Every month or so a bunch of local Baltimore Producers and Engineers get together at Mobtown to talk shop (and drink beer) in what we call the Baltimore Recording Club. We talk about projects we’re working on, critique mixes and chat about records we all love. We all decided it was time to do our first mic shootout. This time around we did a kick drum mic shootout with all the typical (and then some others) mics we had at our disposal. Sadly we didn’t have an AKG112. Next time!

The details: DW Olive Ash 20″x18″ kick drum -> Mic (mic placed a little off center near the resonant side) -> Tascam DM4800 preamp -> Logic 9. We used no compression and leveled out the mics so there was relative consistency. We aren’t scientists, so this shoot out wasn’t and exact science. But you get the idea. We wear jeans. Not lab coats.

Thanks to Frank Corl (for being one of the best drummers in Baltimore, as well as playing killer quarter notes for the shootout), Dawn Dineen, Aaron Wold, Evan Kornblum & Hannah Winograd.

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Sennheiser 421
-Very beige. Neutral.

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Shure Beta 52
-Very scooped.

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Electro-Voice EV868
-Like the Beta 52, it’s scooped, but more useful. Needs little EQ.

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Electro-Voice RE20
-70s neutral sound. Smooth and round.

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Shure SM57
-Used more as a reference. Turned out better than expected.

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Shure SM7
-Similar to the RE20, but more neutral.

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Cascade Fathead ribbon
-Very natural sounding. Vintage.

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Oktava ML52 ribbon
-Like the Fathead, very natural sounding. Slightly smoother low end.

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Shure KSM44
-Nice rounded sound. Good overtones.

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KEL HM-7U
-Slight scoop. Worked well for what it is.

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Blue Mouse (original with the trannies)
-Like the Neumann U47, this mic shines. Great smooth accurate low end.

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Neumann U87
Super thuddy and trashy.

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Audio-Technica AT897 shotgun
-Mildly thuddy yet punchy.