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13. Try a sub mic for the bass drum

One additional mic that can make an enormous difference to the drum's sound is a sub mic for the bass drum, and although there are ready made products out there for this purpose such as the Yamaha sub-kick, a driver from an NS10 speaker (though any mediumsized speaker should work), will achieve a very similar effect for a lot less money.

Mounted on some kind of stand and with a microphone cable connected with no ground and plugged into a regular channel with the phase reversed (simply re solder the '+' and '-' the other way around if you can't 'flip' the phase on your desk), this speaker will work as a huge dynamic mic and add serious low end to your bass drum sound.

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Liked this? Then try:
Recording basics: What is a dynamic microphone?
14 simple steps to tuning your snare drum
100 greatest drum beats of all time

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