Turtlerock Forum

Hi all, If you had the choice of either a md 421, sm7 or re20 for your kik, which one would you use?
thoughts anybody.

I would take the RE20, I could eq that to sound like any other kik mic, more or less.

Yes for the RE20. Great mic.

RE20 here too, but i do prefer the old ones over the new, and i have found this using different mics, old and new.

thanks for the input guys, Chris would your choice still be a new re20 over the other mics. I'm looking to buy a dedicated
bass/kik mic and those 3 came up the most in my research.

I'd check out the Beyer M88 also. Its a great kick/bass mic but also works great on guitars and especially vocals.

13thbeach wrote:I'd check out the Beyer M88 also. Its a great kick/bass mic but also works great on guitars and especially vocals.

+1 on the M88

ppaul wrote:thanks for the input guys, Chris would your choice still be a new re20 over the other mics. I'm looking to buy a dedicated
bass/kik mic and those 3 came up the most in my research.

I'd look around to buy an older one. I like a few options on hand for recording kik. Worth mentioning is the audio technica AT25 as well. More often than not it just works. For bass, i don't like dynamic mics... Combining a dynamic in the drum with a fet LDC back a foot or so from the kik depending on spill etc are all part of the toolkit. I have also been using a 12 inch Rola in an old movie projector speaker box

The RE20 is a versatile mic. Sometimes people use it on floor tom, and there are all those pics of Tom Yorke singing into one.
Engineers/producers seem to mostly stick a D12 in my bass drum even when there's an RE20 available.
The popular set up I see is D12 inside, U47 outside.
In the 80's it was almost always 421 inside. But back then bass drums were clickier, don't know if the 421 was a factor in achieving that tone.

TimS wrote:

13thbeach wrote:I'd check out the Beyer M88 also. Its a great kick/bass mic but also works great on guitars and especially vocals.

+1 on the M88

another +1 on the m88

Another +1 on the m88. I also use the Audio Technica ATM250 DE, a dual head mic designed for bass drum. Both are great

headman

It's a very distinct sound, but in my experience, the Beta52A has never failed to make even the crappest kick sound great.... I've found that all the mics mentioned are fantastic, with the right kick drum... but if it's poorly tuned, old skins, dud beater etc... I pull out the Beta.

Dave

I reckon the mic you want really depends on the approximate 'sound' of the kick that you're after. My 'go-to' kick mic is an electrovoice N/D868. It's kinda like an RE20 but tailored for kick drum. It gives a pronounced 'thud' sound whilst still giving a little of the mid-range.

D12's are great but have lots more mid range. M88's are great, but more like a Beta52. I also don't feel that comfortable putting the M88 inside a kick drum, not sure why but the capsule is a little fragile (no matter what beyer tell you) and it is prone to popping. Once it's gone, it's more expensive to repair than to replace.

A Beyer M380 is more suited to kick drum I think, but is a little woofy. Audio Technica ATM25 is good too, but I prefer them on toms than kicks.

I always use an outside mic (or a subkick) as well as an inside mic. perfect outside mic I find is a rode classic II.

As always, it depends more on the kick drum and player than the mic you choose but hey. Having lots of kick drum mics is fun!

Chris

Once again thanks for all the input guys, I've been able to find an AT atm250 for around $310aud or with a bit more haggling a m88 for $550. I've also deceided not to worry about bass, this mic will be purely for kik. Rick did an album
with the Celibate Rifles, "beyond respect" the opening track on that CD is the kik sound I'm after or, as close as possible

that kick is a close miked in a big room

neve 1064 pre ,neumann 47 fet ... and a shit kit
lots of really compressed drum room (rca 44 ribbons) in the mix
so i am not sure just new mike will do it :)

andy stewart actually tracked it for me

audix d6