ATYPICAL IN DESIGN
We are all used to seeing that short boom stand in front of the kick drum, supporting a perfectly placed microphone within the shell of the drum. And many of you will know how long it took to get that perfect placement, as each room, drum and microphone offer various challenges in getting the right sound. Having placed so many microphones within kick drums over the years myself, I know that there has to be a better way, there usually is. And I now know that it can be found in the e901. This condenser microphone, with an integrated preamp in the housing, changes the way we look at kick drum microphones. It looks not too dissimilar to a typical PZM microphone, but offers a cardioid pickup pattern for a more direct result.
SET AND FORGET
The beauty of this microphone is how easy it is to set it up right. You don’t need yet another stand getting in the way on front of the kit. It is simply placed inside the drum either on the dampening pads within or directly on the shell itself. The microphone has rubber pads underneath to ensure it doesn’t move around with vibration if placed on the shell, with its own solid weight keeping it in place. Being a cardioid microphone, you simply need to ensure it is pointing away from the hole at the front of the drum and you’re all set. The raw punch and full sound this microphone delivers is really something special and in most cases doesn’t need a lot of EQ work to get it sitting right in the mix. Just as the e606 made mic placement on guitar amps child’s play, the e901 means anyone can pull a good sound from a kick drum. And, being able to handle extremely high sound pressure levels, you can use it with even the hardest hitting drummers and still get exceptional results.
