Nothing like great monitors

Had a gig the other night in a place i've never played. Stage like a postage stamp, but the monitors I had my kick drum going through put out this MONSTER sound. I spent about 30 minutes going through every double kick fill I know!I swear I almost got a hard on. Nothing sounds better than a well tuned kick going through sidefill. I didn't want soundcheck to end, and I swear it made me play better during the gig. The best thing is, we're back there this Saturday night Can't wait!!!

Cool! Yeah its great when this kinda thing happens, I love it when I start playing the kick and the soundman starts to turn up the bass drum - makes me wanna get a PA and my kit constantly running through it!

I played a great club a few weeks back, nice big stage, great sound - its a shame becuase they are going to stop live music in favour of trendy ben sherman chav nights as they bring in more money. Oh well.

Agree 100,000%!

I love it when I hit the kick pedal and feel that THUMP when you've got a great monitor. I also think it makes me play better.

Here's my theory: for most people, when you practice, you probably don't have a big honking monitor for your drums, even when the whole band rehearses. Since the kick is furthest from your ears, you don't hear it as clearly as you do your snare, cymbals, and other "closer" sounds. As a result, you can't use your ears as well to really discertain how precise you're playing the kick. So in situations where you don't have a good monitor and a loud thumping kick, you're relying more on "feel" for the kick than on "sound and feel" like you can for the rest of your kick.

Flash forward to a nice monitor rig and a thumping kick sound up front in your mix, and suddenly it's like you've turned on a new sense to tell you what you're doing. Now, you've got "feel" and "sound" working for you, and not only does it sound great, but also gives you better and more immeditate feedback about your playing which allows you to lock in even better, resulting in a better performance.

Anyway, just a theory. YMMV.

Everytime I do a bass drum sound check I get caught up in the moment. Sometimes I even push it so far as to pretend I am going into a rendition of a live version of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' circa 1989.

Pounding the bass drum - pushin' lots of air.

Can't wait to get back to playing live!

Get to work slacker! Seriously, I was curious as to if you don't have a port hole in your bass head for a reason? My first drummer didn't ever have a port in his and it sounded great but generally everyone does. Just wanted to know if there is a reason or if you just haven't gotten around to it yet?

Are you talking about the sound coming to you from your monitors, or the house sound?

Porting of resonant heads can change the sound of a drum. I was thinking of porting the head (or buying a ported head), but after I heard my bass drum tone I didn't want to modify it in any way. I think that any decent mic will reproduce the sound I am getting. I just am too afraid of changing that kick tone.

Originally posted by ShoNuf Porting of resonant heads can change the sound of a drum. I was thinking of porting the head (or buying a ported head), but after I heard my bass drum tone I didn't want to modify it in any way. I think that any decent mic will reproduce the sound I am getting. I just am too afraid of changing that kick tone.

I see, it might be cool to port it and see what happens, I know for live work at least it would be easier and it shouldn't change your sound too much other than making it slightly louder and possibly more focused. You can get the kit to cut the hole for like ten bucks where as a ported head is pricy. Then if you don't like the sound you can just buy a regular head again. That way you would have two sounds that might be cool for different recorded stuff. But you could buy a new cymbal for about what you would probably spend on all that stuff

Agreed. I have been trying to justify getting some good monitors, with a good power amp and micing my kick drums for practice.

Total overkill and a tad expensive, but how killer would that be to have that sound all the time?

At least until I wind up deaf.....or my wife moves out.

Originally posted by HottKarl Agreed. I have been trying to justify getting some good monitors, with a good power amp and micing my kick drums for practice. Total overkill and a tad expensive, but how killer would that be to have that sound all the time? At least until I wind up deaf.....or my wife moves out.

The nice thing about those low notes is that they'll shake the neighbor's house too! So after your wife leaves you, the other people on the block will form a lynch mob and string you up!