Bass drum resonator

[chris perra]

I recently have been using a TRS drum set that has a resonator.. Man... What an amazing relatively simple add on to any bass drum..

I made a video for TRS to help them demo the resonators.. Oddly enough there's not much out there on them.
It adds serious bottom end and sustain.. so heavy...

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[Matus]

So, basically, DW woofers?

[Josiah]

Looks to be a straight copy from DW.

IMO woofers have been outdated with the new(er) sub sonic kick mic's.

[chris perra]

Yup, same thing as a DW..

But totally different than a Sub kick... A sub kick is better price wise because you don't need to buy another bass drum plus another mic,...

But the sound that comes from a sub kick is only a representation of the front skin..you could do the same thing with a good bass drum mic and filter off the frequencies above 100 hz. then boost some around 60 and below.

A sub kick is better than nothing but it doesn't change the sound of the bass drum.

A resonator does,. you can have the feel and tone of your regular kick... and if it's tuned too high or is an 18 inch kick..
you can add the resonator and it adds bottom without effecting your bass drum feel.

Plus,.. it adds physical bottom end.. so it gets picked up in all the other mics,... bigger sound more depth to it..

I find it easier to use than a sub kick..

[Josiah]

You could also use a KickPort...

I don't use a sub kick, or kick port or any other of these things. Excellent drum, great tuning and playing does all you need. Probably the reason most of these ideas have never really caught on. With recording I leave it up to the engineers and producers for the sound they want.

Want more bottom from a kick? Use a bigger kick. I got a 26" that is sub sonic low, literally you feel it more then hear it.

[chris perra]

It all depends on what sound and vibe you are going for.. A well tuned kick, with a sub kick, kick port or a 26 inch bass drum can sound great.

But, they all sound different.. The only thing that comes close to a resonator tone and sustain wise would be the 26 inch kick, but I find them to be too fluffy sounding.. Not enough attack on them for me.. and the feel is alot different..

The kick port accentuates a lower fundamental note but doesn't increase sustain or tone properties.. and you'd need to mic it at a distance to get the effect which increases mic bleed,.. miking the kick port hole doesn't really help..

That said,.. the resonator is by far the most expensive way to go... Depends on how finicky you are with the sound you are going for..