Recording a kick drum with 3 port holes

[Irish614]

Hey guys my Pork Pie kit has 3 port holes on the resonant side of the kick drum, I've noticed it is pretty dead sounding compared to those with just 1 hole, live the thing is a cannon but not so much on the recording side without adding effects to give it that thump. Anyone else ever experience anything like that? I have no problems with throwing a new skin on it with one port hole but I am interested to see if anyone else has had any experience with multiple port holes. I have attached a picture of it so you can see what I'm working with.

[tjones62]

bummer this post didn't get answered but on the off chance you are still pondering the issue....

looking at the picture your bigger port hole (looks to be 6-8 inches) is almost dead center. i personally think that has to be directly related to your issue. your reso head likely doesn't react as it should because alot of the main punch and air presure created is going to go right through the head and never hit the reso head.

as for live it likely would be very loud and punchy, low frequency's like bass take a quite a bit of space to fully develop (or so i have been told).

any way i have 2 6 inch ports on my head one at about 4:30 and the other around 7:30 an inch or two from the edge and i have no issues getting the sound i want out of my bass drum.

[Irish614]

Originally Posted by tjones62

bummer this post didn't get answered but on the off chance you are still pondering the issue....

looking at the picture your bigger port hole (looks to be 6-8 inches) is almost dead center. i personally think that has to be directly related to your issue. your reso head likely doesn't react as it should because alot of the main punch and air presure created is going to go right through the head and never hit the reso head.

as for live it likely would be very loud and punchy, low frequency's like bass take a quite a bit of space to fully develop (or so i have been told).

any way i have 2 6 inch ports on my head one at about 4:30 and the other around 7:30 an inch or two from the edge and i have no issues getting the sound i want out of my bass drum.

Thanks for responding. Yea I have noticed that when my drums are in a small room the kick isn't as beefy, when I bring it to an open hall the thing is amazing. For now I am leaving the head with 1 hole on it.

[Bigduggieface]

Thanks for including the photo. It's worth a thousand words.

Are those metal hoops around the three holes? It would seem likely to me that the mass of these hoops would be retarding much of the resonance from your outside head.

I'm not sure how you are recording this drum, but if you are not getting enough low end, try building a 'tunnel' using carpet or other such material, and mic the drum from a few feet away.

If you have the resources, try one mic inside the drum to capture the beater's attack, and use a second mic 1-4 feet away to get the low end 'boom'.

As tjones62 alluded to earlier, low frequencies with their longer wavelength need a greater spacial distance in order to be heard (or captured with a microphone). Thus, recording at a distance may be required.

However, as you probably know, the further away you mic the kick drum, the less defined is the beater's attack. This is why a 2-mic setup may give you greater mixing flexibility in order to give the drum presence and low end at the same time.

[Irish614]

Originally Posted by Bigduggieface

Thanks for including the photo. It's worth a thousand words.

Are those metal hoops around the three holes? It would seem likely to me that the mass of these hoops would be retarding much of the resonance from your outside head.

I'm not sure how you are recording this drum, but if you are not getting enough low end, try building a 'tunnel' using carpet or other such material, and mic the drum from a few feet away.

If you have the resources, try one mic inside the drum to capture the beater's attack, and use a second mic 1-4 feet away to get the low end 'boom'.

As tjones62 alluded to earlier, low frequencies with their longer wavelength need a greater spacial distance in order to be heard (or captured with a microphone). Thus, recording at a distance may be required.

However, as you probably know, the further away you mic the kick drum, the less defined is the beater's attack. This is why a 2-mic setup may give you greater mixing flexibility in order to give the drum presence and low end at the same time.

No man they are plastic sprayed with Chrome. A company named Holz makes them. They are light and are pretty much just for looks.