Bob, Do you have the bass drum speaker microphone inside a cabinet or is it freestanding in a stiff wire and rod rig?
I use to have a 15" speaker mounted to the front side of a kick drum. The front drum head was removed. The speaker was suspended so the center cone was inline with the kick beater against the batter head.
Tune the inside drum head real loose. You will get a puny sound in the studio but a massive sound from the speaker microphone. Plus you don't have to stuff the drum with a blanket.
Still inside the cabinet but it does have a port to let the pressure out on the back side, so not totally enclosed .. I'd *guess* it is a little tighter that way, but haven't experimented with an open cone like you did .. neat idea and variation you had
As I'm sure you noticed, this method seems to 'move a lot of air' in the end mix from the BD you 'hear' it, but you can also 'feel' it (more in your chest than in your ears) on a decent system
I hate seeing a BD with a blanket in it, just a personal pet peave
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Our drum recording setup for mics includes as many SM-57s as practical as well.
1 on snare (close) 1 on HH (close) 1 by the kick pedal (to get the Snap) A couple 58s as overheads .. and my special $38 dollar Audio-Technica I picked up in a pinch one night when we were short a live vocal mic 20 years ago, and discovered the thing was not that grwat for vocals, but was a nice Ride cymbal mic .. and man is it great at that; grabs every nuance and clear as can be
The final trick we use is to place a reverse wired subwoofer in front of the hole in the bass drum, about 14-16" away .. it picks up the 'boom' quite nicely, and a decent preamp gives it enough oomph
We wired the two wires connected to the speaker cone directly to the (now) output wire via XLR cable. Works a treat
We have to scoot the BD track a few ticks toward the beginning of the song after recording (or it seems to lag just a touch) but the end result is pretty cool. We could probably compensate for some of the lag by moving it closer, but we want to let the waveform develop before it gets to the mic/speaker.
If you are still reading, you are truly a recording geek
Ah, the old DIY Subkick - those always work a treat on kick drum, and bass guitar too. I'm with you on keeping them back a bit to let the wave develop, then nudging things back into phase - I do the same with room mics too of course.
Everyone's got one of those "special" microphones - some piece of junk that sounds awful on everything except is magical for one specific task - mine has absolutely no name on it and the ball end is smashed, but it sounds absolutely killer on certain styles of electric guitar.
I'll echo in a bit on the drum topic and then go back to the reason I resurrected this thread.
I'd be happy with separate Snare and Kick audio. Most of my music is jazz oriented, so big drum kits aren't the goal. But it would be nice to be able to reinforce these two parts a bit along with the stereo mix. I'm actually pretty impressed with the stereo drum parts that I've been using thus far.
Here's the song I've been working on that raised the question about stereo/mono instrument tracks. The rhythm guitars (Realtracks 1449 and 1450) are mono, which works fine in this gypsy jazz/Latin influenced take on a Green Day song. Gypsy jazz groups often have a couple of rhythm guitars, so these are panned left/right and mono is fine. I also worked in a dueling violin part courtesy of Tim Kliphuis (Realtrack 1446), a stereo track. I put the source track on a Utility track and use the BiaB harmonizer to generate a "partner". They are also panned left/right, to get the proper feel of "dueling" and trading fours. I didn't really concentrate on the stereo aspect of the violin, but I don't think of a violin as occupying a stereo space like drums or even a piano might. So I'd love to know about the mic setup for that and similar tracks, and perhaps then it would make more sense to split it into two mono tracks and do some different EQ/balancing. I didn't need that precision on this song, but might want it sometime.
Chuck Wiggins
BIAB 2023 Win UltraPak, Cakewalk, Windows 10 Pro Custom AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core, Focusrite Scarlett 4x4 interface
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Another exciting new addition is the amazing new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. View the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to transcribe an entire track or transcribe specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
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