KickPort Bass Drum Support

Posted on June 21, 2011February 19, 2016 by David

I needed to add some low end to my 20 inch kick drum so I decided to give the Kickport KP1GO Bass Drum Enhancer a try. For those of you not familiar with the KickPort, it’s a small plastic tube that gets inserted into the kick drum’s resonant head. Attached to the tube is a rubber flap that is used to seal the KickPort once it’s inserted. It’s claim to fame is that it boosts the kick drum in the same manner as a bass reflex speaker cabinet boosts low frequencies.

I decided to go to Guitar Center to pick one up. It comes with a 5 and 1/4 reinforcement ring; however, I was told that it works better if you cut a 5″ diameter hole instead.

My resonant head had no port, so I decided to make the 5″ hole for the kickport. I have to admit, it made the process a little challenging since the kickport itself is almost 5″ in diameter. I had to remove the resonant head from the drum and place heavy duty rubber bands around the cumbersome rubber flap of the KickPort in order to nudge it into place. The 5″ hole creates a really tight fit for the Kickport, which gives it solid stability.

Using my iPhone, I did a lofi recording with and without the Kickport using the same resonant head.

Here is the audio using a REMO Emperor coated resonant head with a 5 and 1/4″ hole without the KickPort :

And here is the audio using REMO Emperor resonant head with a 5″ hole and KickPort:

You can hear the KickPort takes away some boom and adds punch and low end.

The only downside is that I don’t hear as much tone as before. KickPort’s documentation states that it increases tone, while other websites are stating that different resonant heads yield different results. If you want to know more, check out the blog post from recordinghacks.com.

I think the KickPort has a solid look. Artist and fellow Changing Modes bandmate Grace Pulliam did a fine job painting the 20″ head shown below -I have to admit, the KickPort fits right in:).

Cell to Cell Video – Changing Modes

Posted on April 10, 2011April 10, 2011 by David

Last summer I trekked up to the Connecticut woods with Changing Modes for the Cell to Cell video shoot. The band had a ball making the video and everyone was really happy with the final product. Special thanks to Paul Rondeau for the concept, location, and the direction of the video. I have to admit, robot-drumming was more challenging than I anticipated. I got together with Grace from Changing Modes, and her boyfriend TJ and we put together a short behind the scenes video from the separate footage that TJ shot.

Here is the behind the scenes:

And here is the final rendition of the video:

Musician Earplugs

Posted on February 7, 2011April 14, 2017 by David

Musician Earplugs with Etymotic Research Attenuators

Twelve years ago, I bought a pair of custom molded musician earplugs with Etymotic Research filters. I remember liking them a lot because they were comfortable and evenly reduced low, mid, and high frequencies. As luck would have it, I only wore them for a few years because I carelessly lost them after playing a show in upstate New York.

Since then I have tried every non-custom type of earplug. The foam plugs turned sound into mush. Hearos were a little better, but were not comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I’ve used in-ear monitors, which helped manage the sound. However, without that technology, I constantly found myself playing without ear protection during rehearsals and gigs.

A few months ago, I decided it was time to purchase another pair of custom musician earplugs. Since I was happy with my first pair of ER filters, I didn’t have to spend time researching what I wanted. However, I did have to decide between ordering a do-it-yourself “impression kit” for the ear molds or having professional audiologist do it.

I decided to go to an audiologist because I was also way overdue for a hearing test. It’s more expensive to go this route but Etymotic Research claims to get more accurate molds from the pros.

Ear Mold for Custom Fit Earplugs

Musicians Earplugs have interchangeable attenuator buttons that come in three levels–9db, 15db, and 25db. I went with the 9db and the 15db–both seem to cut down enough of the dangerous levels. If I’m singing and playing drums I need the 9db so I can hear myself better. For everything else I’ve been using the 15db. The molds plus the filters cost about $180 for the pair. Add another $40 if you want to get more than one pair of filters. If you’ve never wore them but are interested in getting a pair, then I recommend the 15db as a good baseline.

Here’s the link to their site: http://www.etymotic.com/hp/erme.html

Playing with PJ Loughran

Posted on December 5, 2010May 13, 2013 by David

While I was in Chicago on tour with Changing Modes, I got a chance to play with PJ Loughran, a good friend and talented singer-songwriter. I have been working with PJ and bass man John McFaul for almost ten years. Although John and I laid down tracks for PJ last winter, this was the first time PJ and I were reunited on stage since he moved to Chicago a few years back. PJ was a little reluctant to play without a rehearsal –but after some coaxing and a pre-gig warm up, PJ was game. The song we performed in the video below was from PJ’s first album release named “Grenadine.” It’s a beautiful album and this song is one of my favorites from it.