Kick drum sound

[dum-dum-soc]

Let me tell you guys what the problem is. I have a gretsch usa maple kit with a 22X18 kick. The kit sounds nice but a few people have comented on how they would like to hear more low end out of my kick. I am currently using a powerstroke 3 bater and ressoant head. I have also tried the powerstroke 4 head and will next try the super kick 2. Is my kick problems a result of my tuning or is this just how gretsch kicks sound? If I get rid of this kit then my next choice is a yamaha maple absolute kit.

[elpatricio]

What muffling are you using? If you are using no muffling, you should have no problem at all getting a low-end boom out of a 22x18" kick with power stroke IIIs. In which case the problem is most likely your tuning (too high on one or both sides), and whether or not your beater is hitting the head flat and dead center. For tuning, try loosening both heads completley. Start with the batter head and gradually tighten them up in very small increments and test until you find the sound you are looking for.

Also, what type of sound are you looking for? A sustained low end boom, or a short controlled attack? You can try cutting a sound hole for the later option, you will loose power but gain definition, and if you are using a kick mic you can pretty much tweak the sound to perfection with eq from then on. The right sort of muffling can give you added low end and definition in certain rooms, but again will loose you a lot of power in others. It will however give you a much better pedal response.

On my fusion kit (mapex orion) I have a 22x18" thin maple shell kick drum which probably sounds a lot like yours. I use a PSIII on the resonant, with no sound hole, and an Evans clear EMAD on the batter with the 'Remo Dave Weckl Adjustable Bass Drum Muffling System' on the batter head. I get pretty much the perfect sound i'm looking for and I can adjust it to most room situations using the EMAD rings. The Weckl thing is great because it means I always have good pedal response, without excessive muffling - ie most of the shell is empty and can still breath. I don't know if Remo still make it, but you can achieve the same effect with a rolled up towell taped to the bottom edge of the shell and head.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 23, 2005 07:57 AM: Message edited by: elpatricio ]</font>

[dum-dum-soc]

I am using a combination of two dave weckl muffle socks and two evans muffles(not at the same time). The sound I am looking for is a fat slightly comtrolled boom similar to the way a dw kick sounds...... Thanks for the ideas, there a guy in the area who does bearing edges and other drum work. I will give him a call to see what he thinks.......

[Tom Hipskind]

Hey DDS,

Are you talking about Joe Marquardt? He's awesome! He finished both of my Precision kits and does masterful work.

[dum-dum-soc]

If it is the guy from HIT DRUM, custom designs then yeah. If not can you give the contact info for the guy you are talking about?

Elpatricio mentioned he had a thin shelled 22X18. Could that be the problem? Anyway I will try these three things

1. A host of new heads batter and resonant, never ever owned a kit with no hole in the front, sounds cool.......

2. Play with the muffling (sounds dirty)

3. check the roundness and the bearing edges, actually.... I was going to have my all my beaing edgeses done......

[peter c]

Please do check into everything
the guys above mentioned.

How about your stroke? I mean how
hard are you kicking that thing
and are your burying the beater
in head? Sometimes drummers cut
their own necks off (sound-wise)
when they do this.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

[ladanny]

I wonder if your kick as gone out of round, or maybe bad edges. I have a Gretsch 14x22 and it sounds HUGE with our without a pillow. But I use Evans heads, specifically their version of a PS3 on the batter, and the thin res on the front.

I would check for the roundess and edges first.

Danny

[dum-dum-soc]

To answer Peter C. I do both. I usually rest the beater about halfway to the head. But when I play dance stuff or fast solid quarters then thats when I bury into the kick. And yes, my kick sounds monster when mic'ed but I am also trying to get a richer sound for recording. The two mics that are often on my kick are a beta 52 or a d 112. I personally have a beta 52 and carry it with me. I wonder if the mic is dead? Thanks guys. This is all great stuff....

[Tom Hipskind]

Yeah, Soc, that's Joe. Hit Drum. He's great.

[XNavyDrummer]

All great ideas!

Another thing to keep in mind is the effects of using a nice mic with the bottom end boosted, say around 80 Hz.

At a Weckl clinic, the Beta 52 on his 22" kick was dead during the sound check. Dave kept playing quarters on his kick while the sound guys took off the bad mic and replaced it with a good one. Without the mic his kick had tons of high-end slap but not a lot of bottom. As soon as the good mic was in place and cranked through some nice sub-woofers, there was that killer kick sound with all the low-end you could ever want.

The Evans EMADD does a nice job of providing lots of low end acoustically. It's probably related to the mass loading of the foam rings that brings the pitch down. You can also get good attack from the Amarid Fiber patch. But for feel and response my preference is a clear ambassador with a pillow or the Weckl/Remo muffl.