Yamaha SKRM100 Subkick Bass Drum Microphone Item #: YAP SKRM100 

The Yamaha SKRM100 Subkick Bass Drum Microphone delivers the most amazing kick drum sound you've ever had! Yamaha took a 6.5-inch speaker and shock-mounted it into a 10-inch drum shell and reverse-wired it to an XLR jack to convert the speaker diaphragm into a microphone diaphragm. This allows Subkick to pick up the low-end that a normal microphone can't. Mounting the speaker into the shell focuses the sound to direct the signal into the diaphragm. Using that shell makes the Subkick as easy to use on the road as it is in the studio and it looks great with any drum kit.

The Subkick features a 10-inch woofer which is shockmounted inside a 7-ply Maple shell and covered with 10-inich black mesh heads. The drum shell focuses sound waves in a strong, directional pattern through the speaker.

The Mesh heads, although sonically invisible to those frequencies, add a small amount of sustain to the sound. In combination with the resonance of the drum shell, the speaker produces an incredible sub-frequency sound, with plenty of punch and controlled thickness, and without the phasing problems often associated with low end reproduction.

When used alone or in combination with a standard kick drum microphone, the Subkick will capture the full range of frequencies coming from the drum without EQ, compression, or any other signal processing. The Subkick also includes a standard XLR for easy connection, and does not require +48V Phantom power to operate.

Yamaha Subkick
I was looking for a way to capture the actual, uncolored sound of my kick drum, both on tape and live, explains Yamaha Drum artist Russ Miller, who designed the Subkick through his extensive work in professional recording situations. A kick drum mic placed in a common position really doesn't capture all the frequencies. I had the idea of combining some of the characteristics of a drum, and using a speaker as an extremely large microphone diaphragm together. The Subkick was born.

Subkick Batter Woofer
A diaphragm in a microphone is basically a small speaker that moves when Sound Pressure Levels pass through. The response of the mic to these sound waves is amplified, and that's how we hear instruments on tape or through a P.A. system. Standard loudspeakers have been used as microphone diaphragms before, but never in combination with the characteristics of a drum shell and mesh heads. That's what makes the Subkick the first of its kind.

The Yamaha SKRM100 Features Include:

6.5-inch Speaker/Diaphragm

10 x 5-inch Birch and Mahogany Shell

Comes with specially designed stand
Subkick has Yamaha's tom-mounting bracket mounted directly to the shell. This mounts to a CL-940 ball clamp that slides into the base of a double braced 800 series snare stand.

Multiple Applications
The flexibility of the stand allows you to use the SKRM-100 for a variety of applications in live or studio situations. It can be used in conjunction with an internal microphone on bass drums and floor toms, djembe, bass guitar cabinets, pianos... your imagination is the only limitation.