Let's face it -- bass drum microphones have been a stodgy old product category that has seen little change or innovation in decades. The KickTone Microphone disrupts all that. It is a breakthrough in the design of dynamic mics dedicated to capturing the full spectrum of sound naturally produced in the resonant chamber of a bass drum. It is built around a specially manufactured hemp diaphragm that's both stiff and light weight, providing excellent damping characteristics. There is a second, co-axial dynamic structure to pick up the higher-frequency transients that give a bass drum its snap. The result is a punchy, well-defined sound that instantly grabs a listener's attention. If all this wasn’t enough, the KickTone is easily the coolest looking mic you’ve ever seen. 

Other bass drum microphones on the market today have design goals similar to KickTone's, but suffer from one or more issues. Such as: large size and heavy weight (making them unstable on a mic stand), high cost, and worst of all, they lack the full, round sound that drummers and sound engineers crave. In short, they routinely fail to live up to their promise. This is why the KickTone team created a radically new and different design concept.

The KickTone mic can be mounted in two ways. You can mount it on a standard microphone stand, but much better, you can attach it directly to a bass drum's resonant head with a proprietary slide bracket, supplied with each mic, that quick-connects it to any KickPort. (KickPort is a widely-used bass drum sonic enhancer, and is a registered trademark of KickPort International, LLC.) That keeps it securely locked in the drum's sweet spot, where it won't block the view of your drum head artwork or get kicked out of position by an energetic singer.

Read Drumhead Magazine’s in-depth review of the science and history behind the KickTone’s revolutionary design and performance. This article was written by Genoveva Winston for Drumhead Magazine in June of 2017. You can read the article in the magazine by clicking the interactive magazine spread or scroll to the text below. Support Drumhead and read more of their in-depth articles here. Farther down, you can read some more reviews from some of the most respected and popular magazines.

kicktone microphone

Hi all, before we can really understand the KickTone bass mic, or any "sub kick" mic for that matter we, need to have a little physics lesson and a history lesson.

Microphones and speakers share something important in common, they have a thin piece of material connected to a positive and negative cable set which when voltage is passed through will move in accordance with that voltage. When we use a microphone, the movement of the "diaphragm" is translated into +/- electrical current to the wires and signal is created. In a speaker, these same connections are attached to a "voice-coil" and the electrical current goes into the material resulting in the same sound recorded by the microphone; physics lesson complete.

Now, let's have our history lesson; here's where it gets interesting ... Somewhere in a recording studio in the '80s-no one knows where-a mythical recording session happened; an unknown engineer said, "The larger the diaphragm in a microphone, the lower the sound I can capture." This same engineer then said, "The largest diaphragm would be a speaker." This led to the mythical man saying, "Why don't I mic a bass drum with a speaker?" And behold, an unrecorded piece of recording history took place.

Much like when man invented fire or the wheel, we don't know who or when it was done, but it changed us forever. Again, it was the '80s and at that time, the most used and respected near-field monitor was the Yamaha NS-10 speaker. That said, it's logical to say when our mystery engineer was looking for a speaker to use, it was probably the NS-10 that was most readily available. As rumor would have it this process didn't go so smoothly, many experiments were attempted, first hooking up an entire speaker inside its box. I can tell you this has several problems we won't address.

Mystery engineer's next step would have been to remove the woofer and try to mic the bass drum. But wait, how? It's just a speaker it doesn't have a stand or any kind of mount. I imagine many crude experiments were attempted. I can tell you by the time I entered my professional recording career in 1999, the now standard for this creation was either zip-ties or (as I preferred) gaff tape with the speaker suspended from the boom arm of a short mic stand, along with a handmade XLR-to-speaker cable attached directly to the speaker, with the speaker itself out in the open exposed. This creation would grace many hit records, even to this day; it was a "secret" of engineers. me this handmade creation along with several others in a recording session where he taught me many unconventional ways to record drums (a story for another article). The whole thing was like some sort of masonic ritual where I had been passed a torch and baptized into some sort of secret recording lodge, no matter ...

In I believe 2004, Yamaha got around to making its own commercial version of the product-the Yamaha SubKick. Research for this article led me to find out it is credited to Russ Miller for inventing it. I will now credit Russ Miller with monetizing an idea that was sitting in front of us all, which makes Russ a very smart man. Creating potential, , not seeing it, is more impressive to me. Anyway, since Yamaha made this commercially available version, a once secret is now common knowledge and many companies have made their own version to capitalize on it.

Frankly, they're mostly the same design as our caveman engineer example except for the fact the material used in an original NS-10 woofer is no longer available (as such, I personally carry around an original NS-10 from the '80s in a box), until today.

A NEW DAY

With the introduction of the Morton Microphones Kick Tone, a series of revolutions have occurred. Terry, the inventor, is clearly a pragmatic individual who not only solved the age-old mystery of why the complete speaker­in-a-box didn't work in the '80s, he also has added a lot of very logical and useful practicality to the design. Let's start with the practical.

MOUNTING

The KickTone is designed to work along with a KickPort if you choose [you can attach it directly to a bass drum's resonant head with a proprietary slide bracket, supplied with each mic, that quick-connects it to any KickPort]-let me call this a marriage made in heaven. There are so many advantages to this design-it makes the recording more isolated, frees up a mic stand, for live applications it looks cooler, and finally, it allows for the closest mounting to a bass-drum head without the fear of head resonance being picked up as noise in the microphone.

I can tell you when placing a typical bass-drum mic, such as a Shure Beta 52, inside the ring of a bass-drum head, there's a 50/50 chance the tuning of the drum will lead to this problem and frankly most engineers often have "bass mic-ing issues." Engineer Andy Johns, a man I respect, once told me one of his secrets to getting sounds was very quickly putting things in a place that worked He told me paraphrased, "It doesn't matter if it sounds the best, it matters that I get sounds up quickly, giving the artist confidence things are going well, and with it sounding pretty good, they'll play better. That will make a hit song, along with good writing and performances, not where you put a mic." He continued, "Engineers have delusions of grandeur." I want to say Andy's philosophy isn't a one-size­fits-all approach that's right for every situation and that mindset isn't how Dark Side Of The Moon got recorded, but nonetheless, he had a point and this is where we come back to the KickPort mounting option. While it is limiting in your ability to search for more sounds, it is a very fast way to get a good sound and I like that. .. And in live situations, simple is usually better, and this is simple, period. Terry has got his head screwed on right when it comes to this logic and the KickTone will allow people without custom modified drums to benefit.

Also worth noting is how lightweight the KickTone is.

As opposed to the SubKick, which is quite heavy, the KickTone mounts, sits and stays in place-allowing for placement in tricky positions on any mic stand.

THE WHOLE 'BOX' PROBLEM

One of the innovative and unique parts of this mic is it has a second "mid-range" driver in the middle, not just the woofer; this results in getting a more rounded sound out of one mic. The typical use of a "SubKick" is to only capture very low sub-harmonic sounds. It still requires an inside mic for the beater sound and if you like classic ?O's drum sounds like I do, a "resonant head mic" on the outside. This means, typically back in our 80's caveman days you were using three mics on a bass drum. Let's just say this is a luxury not afforded by many. Further, I know a lot of drummers and engineers who also like a second outside mic on the beater side for a total of four mics on a bass drum. The KickTone, helps eliminate this issue and what was once done with three or four mics, can now be done with two or three. I don't have exact specs for the midrange driver and its cross-over settings but what I can tell anecdotally is this-Terry has created a musical circuit, combined with components that can handle constant low end sound and high volumes for extended periods of time. This is what a NS-10 was not designed for and as such, the tweeter would blow out very quickly and get damaged. Terry solved the problem and opened the world up to a bevy of new recorded bass-drum sounds. Thank you, Terry.

IN USE

I tried the mic in a series of settings with 20", 22" and 24" kicks. Let's just say it did the job. One thing I greatly enjoyed was its foot print is smaller than its competitors and usually floor space in front of the bass drum is limited.

As for its sound. It is unique. It has all the qualities I would expect from the SubKick, and has that added high end. To be honest, having the luxury of a studio with many mies, I don't need to give up my inside beater mic and I have my reasons, but I think I also would need to use it in many sessions to get reacquainted to a different technique. For anyone on a budget, looking to get more done with less, or playing live, I would absolutely take the Kick Tone over the inside beater mic. A special note for drummers: if you get a sound you like, I know it's typical to want to find ways to easily bring that sound from gig to gig. If you recorded with the Kick Tone mic, replicating that sound live would be easier than any other mic'ing technique ever!

CRAZINESS

Being experimental is something I like to do. Here are a series of ideas for this mic, some of which are obvious and some aren't (thank the mentor).

First, use it as a bass amp mic. Sub mics are sometimes cool for this but without the high end, you still had to put all the same mics on. That made using the SubKick on bass amps not a popular choice. With KickTone having the added high end, using it on a bass amp is a logical conclusion and here's a good idea for live settings. I would modify an Ampeg 8x10 by mounting a KickPort to it. Then the KickTone mic could always go back to the same place. Voila! Thank me later world ...

Here's a second idea, put the mic under a piano facing upwards and under the bass keys; sounds weird I know. But this, along with top mic'ing makes for some very interesting options.

Next, floor toms-again position under the floor tom facing upward towards the head ... the deepest 18" I ever heard! Finally, here's a modified bass drum use. Instead of using it on the bass drum. You can get a resonant kick head (I used to cheat this with an old blue sparkle Slingerland 26x12 from the '50s), move the resonant head into position in front of the bass drum by starting about 6 inches away, and then sliding it back until it has a sympathetic ring, then add the KickPort and KickTone to the resonant head. When doing this I would still place the typical two to four mics on the first kick. That's right you heard me five mics on a bass drum! WHY NOT?!*

Morton KickTone Microphone – A Real-World Review

Mix's Barry Rudolph puts the Morton KickTone Microphone to the test in this Real-World Review.

The Morton KickTone microphone is designed to capture high-SPL, low-frequency sounds. As its name implies, the KickTone mic is for the drum kit’s bass drum, but it works great in picking up the sound of any drum, bass instrument, keyboard or even vocal.

The KickTone starts with a dynamic element with a 5.25-inch polycarbonate diaphragm encased in a tough, ABS plastic case that measures 6.5 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches deep. The mic weighs about 2 pounds and is slightly conically shaped, with a strong stainless steel mesh in front of the dynamic element inside to protect it. It also has nine mesh-covered, oval vents surrounding the side.

The KickTone actually contains two microphone elements, with a high-frequency mic (in the 4 to 7 kHz range) mounted just over the center of the main element. The two elements’ outputs are summed together using a passive resistor network to the output. KickTone has a rated output impedance of 100 ohms.

The KickTone mic has a male Neutrik XLR output connector mounted next to a standard threaded microphone mount. This mount swivels and locks down for exact positioning in front of a kick drum. The microphone is rated from 10 Hz to 10 kHz, with a sensitivity of 87 dB SPL measured at 1 meter. Maximum SPL is 175 dB.

The KickTone has a slide bracket, or flange, on its front that matches a KickPort, a popular bass drum enhancer that is installed in a 5.25-inch hole in the kick drum’s front resonant head. This makes KickTone usable in two ways: on a short mic stand in front of the kick drum or attached directly to the KickPort itself without a stand. No stand offers a cleaner stage look, and, as the mic is mounted directly on the front head, there is less leakage picked up from the rest of the kit, as well as from the stage.

We tested the Morton KickTone microphone in a few different positions in the studio on the same Ludwig 14 x 22 bass drum. First up was to replace our usual microphone in a similar position out in front of the resonant front head.

We got good subsonic energy, but felt we needed a more high-frequency attack to cut through the song we were recording—a second mic in phase with the KickTone would take care of that! We then tried it exactly over the hole in the head and got a little more attack with the same sub energy. I was dying to try the KickPort, so the third test was with KickTone attached to it. This is an instant winner; just slide the KickTone on, and with the bass drum sealed up and somewhat deader, we obtained much more subsonic energy and more high-frequency attack as well. In addition, my drummer noticed a different (playing) feel with a noticeable difference in the way the beater hit the head.

There was also much less leakage from the rest of the kit. Any live sound mixer will love the minimal leakage and also love the option to drive the subwoofers to whatever the music demands. This was our favorite sound and use of KickTone.

But we also tried removing the front head and moved the mic to near the center of the drum and about halfway inside. The mic picked up a lot less sub, with a midrange “honk” in the 700Hz range. This sound would require using an equalizer to pull the sound more into a usable state.

One note: The location of the XLR jack on the mic causes the XLR mic cable connector to be in the way of the swivel mount. This limits the angles possible for the mic on the end of a short boom stand.

I enjoyed using the KickTone microphone, and my drummer/engineer/producer, who was skeptical about it, is now a true believer. So am I! Highly recommended, especially for live sound work for a fast, no-brainer and consistent sound pickup of kick drums. Slide the KickTone on the KickPort and you’re good to go!

A new take on a classic kick drum technique

Review by David Blascoe

Launched in 2012, Morton Microphone Systems is still a relatively new face in the industry. Its debut product, the KickTone microphone, aims to improve on what popular sub-frequency mics do by capturing a broader frequency range along with the sub frequencies, to present a complete sonic image of the kick drum. I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Terry Morton of Morton Microphone Systems at the recent 2021 Summer NAMM show in Nashville. His enthusiasm was contagious! After this conversation, I was very eager to dive in and explore the KickTone myself.

History Lesson

For those of you unaware of this style of kick drum microphone, it's an adaptation of an old studio trick where engineers would turn actual speakers into 'huge diaphragm' microphones. The unique low-end capture has a significant proximity effect that proves excellent for capturing the subsonic thud of kick drums. I used one such mic, the original Yamaha Subkick, both live and in the studio for several years, so my ears are well accustomed to what these types of microphones offer. In my experience, they are usually all low-end woof with very little detail. The sound almost always needs to be supplemented with a second microphone to capture the details—details that KickTone aims to produce.

The Lowdown

The KickTone is well-designed—clearly, a lot of thought has gone into it. The 6.5" x 4.5" cardioid pattern KickTone is sleek, minimal and attractive. The unit I received came in a matte black finish, with a striking chrome grille and six ovular cutouts along the sides, placed to manage the air flowing through the porthole of the kick drum's resonant head. It boasts a specially built hemp diaphragm (speaker cone) that's lightweight and rigid. The secret sauce lies in a second coaxial dynamic structure to better capture the high-end transients in the kick sound. Looking through the grille, this is essentially a coaxial tweeter nestled inside the woofer, much like a car speaker.

The KickTone has a frequency response of 20 Hz-10 kHz, an output impedance of 100 ohms and a sensitivity of 87dB (SPL at 2.83v @1 meter).

Shut your porthole!

The KickTone is designed to be placed on the resonant head porthole; it is purpose-designed to attach directly a KickPort bass drum enhancer. This gives KickPort the convenience of not needing a microphone stand, although it can be stand-mounted as well with an included 360-degree swivel adaptor.

At 1.7 pounds, my initial concern with attaching the KickTone directly to my KickPort was that the weight and heft of the microphone attached directly to the drum head would limit movement of the resonant kick head and change the sound of the drum. While I did notice an acoustic difference in the room with the mic mounted there as well as a slight change of feel on my kick pedal, what matters is the sound.

In Use

I tried the KickTone in several configurations on my 22" x 18" Gretsch Brooklyn Series kick drum—directly on the KickPort, in front of the KickPort on a stand, and mounted on a stand and pointed at the center of the resonant kick head as close as I could place it. I was shocked at how big of a difference each position made. The clear winner to my ears was mounting it directly on the KickPort. The punch and tone sounded best in this position. It's clear that the KickTone is tailor-made to be used this way. Mounting it to a stand brought the overall volume of the microphone down and made it sound distant and a bit muffled.

In the thick of it

The KickTone is happiest absorbing every impact. Mounted to the KickPort on the 22" Gretsch yielded a huge low-end thump right around 45 Hz that was never overwhelming or artificial sounding and offered all the low end you could want without reaching for an EQ. There was a slight resonance around 115 Hz, followed by a natural and smooth high-end rolloff ending at around 2 kHz; this might look a bit dark on paper, but the sheer strength of the initial transient compensates for this.

I also tried the KickTone on a 14" x 14" Pearl floor tom that I converted into a mini kick drum that I often use for acoustic coffee shop gigs or as my main kick in the studio when a song calls for it. Its unusual size usually calls for creative miking techniques, but it has a surprising amount of low end, with a unique punch not found on conventional kick drums. The KickTone brought it to life by accentuating the fundamental around 80 Hz with that same natural, smooth rolloff towards the high frequencies. I found no need

to EQ in extra thump for such a small drum, and I found the KickTone to be ideal for this application. Lastly, just for the heck of it, I put the KickTone under my 16" x 14" Gretsch Brooklyn floor tom, right up against the resonant head, with a Sennheiser MD 421 II on top. Wow! When blended in to taste with the top mic, this floor tom had a low end I have not heard from it before. I could imagine this trick being used to great effect on rack toms when more thud is needed. I should note that it also blends well with the overheads and room mics.

Boom For Your Buck

As I type this, I am about to head out for a weekend of shows, and I'm looking forward to bringing it along and enjoying its huge sound on stage and through the PA system. I am impressed. Morton Microphone Systems has delivered on its promise of emphasizing sub frequencies without sacrificing higher transients. The reasonably priced KickTone offers a unique take in the speaker-as-kick-mic category, boasting a huge, rich, and full sound that is versatile in many contexts.

More From: kicktonemic.com

David Blascoe is a Nashville-based session drummer and engineer. He records and tours with a roster of artists, including his personal project, Black Fuse.

@blackfusemusic @davidblascoe

MIXDOWN MAGAZINE REVIEW

WORDS BY ANDY LLOYD RUSSEL

The KickTone is a microphone that sits in its own unique category, in that it successfully takes the best qualities of what made the original subkick mic such an iconic studio piece while pushing the idea into new territories.

The recording and reproduction of low end sound sources in the studio or live environment is a contentious topic in pro audio. With numerous techniques and coveted pieces of gear being heavily leant on over the years, it’s always refreshing to see things stirred up when a new piece of gear challenges the status quo. One such microphone that has done so in recent times is the Morton Microphone Systems KickTone, which has a rather unique take on capturing low end. 

For a bit of historical context, there’s been a handful of go to microphones that engineers have gravitated towards both in studio and live environments for capturing low end sound sources, and more specifically for kick drum. In the first several decades of recording drum kits with multiple microphones, typically only one dedicated microphone was used for kick drum. But, as the size of mixing consoles increased as well as the channel count of reel to reel tape machines, engineers were gifted the flexibility of being able to use more than once microphone on a kick drum, to then be separately treated on the mixing console. 

By the time the 1980’s rolled around, two or more microphones on the kick drum was commonplace, each tasked with a specific role for the mix. One typically placed inside the drum would be used to articulate the attack sound of the kick, whilst another mic placed somewhere on the outside of the drum (usually at the front of the resonant head and/or near the port hole) to capture the low end weight of the drum. These two microphones, when carefully treated and blended, would represent the complete sonic picture of the kick drum. 

With engineers constantly trying to find new and exciting ways to capture more low end frequency information, reverse wiring loudspeaker drivers (woofers), which in effect made them a very large diaphragm microphone became quite a popular technique in the studio.

Whilst this enormous microphone diaphragm (7” diameter in the case of the Yamaha NS-10 driver) was able to produce a whopping amount of low end information, it typically was never used exclusively on its own, but instead in conjunction with another microphone, for a more balanced and realistic representation of the kick drum. As this technique was refined, Yamaha released a dedicated product dubbed the Subkick – essentially an NS-10 speaker driver placed in a mahogany shell which came with a dedicated stand. 

With the Yamaha Subkick having been discontinued for quite some time, the introduction of the KickTone was welcomed within the drum and pro audio communities, cleverly building upon this reverse wired speaker concept. As mentioned earlier, the primary purpose of a subkick type microphone is, as the name subtly suggests, reproduces subsonic frequency information, but for any frequency information above this another mic is absolutely required.

The KickTone’s design is an interesting one in that it has both a woofer and a secondary coaxial dynamic structure. Its bespoke hemp diaphragm offers the inherent benefit of stiff rigidity paired with being light weight and provides great natural damping. The KickTone’s 5.25” woofer captures superb low end as one would hope, extending right the way down to 20Hz, with the secondary dynamic structure assisting in reaching up to 10kHz. It is this extension into high frequency territory that is the hallmark of the KickTone’s unique design, providing both a bucket load of sub frequency heft and articulate attack in the upper mid range, and with a sound pressure handling of 175dB SPL, the diaphragm is near impervious to sonic harm. 

Whilst most other dedicated kick drum microphones are either mounted onto a mic stand or placed within the drum (in the case of a plate style mic), the KickTone has a couple of mounting tricks up its sleeve. 

Of course mounting onto a stand is easily done and is rotatable 360-degrees. This makes for quick as easy adjustment and positioning when using the KickTone close to or around the resonant head of a drum or when placed in front of a bass cabinet speaker or even up under a piano for example. But for kick drums, the KickTone also has the ability to seamlessly mount directly onto a KickPort. Thankfully, for those who don’t already have a KickPort, a bundle of the two is available making it a superb studio and live sound companion. This mounting option is an absolute game changer for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it makes for far less clutter around the kit, alleviating the need for a mic stand, but most prudently this type of mounting gives an incredibly isolated sound capture. Any live or studio engineer who’s run into trouble with leakage of other instruments (a.k.a. a snare drum) into a kick drum mic and have had to work some intensive gating magic to get things talking properly will appreciate this. This mounting option also seems to give the most definition in the overall sound of the KickTone as well. Being nicely sealed around the porthole of the kick provides the most amount of low frequency energy to be captured as well as a very defined attack. This in turn provides a very full picture of the sound of the kick drum and allows the KickTone to be comfortably used on its own without the need for an additional microphone if required.

Aside from the relative aesthetic comparisons to some other sub kick like designs, this is where the similarities really end. The KickTone is a microphone that sits in its own unique category, in that it successfully takes the best qualities of what made the original subkick mic such an iconic studio piece while pushing the idea into new territories. By implementing a design which not only reproduces the enormous low end we’ve come to expect from subkick-type mics, the added detail in the upper frequency spectrum lends itself to be used on its own both in studio and live environments, making light work of what many engineers search for in a reproducing the sound of a kick drum. The flexibility of its mounting options and overall sound quality, the KickTone is a valued asset to any engineer’s mic locker.