Things You'll Need:
- Bass drum New drum heads Kick drum microphone Blanket and/or pillow
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Step 1
Get in tune. Tune one lug, turning it clockwise to raise the pitch of the drum head. Then move to the lug on the opposite side of the drum's rim and repeat, trying to match the pitch. You can test this with a light tap of the drumstick about an inch from the lug. Move to the next lug and then to its opposite lug, matching the pitch of each one as you go. When the drum's pitch sounds consistent around the entire drum head, your drum is in tune.
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Step 2
Dampen the drum. Most drums will require muffling to tame any unpleasant resonance and ringing. Take off the front head or have a large enough hole cut in the front head to facilitate mic placement and add a thin blanket into the drum. This should take care of the excess ringing. Experiment with a thicker blanket and/or a pillow until you're comfortable with the sound.
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Step 3
Pick your mic. A large diaphragm dynamic mic is best, and there are many to choose from. The AKG D112 is a solid choice, as is the Shure BETA A52A, and both are reasonably priced in the $200 range. Of course, in a budget emergency you can always fall back on the good old Shure SM57, which should be able to handle the task and can be had for half the price.
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Step 4
Deciding on where to place the mic. Slight changes in the placement and angle of the mic can mean significant changes to the sound, so take the time to experiment until you find a sound that pleases you. A good place to start is with the mic just outside of the front of the drum, and pointing at the beater. Then gradually move the mic forward until you get the result you want. The closer you move the mic to the beater, the more of a tight "click" or "slap" you'll hear. Of course, the trade-off is that you lose the natural tone of the drum, so it all comes down to personal taste.
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Step 5
Balance the equalizer. Use a low pass filter to eliminate largely unheard sub-sonic frequencies that only serve to muddy up your mix and rob you of valuable headroom. You could also cut high frequencies containing any annoying resonant ringing that can also clutter up the mix. It's a good idea to do this with the bass guitar playing, so that you don't end up with the kick and bass guitar competing in the same frequency range.
