using kick mics for flr toms

[itchie]

just wondering is anyone on the forum using a kick mic to mic the floor tom and what you have experienced when doing this ?

[truckerdrummer]

only one i've ever used has been a d-6... and it sounds fine, but i did end up rolling off some of the bottom cuz it can introduce a little extra boom. i know the d 6 has a fairly generous eq curve built into it, maybe a different mic with a flatter response would be a better choice. bottom end is always relative but it seems like any time i've tried to introduce much below 80hz on anything other than the kick it starts to get a little mushy and starts losing some definition. give it a go ! just keep the high pass filter at the ready!

[Bish]

I had a matching CAD 7 set of mics and used the "bass drum" one for the floor toms with my Pearls since I used my Shure Beta 52 for my bass drum. No issues at all.

If you experiment, let us know what you think.

Good question, BTW.

[drumsetsnide]

I used a Beta 52 on my 16 once in the studio. Didn't notice any difference with my ear and only a slight difference on the grid in Pro Tools.

[Jemini]

I use an AKGD112 on my 14" ft, sounds great. Captures the low end really well and mimics a 16"...almost. Much nicer sounding than a Sennheiser e604 on the floor tom.

Try it out, you just might like it. I have a couple videos up in the video forum if you want to hear an example, though the songs I have up might not give you the best impressions since the drums are mixed with a track.

[drumsetsnide]

Having a bass drum mic on a floor tom doesn't make that much of a difference. I think most people that say "yeah, sounds great!" are just having a self-fulfilling prophesy. They WANT it to sound fantastic and convince themselves it does. The frequencies that a bass mic will pick up over a tom mic are hardly (if at all) noticeable by ear.

[Jemini]

Having a bass drum mic on a floor tom doesn't make that much of a difference. I think most people that say "yeah, sounds great!" are just having a self-fulfilling prophesy. They WANT it to sound fantastic and convince themselves it does. The frequencies that a bass mic will pick up over a tom mic are hardly (if at all) noticeable by ear.

I wouldn't do this if it didn't make a difference over using the Sennheiser e604, as I mentioned I tried both and the AKGD112 produced a better raw sound than the e604. I try to get the best raw sound before adding any EQ so that I can achieve the best natural sound possible.

If it's all in my head, well then at least I can use 2 kick mics to mic by bass drum if I needed to.

[scottyp]

i trigger my kick so my cad 7 is on my large floor tom. sounds great.

[drumstix]

Mate at uni used a D-112 on a floor tom in some electronic music. Never heard his stuff but he raved about the massive sound he got for the next week.

[itchie]

ok so after a few experiments i found i ended up cutting out most of the low end to tighten up the tracks ...and lets face it most of the sound comes from good over head positioning

sm57 are still the king in my studio

[truckerdrummer]

"and lets face it most of the sound comes from good over head positioning"

i will second that.... most people don't believe me when i try to tell them that