AKG D112

A very traditional bass drum microphone, with a funny shape and marvelous sound.

The AKG D112 sounds great on the bass drum. Some people complain that it produces a booming sound and relate it to a basketball, but that is just one sound the mic can achieve. I, and I know many others, have found that by changing the microphone's position, even by the slightest, the sound dramatically changes.   And it seems everyone has his or her own specific way of using the D112 on the bass drum. I know a live sound engineer who likes to position the D112 just inside a hole in the resonate head and point the mic up and to the side of the drum shell. Some like to shove it all the way in, only few inches from where the beater strikes the drum. My favorite is to position the D112 just barely through a small hole in the resonate head and aim it right where the beater strikes the drum. I feel this way I still retain some natural drum sound but add a little of that nice metal attack. But I'm not done there. I'll still do some heavy EQing; carve out the low mids and boost the highs and lows.

A typical EQ for my preferred bass drum sound would look something like this:

The downside of this the D112 is that it is not good for much more than the bass drum, although I have had success with it on bass guitar cabinets and under a djembe. It can be a little finicky with set up; for it can take a little while before the sound wanted is achieved. Of course, compared to many other dedicated bass drum microphones, like the Audix D6, not many are any good for more than the bass drum. - Adam