UPDATE: Adding Weight to That Kick Drum Tip

On Monday we had our monthly all campus division meeting which is nice because it puts all of our audio staff together in one room along with the rest of our service programming team. So guess what the audio guys were all talking about? The sandbag in the kick. We are all unanimous about adding weight in the kick drum. I think it’s turning into an essential thing for us. Here are the current stats:

North Point: 10 lbs.
Browns Bridge: ~15-25 lbs.
Buckhead: 50 lbs.

Brandon at Buckhead stuffed an entire 50 pound bag of sand in his kick drum. He says it’s great. One concern we had, though, was what the added weight might do to the shell of the drum. I think 50 pounds might be pushing it, but I think 20-25 should be safe. No matter how much weight you put in, it’s probably a good idea to keep an eye on the kick to make sure the shell isn’t warping.

I plan on adding at least another 5 pounds to the kick in the east. When I do the kick in the west auditorium, I’ll probably pick up 15-20 lbs. worth of weights at a sporting goods store. Home made sandbags are probably going to be the most economical solution, but since we don’t have the luxury of quick release heads on our kick, I want something we can get in and out through the hole on the front head. One thing we discussed was how to move the kick with the extra weight in there. We’ll probably try and lift the drum from the bottom, and I believe the other two campuses will just remove the weight since they do have quick release heads.

This is my favorite tip of the year so far. So definitely give it a try, and if you bump into Buford Jones make sure to thank him because this is all his idea.