Recording Drums - A Journey

[Felix Neumann]

Wow..I love watching drumkit pictures! This is kind of porn for me.

@Animal is this your drumkit?

@Jarrko is it possible to hear, what you´ve recorded? Kit looks nice, especially the ride.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

@Jarrko is it possible to hear, what you´ve recorded? Kit looks nice, especially the ride.

The EP is still in editing stage, I'll ask the band if I can post a clip when it's done

 

[CatharsisStudios]

i get off to room mics

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/347071/drum test7.mp3

to bad the kid sucks

 

[C_F_H_13]

nothing to contribute but some drum porn.

 

[Russtopher]

Well if you want to share your knowledge im right here

I'm getting my friend in so i can 'test' my new equipment on drums (I finally equipped myself with a decent interface and a couple of mics)
So my room is basically the average nightmare , a square with an 8 foot ceiling. There isn't much flutter at all though and it sounds pretty dry. However I'm struggling how to find out if my room is 'good' or not, is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?

edit: forgot to say, I dont write epicly composed masterpieces with a 16 piece kit with a gazillion effects, Im usually in the domain of prog/punk music and usually quite raw, just thought i'd say that so that people know what I'm aiming for

editedit: fuck it I'll say the stuff i have for micing and how im gonna use them
Audix d6 (kick)
Rode NT5s (ohs)
sm57 (snaretop)
audix i5 (snare bottom)

Im hoping the toms will shine through enough in the overheads :zombie:

eventually I'll be getting tom mics but money is slim being a student

If you have no tom mics, you can try setting up the overheads in the "Glyn Johns" or "Recorderman" techniques rather than the traditional spaced pair or x/y configs. I used to do that when I had my Firebox (4 inputs) and it got me decent enough tom sounds for rock/indie tracking. Dunno how well it'd work if you wanted to do any tom replacement, though. You'd probably have to duplicate the tracks, then slice out anything that wasn't the exact tom you wanted on that track.

 

[Damian B]

I agree Felix, I fucking hate programming drums. Every time I get started writing a song I get annoyed at the fact that I have to spend hours programming something that sounds halfway decent, when I know I could just sit down at a kit and play what I want. Alas, my dorm room situation makes that difficult to do. Over the summer (and next year since I'm renting a house) I plan on recording everything though.

Fuck programmed drums, nothing beats a real drummer.

 

[Russtopher]

Tracking drums in a tiny room last year at my friend's bandspace

 

[CatharsisStudios]

i love programming drums, this damn kid won't let me program their ep, its pissing me off, because i can think of so many epic fills and shit, and he's to busy on the kick but not in a good way at all

 

[Felix Neumann]

i get off to room mics

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/347071/drum test7.mp3

to bad the kid sucks

The playing isn´t that bad, I´d prefer this when I´d have to decide programm the drums or letting this kid groove I also like the drumsound, It sounds natural. The only thing I would do, dampen the toms a bit more for Metal.

 

[CatharsisStudios]

the toms are taped off and just nasty, so sample replacing those things



yeah he's not bad just i don't like his ideas on some stuff

 

[Felix Neumann]

because i can think of so many epic fills and shit

Fuck programmed fills! This I hate the most, when I listen to songs with programmed drums. The latest THEN each one is realizing, slate is the star in this game

edit: The good thing about programming drums is, creativity and possibilities has no border. It is all possible, even without a drummer. But there will always lack natural feel. And that is the point, I cannot live with.

 

[GeertSamuel]

@Animal is this your drumkit?

Yep..that's my baby

 

[MetalJonesy]

expect some drum porn from me in the next month. I'm tracking my mates band and he has a beast of a kit, gnna try use as much of it as poss int he actual mix too!

 

[CatharsisStudios]

Fuck programmed fills! This I hate the most, when I listen to songs with programmed drums. The latest THEN each one is realizing, slate is the star in this game

edit: The good thing about programming drums is, creativity and possibilities has no border. It is all possible, even without a drummer. But there will always lack natural feel. And that is the point, I cannot live with.

see thats wierd i was listening to for the fallen dreams first album which joey programmed, and i fucking could of sworn they were real drums, thats so nuts.


but yeah crazy thing happend, he stopped sucking and got pretty good plus he's only 14

 

[AllanD]

i get off to room mics

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/347071/drum test7.mp3

to bad the kid sucks

Sounds pretty good dude. Was this recorded in that room? It sounds great for being done in such a small room!

 

[Felix Neumann]

see thats wierd i was listening to for the fallen dreams first album which joey programmed, and i fucking could of sworn they were real drums, thats so nuts.


but yeah crazy thing happend, he stopped sucking and got pretty good plus he's only 14

Yeah Joey Sturgis is the guru of proper made drums by using programms. I absolutely respect this! If I do NOT recognize, it´s programmed, I don´t have a reason to complain about. "What I don´t know - will not hurt me". For all the debate about drums, I do not forget what is most important. The song! Imo ALL should serve the song, and when the drummer isn´t that good, he could destroy the song. But there are so much examples, where a drummer is essential for the Band and gives them some unique and special flair.

 

[Jevil]

Drums... drums... I usually hate tracking drums because there are few drummers that really play good enough to enjoy it.

I always have problems with bleeding... maybe Shures are not good enough for drums? Or I'm bad at micing drums... who knows... I have to practice more.

I haven't got so much experience in real drums but I have it with programmed drums. In 1995 I used to use those programs called "Trackers" as Fast Tracker, Scream Tracker... in 1997 I began with Midi drums in Digital Orchestrator and Fruity Loops. GM Sample Banks were shit... I had to prgram my ISIS soundcard for hours to change the samples... that was shit. Then VSTi's came and life is now easier.

 

[greyskull]

nothing to contribute but some drum porn.

u87s on snare and u47s on toms? Oh do fuck off

there's only one photo i know of to match THAT level of gear sluttery, which was taken by one of my good friends /colleagues

 

[Felix Neumann]

expect some drum porn from me in the next month. I'm tracking my mates band and he has a beast of a kit, gnna try use as much of it as poss int he actual mix too!

FUCK YEAH, DO IT

Huge drumkits, so much I love it - the bigger the problems for the one who is recording it.

Yep..that's my baby

@Funkyanimal, this looks grrrreat!!!

Tracking drums in a tiny room last year at my friend's bandspace

@Russtopher,thanks for sharing your video. It was pretty interesting! Your drummer is very good!

 

[Felix Neumann]

And thanks to all for sharing your thoughts, experience and DRUM PORN!!!