Kick drum for acoustic performance?

[reflected]

Folks,

I'm going to start a solo acoustic project, a folk/ singer-songwriter thing. Inspired by the Lumineers and Mumford and sons I'm planning to buy a small kick drum that I can use at concerts while playing and singing. What size would you recommend? Some drummer friends of mine estimate the one used by M&S to be a 18" one, but I'm not sure. Also, it's pretty tough to find kick drums for sale separately... Does anyone have any experience with this?

Cheers,
Greg

[KevWind]

Not personally solo. I did play a few gigs in a duo with a very talented drummer with a full kit. Which because he was good did not drown out my guitar and vocals. I do not know the size of the kick . But I believe his beater had extra padding to quiet it down a bit.

[cotten]

I'm not a drummer, though I do enjoy trying sometimes. Kev is right about it taking some skill and even experimentation to discover the kick drum sound that fits. By careful tuning, and by choosing a relatively soft beater, a short throw distance on the pedal, and using just the right amount of muffling padding, I suspect you can make most any size kick drum work nicely.

If you want something new, perhaps you could go directly to a drum manufacturer with your ideas and let them make suggestions. Some might not be willing to help, but I bet some would. Of course, if you want something cheaper, then you might want to go search the local pawn shops. You may have to buy a full kit to get what you want, but it could well be cheaper than a new drum, and you could sell the rest.

Good luck! Let us know what you choose, and be sure to post some video clips of your group. Sounds like fun!

cotten

[ericcsong]

for solo acoustic, have you considered a porchboard?

http://porchboard.com/

[zabdart]

See if they're any Jesse Fuller videos on Youtube (I'm sure there are). He did remarkably well as a one-man band on the streets of San Francisco for years.

[Bluepoet]

Find a drummer, and just take his kick drum...they're all woosies, anyway... (I kid, I kid--no, seriously, they'll just cry a little bit, so just tell them you'll buy them some new sticks, maybe...)

Seriously, though, check out acoustic drum boxes...you may find something useful, there...

[radiokid]

I just saw Griffen House perform and his bass player sat behind a snare turned 90 degrees with the bottom toward the audience, He played it with a kick pedal. Very unique. It lent a very nice suttle beat to the songs. What you might add to this is a StageKicker device which is a down firing device that couples the stage as a sounding board, like a sub. I saw Jewel use one and it was really cool.

[Neal Pert]

Actually professional drummer here.

So, here are a few questions:

1. What venues will you be playing?
2. Will your instruments be amplified?
3. Will the bass drum be mic'ed?
4. What is your budget?

If you're going to just be playing coffee houses with no mics, I'd strongly recommend looking for a 14x20 or 16x20 bass drum and then put an Evans EMAD batter head with maybe an EQ3 Resonant head. That's easy and thumpy. If you want to make it sound more old-timey, put coated Ambassadors on the front and back heads and use felt strips for muffling. If you're mic'ing everything, you can get away with a bigger drum, the most common being a 22. Don't go for a drum much deeper than 16" (14" is ideal) for this style of music-- a big drum is harder to activate.

Something like this would be fine and would look cool in a firewood sort of way:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pearl-Bass-D...item232ea248e6

This one is worth watching:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ludw...item3cd511b4c8

There's nothing special about Mumford's bass drum-- BDs are usually the least picky of drums because of the muffling dudes usually use.

Anyway, if you answer the questions, I'll get more specific.

EDIT: BTW, I should add that if you're going for coffeeshop-type gigs or if you are mic'ing, another really interesting and cool sounding option is the Ludwig ?uestlove Breakbeat kit-- 399 for two toms, a snare, and a 16" (!) bass drum which, when tuned properly, is quite a cool thing. Dig it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44GYiw1VsKc

I'm eventually going to get one of these for when I play small venues and need a tiny kit. Dig that bass drum!

[cotten]

Thanks for posting that, Neal. You just can't buy practical information like that!

cotten

[StringFive]

Use a suitcase and a kick pedal....much cooler.

[reflected]

Neal:

Thank you so much, that's the info I was looking for.
I'll be playing in small venues with the guitar amplified but the drum probably not, not always that is. I will be playing with another guitarist, but sometimes with bass and piano too.

So do you think a 18x14 would suffice or do I need that 20"? What about muffling? What would you put inside the drum? I assume the more you stuff it the less bass and the more attack you get?

Tha problem with ebay is that I live in Hungary, EU and the shipping would be quite tricky

Thanks again!

[Neal Pert]

An 18" CAN be amazing in small venues. It comes down to head selection if you're on a small drum like that. I used an 18 for 13 years as my only bass drum for all sorts of gigs.

On the other hand, 14x18s can be harder to come by. Companies don't make as many of them as 20s and 22s. So, finding a stray can be tricky. Yamaha is making amazing inexpensive 18" drums in their Stage Custom series. I also hear that the Tama Silverstars are amazing.

If you go the 18" route and want thump and not a bebop type sound, try an Evans EMAD batter with maybe an EQ1 resonant head (one with no hole). If you get to the point of mic'ing it, try to do so without putting a hole in the front head. An intact front head keeps the air in the drum and it's easier for the player to feel the low-end thump that way. Mic it about 6" in front of the drum.

On smaller drums you can definitely get away with just the self-muffled heads. I never put anything inside my 18. The EMAD is nice because it has a removable foam ring on the outside of the head so you can make adjustments. The EMAD is a magic head on almost all the 18s I've played. The competition-- Remo Powerstroke 3 and Aquarian SuperKick 1-- can be a little weird on smaller drums but sound great on bigger drums. A coated EMAD will sound a little warmer.

The big thing to remember as you're setting up your bass drum is that the sound you hear when you're standing and playing the drum might be VERY different than the sound you hear out front. So, experiment and listen. The contemporary thing is to let the drum have a bit more tone, so these days dudes tend to take it easier on the muffling.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by Neal Pert

The big thing to remember as you're setting up your bass drum is that the sound you hear when you're standing and playing the drum might be VERY different than the sound you hear out front. So, experiment and listen.

Wow, this is very true!

If you want to be really old skool with it, find an old leather suitcase and old kick drum pedal. Put a Shure 57 inside it and have fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbrcifM8TQ

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil...case-Drum-Set/

If you are actually wanting some tone, forget it. But if you are looking for something that goes "thump," this may be a good option.