guitar amp as kick drum mic

[smopo24]

has anyone else used a guitar amp/bass amp as a kick drum mic? i just did over the weekend, in conjunction with another kick drum mic (shure beta 52). what kind of results has this had for you? what gave you the idea to try it?

[Nubus]

Woah how did it come out? What size speaker? I was going to try that myself but I hadn't had the effort required to take a speaker out of a cab... I guess I didn't think about leaving it in.

[dagosto]

It's just a big "WWOOMFF"

It can be rather dramatic and can also help if you don't have a mic tailored to kick drum. A friend of mine described it to me one time and I tried it. I haven't done it in a real long time.

[dolivas]

I just read this and then I saw this on the Radiohead site:



Looks like they're using the same technique for their Gretsch.

[Nubus]

I can imagine that speaker sound mixing well with a PZM for click attack. This seems like it would work for metal to me.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by Nubus

Woah how did it come out? What size speaker? I was going to try that myself but I hadn't had the effort required to take a speaker out of a cab... I guess I didn't think about leaving it in.

it came out great, much fuller than just a regular kick. together they had a nice snap and great bass response (the woosh/whoomp was gone when we muted the track and it left something to be desired); but if you have just a kick mic or just the amp it wouldn't be as good. there were no phase issues (they were close to each other, and the amp was on a telephone book to get the full effect and no bass rumble from the floor interfering ), and the amp was a crate gtx-15r with an 8" speaker. i had heard albini uses this in a pinch and wanted to try it.

[lukedavo]

Yeah they're all transducers just the same. I personally have never done this for kick, but I do often use headphones as a super easy stereo mic.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by lukedavo

Yeah they're all transducers just the same. I personally have never done this for kick, but I do often use headphones as a super easy stereo mic.

i've tried that before; but i haven't had very good results. it's one of those "use if you absolutely have to" soloutions; but i'm sure it has interesting results.

[lukedavo]

Just like any recording its important have the mic in the proper position. You cant just hold it up in the air, or put it anywhere in the room. 1 handeling noise, and 2 room noise will quickly make the recording sound horrible. I like to put them up against a wall or surface with direct reflection of the sound sources. Creating a pzm effect will help gather a balanced signal, and help to not get as much of the room as you would otherwise. Im talking centered and no more than 20 ft from the source.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by lukedavo

Just like any recording its important have the mic in the proper position. You cant just hold it up in the air, or put it anywhere in the room. 1 handeling noise, and 2 room noise will quickly make the recording sound horrible. I like to put them up against a wall or surface with direct reflection of the sound sources. Creating a pzm effect will help gather a balanced signal, and help to not get as much of the room as you would otherwise. Im talking centered and no more than 20 ft from the source.

that sounds like a pretty cool idea. what have you used the headphone mic on?