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Homemade bass drum mics
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Posted by Silent Bob on March 14, 2000 at 02:19:43:

Here's a predraft of an article I've written for this site on making your own bass drum mics

Anybody who has recorded a band or even just a single drum set knows how to appreciate multiple microphones. Some people who have a less than ideal budget must learn to improvise. While it is highly recommended that you must acquire microphones through the used market when you are on a budget, there is another alternative. Microphones can be made using common, cheap materials for applications like bass drums and toms.
The example being used here is made from an ordinary set of Walkman headphones. What must be done is remove the headphone drivers from their surrounding apparatus. One technique, which is simply break the speaker off from the rest of the headphones. Next, you need to cut the speaker cable off about 2" from the speaker. Strip 1" of the insulation off exposing the wire. There will be a lead in red insulation and another cable in black or sometimes no insulation. Strip ½" of the insulation off of the red lead and black wire (if you have it). Next, you need to get a shielded instrument cable. Remove one end of the cable and patch that into the wires of the speaker. This can be done by weaving the strands together and using a very small amount of solder. It generally does matter which lead you patch to the cable as long as you patch each mic you make the same way. After this, you need to wrap the connection with electricians tape starting with the individual leads and then the cable patch as a whole. This will protect the cables and reduce the risk of breakage. You need to find a suitable handle for your mic now. I have used 1"X1/4"X8" plywood for this purpose with no problems. Just remember that you need to make this the size you want now. Attach the speaker to the handle with screws, or as my prototype model is done, electrician's tape will do. Hold the cable firmly to the handle and wrap it with electrician's tape to seal it together. Your cheap bass drum mic is done. Legs to support the mic can also be made out of a wire coat hanger fragment. This can be attached by 1" thumbscrew clamp or taped on like my prototype model.
The total cost of a pair of these mics is $20-$50 U.S. currency. Try to get fairly good headphones that have moderate sized drivers. Large drivers are very expensive and not very efficient for picking up sound. Small drivers are also inefficient and do not handle very high sound pressure levels. These mics almost always require EQ. A simple bass boost can handle most of you problems but if ringing is a problem in the mid-low range, a parametric or graphic EQ is needed. My mics are made out of standard Sony Walkman headphones and sound best 2" from the batter head with +6 dB bd 60Hz, -3 dB bd 120Hz and occasionally +3 bd 4-8KHz. A low Z to high Z transformer works wonders for increasing gain and reducing noise. One other note, if you can, wire a female connection to the mic handle to allow interchanging of cables. If you have a low-high converter, make the cable on the mic as short as possible (about 2 feet), and use an XLR cable to get you the rest of the way there. I have heard that a good pair of earbuds will work for toms but I have yet to try this.

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