is a reso-muffle that clamps on to the front BD hoop and has a spring holding it against the head. This works to dampen the sound, especially with no port.
I don’t know if it’s still available, but didn’t Evans make a “vented” BD head? I believe the vents were hidden in the logo at the top edge of the head.
loved this episode! I recently discovered how awesome a non ported head can be (fancy new kit came non ported). I feel like it can give the drum more character. it sounds more like a drum than just a low fundamental. although I prefer the feel and pedal response of ported, I prefer the sound of nonported greatly
For the batter side, I just bought the brand new remo emperor SMT head and it sounds AMAZING! I didn't like the idea of clothes in the bass so...this eliminates that. Plenty of dampening! Now, the reso head is black with LUDWIG in bold letters and...I really love that head. Doesn't have a hole in it but...I don't want to use any other SO...thank you for explaining that I can mic without a hole.🤭
I like less attack, full tone. I use a DTP 640 (it has a condenser and dynamic mic - 2 outputs) and I just point it at the middle of the unported reso head like an inch away. With some muffling I can get a punchy sound, or unmuffled I get a huge, full sound that’s beautiful.
This EP helps me so much because I want Yamaha SC Hip which comes with a shallow 20” BD. The un-ported reso would be perfect.
Never thought about putting the mic on the batter side…. Sounded great!
I spend a lot of time and thought getting a good sound. I like a front resohead. One of our sound guys said "sure it sounds good back where you are" when he was trying to talk me into using a port. That gave me the same idea. I've been miking from the back ever since.
Thank you! This should be required viewing for all sound engineers... I get, at the very least, a little comment from the soundman when I show up with a non-ported BD. Seriously??? A very disheartening way to start the night. *But, last week the guy mic'ed BOTH heads. Fantastic response to my personal choice to not port the head! It sounded great.
My beginner drum set had an uncut head, when I upgraded years ago it already had a port hole. Kinda made it easy to put the sweater and towel I put in there. Awesome video btw, I really like the sound of the head with a port hole. I never had a chance to record with by first set, never really thought about what it would have sounded like. Thanks guys
Love the idea of micing the bass batter 👍😀 Best reason to port the reso is so that you can move the muffling around, inside the drum, without having to remove the head. I use a "snake" draft excluder which I can pull through the port if I don't want any muffling at all.
I love your channel, and this video is great. However, for me the FEEL of an un-ported kick drum head is of much greater consequence than the sound. For me, it's night and day. I do hear the difference and I enjoy both sounds, but I find it extremely challenging to switch between and ported and un-ported kick drums. Today I unboxed a new drum set and the stock head has no port. It sounds excellent, but I can barely play it because the batter head keeps hitting the beater again after it strikes the head. For me, this is enough reason to port the drum because to my ears both sound good and at this point I'm far more comfortable with the feel of the ported kick drum. I guess I just felt like that was worth mentioning. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! The basis of this episode is that you already prefer a non-ported reso. We’re not trying to convince anyone that they should switch from ported to non-ported if they’re happy. The message here was that you don’t need a port to produce a punchy sound and that the often perceived miking issues are really non-issues if tryouts willing to think outside the box a bit. Cheers!
Very cool, the way I did it last night with my 20 inch diameter 28 inch deep kick was with an akgd112 centered in front of the reso head about 4 inches off and I put a hohner harp blaster harmonica microphone pointed where the beater strikes the batter head but I was also using it to get some snare side sound. After some tweaking to get it all in phase I was pleasantly surprised.
Thanks for another awesome video!
28" deep? 🤯
My main reason for porting is I don’t want to annoy sound engineers! This video is so timely as I’ve ended up getting a 70s style large hole, current 5” hole and my vintage premier original reso head. Sound engineers have complained when there was no port years ago
mic'ing the batter side is absolutely brilliant. Reverb did a video on getting the drum sound for Iggy Pop's Lust for Life. Now I use a kick mic on the reso AND i throw a generic dynamic mic on the batter side and together they make a fantastic sound that is strikingly similar to what i hear in the room.
I have seen the mic on the batter side a lot of times, but never alone, always combined with another one on the reso side, so to get the attack from one, the low end from the other, and then you can do in the mix whatever you need to do with them. The down side of this (besides you need 2 mics) is that if the drummer doesn't have a very smooth and silent pedal, you may be capturing a lot of squeak as well. On the other side, I can't even imagine listening to some Led Zeppelin's songs without that squeak, like Since I've been loving you...
And yes, you definitely can get great sounds with both, ported or unported reso heads, however I usually prefer ported ones, mostly for practical reasons: if you need to manipulate whatever inside the drum, mostly muffling or a mic, it's obviously way easier and quicker to do with a ported head. If you have to do it with an unported one, well, you know, take the head out, adjust what you have to, put the head on, tune, try again... and if you aren't satisfied, repeat.... you know...
And concerning the feel when I play, I have no problem with it. Many people tend to tune the batter side very loose and the reso tighter, I do it the other way around. It's not that I tune very high the batter, just enough for feeling it "alive" and having some tone and some rebound, then I tune the reso side lower, and it also gives low end. Anyway, even if you use an unported reso, if you tune the batter too low and use much muffling (like a fat pillow touching both heads), it's not that you're gonna have much rebound, I think...
Fab video. For some reson I've never tried the batter side micing option but I will now. I like having an unported head on my bass but the reason I stick with a hole isn't so much the micing as the desire to be able to faff about with the muffling without having to remove the heads. I think you guys covered external muffling. I even got one of those old-fashioned disc-shaped clamp-on mufflers for a bass but never got it to sound the same as a pillow or whatever inside. I was going to do some productive stuff tomorrow but I think I may find myself faffing about with this instead haha
It seems a little funny to me that you have this very large drum, 20 or 22 inches, that is deadened to the point where it doesn't even sound like a drum anymore, to get a sound that you could probably get out of a thick piece of card board. Card board would be way easier to move around and much cheaper! I use a full reso head, nothing inside the drum, and lay a pillow against the front of the reso head so I can deaden or not deaden as I like without taking heads off. I mike the batter head, add a snare mic and overheads, and I'm done. The kick drum mic picks up the snare and hi-hat, and the snare mic picks up the hi-hat and kick drum, which inevitable. For home recording it sounds great, and with a little mixing you get a pretty good stereo image. I've thought about building a product with a piece of cardboard mounted on a wood frame attached to a foot pedal. Great for recording the dead slap sound so many drummers are looking for. Probably wouldn't look so cool on stage.
Have done Mikey on the front had many a times it works very well
Thanks a lot for suggesting this option.
Another one I'm experimenting is what the finnish custom drums company Kumu came up with:
a hole in the shell!
Sure, I hesitated a lot, but I did make a side hole in my 18' bass drum shell (about 4 inches diameter), with a medium-low tuning, no muffling.
It works perfectly in terms of tone, punch and micing situations!
Besides, I still can reach the inside of the bass drum if muffling needed or changed.
Interesting! Do you have a stopper that you can put in there to plug it or alter the size depending on preferences?
@@SoundsLikeADrum I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understood your question: are you talking about a way to plug directly the shell from the inside?
Obviously, my english level is not helping there!
(Hello from France 😉)
@@arachpanahi8082 Yes, though we're curious about the use of a plug for the shell from the outside so that you can regulate the airflow. As we've mentioned and demonstrated in previous episodes, minimizing the escape of air from the shell allows for even lower tuning so we'd love to know if you've experimented with altering the size of the port with some means of plugging the hole in the shell to varying degrees.
@@SoundsLikeADrum I see.
No, I didn't go this far in my experimentations with the possibilities of the side hole.
But I surely will!
Thanks a lot for your suggestions here and your whole dedication to our beloved instrument!
10 out of 10 as always. I did a brief search on a new found idea the other day. The sound professional at my church who works at Sweetwater suggested a better sound hack. Place the snare mic aligned with snare wires. This means turning most of most drums sideways to accomplish this which is fine. But does this actually sound better with mic pointing down the snare drum as norm? only point down the wires instead of perpendicular. Keep up the great work! Mic - -- Wires
🥁🥁🥁
That's interesting. I never even considered that.
The batter head mic is a great old idea! If anyone happens to try it at home make sure the phase is correct, especially if you use two microphones or more on the kick drum!
I literally just changed my kick attack mic to the beater side too!! cuz I've always been using the no porthole! this is so great, I was thinking the same EXACT thing that that is how we mic everything else haha!
I use a small port well off-center, but no internal muffling, just an EMAD with the smaller foam ring and a PowerStroke 3 front head to control overtones (plus a plastic port protector, if that matters). It behaves more like an unported bass drum at low volumes, but still has good punch at higher volumes, just with a slightly longer note. For someone who is too lazy to change setups most of the time, it's the best compromise I've found so far (the drum also hardly ever leaves the house).
I thought your methods came close enough for most use cases, and I can understand wanting to keep the front head unported if you switch sounds a lot and can't afford two heads, but the first two didn't have quite the same punch, and I thought having the mic on the batter side sounded a bit too clicky and plasticky (perhaps some EQing would make it sound great). Porting a front head isn't hard, and with everything else set up the right way, still sounds the best.
If I could do it all over again (I ported the stock head with logo), I'd figure out a way to do the multiple tiny perimeter ports thing, instead of a single 4" mic port (a drill with a large bit, maybe?). I really like the way that sounds. Do any of the drum head companies offer such a head, or is it just something they do for the likes of DW and Sonor?
I first heard a DW 18" kick with those those multiple tiny vents/holes and couldn't believe how good it sounded. I couldn't find any such heads where I live, so I ended up making one myself very easily from a standard reso head, using a 1cm hole punch to punch the holes evenly around the perimeter of the head, about 3cm from the edge. (obviously taking head off drum first and laying it upside-down over a wooden work surface) With that head, I need no muffling at all. It basically gives you the extra tone and acoustic low-end body of an un-ported head, but it becomes significantly drier and more controlled without losing the un-ported feel.
I don't like ports.
As you have so gratefully stated, we've put mics in front, and on top of, everything for decades.
My reasoning: would you cut a hole in your snare batter, and fill it with pillows?
Great vid, by the way. Love your work.
Thanks for your comment! In response to the question within your reasoning; if it sounds good, go for it! A snare drum and a bass drum are pretty different instruments. Most people also wouldn't play their bass drum with sticks but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play your snare drum with sticks...
I have a new 24” x 14” Ludwig Classic Oak unported kick. I play shows at bars and dont mic anything. Whats the best way to get the best sound, so it projects to the back of the bar?
another good one. first rule of recording - there IS NO WRONG. if it sounds good, it IS good. and you won't know what that is until you've gotten down in the weeds to see/hear.
having said that, i like to have a port in my kick drum so i can put a mic inside, or take one out, or move it around, or put some muffling in there and/or move it around without taking one of the heads completely off. on a completely related note...... i'm lazy.
If a player prefers no port on the reso head, the absolute best option for a sound, that will satisfy all situations, is an internally mounted mic. In a live situation with a significant amount of sound reinforcement, a bass drum with no port and mic external, is asking for a sound that will not translate the way you want it to... at least without a lot of heavy lifting by way of processing. The problem with the "why can't we do it that way?" thinking on this is, the majority of drum sounds that we are trying to produce were created with ported reso heads, or no reso head at all.
In this video, the clear standout for a sound with all the qualities you could want is the mic on the batter head position.
*Incoming unpopular opinion.* 😏 Honestly, the very popular trend of the last couple of decades, of the mic position reproducing the sound of the air blowing out of the port, onto the diaphragm, is one that I wish would wane in popularity. That position in this example is the clear loser, from what I'm anticipating as a balanced, usable sound. Mic either in, or out of the drum, but the air hitting the mic just isn't anything resembling a balance of what the drum is producing. My thought on how this came to be is because of mics like the RE20 and MD421 being used for decades, but because of their size, the diaphragm would actually be in the drum. Newer mic designs in similar positions are just micing a puff of air. Low end bump? Sure. Sound "like a drum"? In my opinion... No. Too much mic positioning because of look, and no critical listen. Can it work with a bunch of mics in different positions being blended, and/or processed? Of course. But why not just put a great mic, on a great source, and be 99% there already?
Great video
I didn’t like the way my kick pedal reacted without having a port to let the air escape. It was giving me a weird double bounce on the batter head. Dw collector 23” bass with original heads with the small holes round the reso head.
Can't tell you how many times a sound guy has complained that there's no hole in my kick. It's infuriating.
That's precisely why we made this episode.
Good day sir how to tune kick drum like your kick drum sounds?
heres an idea for SLAD 2023... Invite drummers to discuss tuning, setup, try different approaches... now THAT would be cool. :D
I was hoping to see a shure Beta 91A tested inside the kick drum; could a micro-XLR cable be used through the drum vent hole?
That's an option but, as mentioned at the end, requires setting something up semi-permanently. What we're demoing here is that you don't need additional gear to make this work. Internal mics are great but, keep in mind that the vent hole isn't just for show. You want some air to be able to escape. Blocking it with a cable can prevent that.
there are full size XLR passthrough jacks that you drill a fresh 7/8" hole to install, unless you've got a collector's piece or an expensive set it might be worth it. I've been thinking about installing one just to keep the cable off the edge of the reso port.
In that particular drum a standard XLR will fit in one of the tom arm holes. That is what I use in my gigging kit. I actually replaced the tom mount with a plate that has an XLR jack mounted in it. Just velcro the 91 down and you have consistent kick mic placement and one less thing to worry about. Also gives the sound person an extra sound source if they want it.
Thank you Cody! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! 😊
If you never mic the bass drum do you even need a port at all?.... this video would suggest no. At least that’s what I got out of it; also I think I agree. Excellent video as always! Thanks
It depends on the sound/feel you're looking for. We approached this from the standpoint of already preferring the sound and feel of a bass drum without a port. That said, plenty of people enjoy how a ported bass drum sounds and feels even when they're not miking it up.
hot take new kick drums should come with XLR passthrough jacks on the side as standard so you can have a beta91 or whatever inside and still have a full front head.
I drilled one into mine, and added an Audix D6 on a Kelly Shu. Works super well.
Great examples, but you missed one that used to be done in small Jazz clubs. Put a bar towel around a mike place it in the Bass route the lead through the air port. Great job👍👍
Are the mic lead plugs removable? (Does it require a soldering iron?)
Fantastic video. Thanks
Cody any takes on inside mic and no ported reso head? Thankx for super and well done info on this video 🙏🏻
Cody doesn't usually answer questions on here and since I engineer all of our sessions, I'll jump in on this one. Placing a mic inside the kick can work really well in certain situations. It all depends on tuning and what sound you're looking to capture. I would generally use an internal mic more for the attack and would likely run a high pass filter. Depending on the amount of muffling present, you could end up with a lot of that "basket ball tone". Cheers! -Ben
Batter head mic and a sub kick mic is my favorite setup.
With the no port option, do you still have muffling inside bass drum?
I find all of this to be true when playing off the head, I struggle to play a non ported reso head if I am playing a style where I am digging in instead of playing off the kick. Any tips for how to make it work with a heel up dug in approach?
I don't like the hole in my bass drum and I like the feel without the hole but I get a lot of flack from sound guys that they can't mic my bass drum properly. My bass drum sounds amazing . How do I explain this to these sound guys.
That’s pretty much what this video was all about. Have them mix from the batter side for more attack or from the reso if that captures the sound. Have the discussion.
It works better with evans drumhead than remo china head i made the switch can t believe the diff the sounds is pure joy👏🇨🇦😊
Great content, thanks for posting. Just curious, can you tell me what snare mic you are using in this video.
Thanks! We list all of the gear in use in the video descriptions. Our go-to mic for snare and toms has been the AKG C518m.
Sounds good. Sounds very good
i use no port in the reso head and i mic the bass drum with a boundary layer microphone Sennheiser Evolution 901 in front of the reso head. i tell the sound man to take out or play with the 5k "heavy metal" frequency. that's about the punch or not.
You content is brilliant. Sorry for second comment. How about 2 mikes . Reso & batter ? Mike suggestions or anything else ? Bravo 👏
Good trick to make up for lost punchiness using a full reso head... use a wood beater.
Hi Cody et al
A very informative video that got me looking to experiment with kick recording. We did remove the whole of our reso head as too bouncy - thought about leaving it on with an internal pillow but worried about pillow movement/control - any thoughts?
So long as you’ve two channels, using two mics i.e. a ‘proper’ kick mic for the reso ‘boom’ and a 57-type dynamic mic for the batter ‘slap’ may work, if phase alignment is checked?
Appreciate it if you’d look to do a vid using two mics, be it ported, no head, or dual heads, as this tends to be the studio norm to capture both the 'boom’ and ‘slap’.
Thanks, Chris,
Sheffield, UK
Do you have any tips on how to make a tiny bass drum sound more punchy or/and loud? I have a 16" bass drum and i often hear that it's just inaudible during rehearsals and recording and i don't want to buy a new, bigger one nor punch a hole in the reso head. I thought about putting a trigger on it but i haven't yet figured out how would i then pass it further into some speakers
I also use a 16" kick on my gigging kit, with unported reso head. I use an Audix D6 mic internally mounted on a Kelly Shu. It sounds great through a PA. Not quite as BIG sounding as a 22" or 24", but punchy and full.
If you're feeling brave, for more volume try this - remo controlled sound black dot batter, clear ambassador reso, tuned medium with a tea towel stuffed between pedal and batter for a bit of muffling. Use a wood beater, put it on a riser, give it angood wallop. Plenty of volume
I would recommend tuning the bass drum a little bit higher; higher frequencies can be perceived as more audible and experiment with different beaters if unmiked. Also, changing position of the drum set in the room may help. A port hole would decrease the volume a little depending on the port size and the placement. After all, if your bandmates play too loud even a 24'' kick will not cut it. Rehearsing in lower volumes also unmask potential errors in playing, while they may be unnoticed with high volumes.
Just wondering what cymbal Cody is playing in this video?
I never understood why people are so precious about the port holes. Seems like an example of group think. I have ported kicks right now, but it’s a kick port and it sounds great, but I generally prefer imported. It sounds better for most styles, except for those stripped down dead, muffled drum sounds that are popular right now.
I used to struggle with a non ported head. Wish I had stuck with it
It's never too late to keep experimenting!
God i need this video so much 😂😂😂
What an excellent episode! I was using a ported reso head as preferred by the sound engineers, but I found that especially with smaller bass drums (18'' in my case) it lacked life. I have recently changed the reso to an unported G1 with an EMAD as a batter without any additional muffling and what a great sound out of that 18''. That ported head is now a back-up in case the engineers could not get around of that unported kick. Also, I like the miked batter from a visual point of view as the mic boom stand is not in the front of the bass drum - what a sleek and elegant look. What is your experience with the unported bass drums on live settings?
Agree about the smaller kick! I also use a bop kit for rock, with an 18 kick. Ditching the hole in the head and tuning a little higher than I first preferred filled out the sound much better.
I used exclusively un-ported kick drum for at least the last 5 years of gigging full time live (always "the convention" of ported before that) and often carried a ported head if I felt the sound engineer might get anxious, but I always found that using a decent kick mic (usually an AKG D112 or Shure Beta52A ) placed well worked perfectly. In my experience, if it was a smaller venue or stage, or if the FOH speakers (and especially subs) were quite close to the stage, that mic'ing from the batter head was not only an all-out winner, but was often better at rejecting low-end feedback than the old ported mic-in-the-hole method.
I didn't even realize this was a thing. I have been playing out on an unported head for years and nobody, sound guy or musician, has ever once mentioned it lol.
Hi guys. What are the black things the spurs are sitting on?
Those are KBrakes to keep the drum from sliding at all. Super effective!
@@SoundsLikeADrum Thank you. Not only do I love your videos (I'm an OG subscriber) for the content but the little discoveries like this. Can't wait to try these.