DRUMMER CAFE

You know, before I ever heard of doing this type of thing ... even before I heard of DW Woofers ... I had a dream that I invented something like this.

It was a light weight contraption which was cardiod shaped, with a handle on the top. You just sat it infront of the kick drum as an extension. I told this to someone and they proceeded to tell me that DW had the woofer thing happening.

Guess I was too late. The idea must have been floating around and eventually got to me about a year or so too late to be the first.  

On another note ... slightly off topic ...

I've been thinking that maybe I should include some of this Physics of Music stuff in the VIP Room. Things like terms, definitions, theory explanations, etc. I probably should get too heavy on the stuff ... but think it's really good to know the basics. It sure makes you more valuable as a player because you can bring more to the table. The downside ... your bandmates may try to dump all the PA responsibilities onto you! Thoughts?

Mark - This sounds cool, but you may not need to do anything to help isolate the sound. This was NOT a terribly sensitive microphone - it seemed to react only to very blatant (for lack of better word) stimulus:  I.e. my kick drum being played hard, with a large hole in the front head to further assist the projection. That was pretty much all this speaker could "hear." It makes a VERY directional mic. Definitely not an omni!

When we went into the control room and solo'd that mic, all you could really hear was the bass drum. There was nowhere near the level of bleed from the other components of the kit that conventional mics produce.

The downside of your idea is that it might muffle the acoustic sound of the drum in that room - which is a bad thing if you're using any room mics.

Great thread! And thanks for the tip Mr. A.

Interesting that so many great ideas seem so obvious in retrospect.

I think the great advantage you're going to have with something like this is in the mixing stage. How many times have you recorded a kick and the character was all wrong for the song - too much bass, or too much midrange, wrong sound, etc? With this method, you could blend the two signals in relation to the song.

I think this is one reason you see a lot more experimenting with plug-ins on drum tracks these days. Tweaking kick tracks in the mixing stage was previously limited to compression and EQ. But Amp Farm is a common practice now in order to give the kit more muscle. Engineers often throw it on kick drum for the very same reasons explained here.

My question still (unless it was already addressed and I missed it) is: Is the amp turned on or not?

mister a - what size tom toms are those?

The 1st rack is 8x10, the 2nd is 8x12, and the floor is 14x14. The angle of the picture makes the first rack look big. There are other pictures of the kit in the T-shirt Contest thread.
http://community.drummercafe.com/index.php?board=14;action=display;threadid=1861;start=15

Mr. A,

This is more a mixing question: Did the engineer record a separate track for the 'radiator' or did he just use 2 mics and print it to 1 track?

That's what I thought but I'm just keeping my ears open to hear different ways of doing stuff.

My buddy does the same thing with 2" only he uses a combo of Digital Performer (doesn't use the audio though), an Akai Hard disc recorder and a 2" deck. Kinda strange that he does the Akai thing when he's got Digital Performer but...
Gets a good sound from a set of late '60s Ludwigs too.

Thanks for your input!

From what I learned reading the thread, I would agree. I'm planning on trying it with no front head.

have done this with old head phones.  a mircophone disguised with ear pads.

Here's a thread from an audio forum including an audio example (mp3), pictures of homemade units and a wiring schemo provided by famed Metal producer Michael Wagener.