La Bête Blooms Drum Microphone Techniques (Kick)

As for recording drums, I have based my techniques on the practices of Steve Albini. In order to do this, I have decided that it will be beneficial to research what microphones he uses, as well as any specific techniques and try to faithfully recreate the techniques using microphones available to me at Hull College.

In the aforementioned Sound on Sound  article (Tingen, 2005) is a brief run-down of his favourite drum microphones. I have also found the following article (Stackpole, 2013) which briefly discusses some of the approaches he takes to drum recording; http://www.drummagazine.com/plugged-in/post/studio-tip-drum-miking-top-to-bottom/ 

In the Sound on Sound microphone breakdown, his favourite kick drum microphones are listed as the AKG D112, EV RE20 and the Beyer M380. Out of these three choices I have either the AKG D112 or the EV RE20 available to me. I have used the D112 numerous times on a kick drum so I decided to research the EV RE20s applications when recording the kick drum, which lead me to another useful Sound on Sound article (Senior, 2008) on Kick and Snare drum recording http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun08/articles/kickandsnare.htm.

After reading the article, it is evident the EV RE20 has been used by several producers such as Glen Kolotkin according to Buskin (2000) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun00/articles/glen.htm  (section 'Mic Matters' paragraph two), and Jim Scott, according to Tingen (1999) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/articles/jim.htm (section 'Get it Whilst it's Hot' paragraph two) as a kick drum microphone. Senior (2008) also suggests that some producers opt for using a combination of the EV RE20 and AKG D112 when recording kick drums as the RE-20. Tony Visconti used this technique on the recording of David Bowie's 'Reality' according to Buskin (2003) http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct03/articles/reality.htm. He states;

There was a D12 on the kick, together with an RE20 placed just inside the skin near the beater for more attack, and I routed both of these to one channel and mixed them together... I hate microphone stands because they just get in the way and reflect sound, and so I try to avoid them as much as possible. In fact, I even put the D12 inside the kick, resting on a pillow, whereas I did have to put the RE20 on a stand so that I could aim it directly at the beater. Visconti Cited in Buskin (2003)

Based on this research, I will mike up the kick drum using both the D112 and the RE20. As both the microphones are favoured by Steve Albini and have been used together by producers such as Tony Visconti to capture both the low end and the attack of the beater of the bass drum.