tips needed for drum recording (CD project)

[Macke/Crystal Light]

Hi!

With my band we are planning to start recording of our first full length album. at the moment we are doing pre production/demos of appr 18 songs that will be reduced to 11 or 12 for the recording of the album. We have 5 songs to finish before the selection of songs and recording starts. We are on a quite tight budget and also time is an issue and my main concern right now is the recording of the drums.

Most likely we will not be able to go to a pofessional studio for the drum recording (of course it could be an option, but for budget reasons we would prefer not to....).

We have a rehearsing local (not very good sounding) where the drummer has his drums. an idea is to use triggers and then replace with samples.

Another option I have read about (but not tried) is to record the drums with mic´s and the replace with samples (using software to change audio to midi).

Third option is to record with e-drums (problem is to get a decent e-drum kit). Good point with using e-drums is that then our drummer could record at home using click track to our preproduction/demo recordings and then he can record when ever he feels like at home.

What of these options would you recommend? And why?

thanks!

 

[jeid]

Record with mics and blend in samples Good luck

 

[Fox Mulder]

1. Find any room that's at least 2000cft. Make sure it's not dead, and not too lively either. Typically dining rooms are a good idea.
2. Get new heads for the snare. Get good sticks and a drummer who's not malnourished. Tune it to D. Want more thump? Move the sm57 closer. Want more crackle? Move it away. You're hearing something that you don't like? Move it from side to side and see what fits you best. After that, analyze and see if you wanna adjust the height of the mic again.
3. Mic the kick both inside and out, send the signal to a frequency analyzer. Tune the batter head and the resonant accordingly so that it peaks at 60hz. Watch out for weird-ass lower mid resonances and other noise, especially the ones generated from the pedal.
4. Blend samples if necessary.
5. Want more? Acoustic Drums for Metal: A Guide

 

[Trevoire520]

If you're not experienced in recording I don't think I would recommend trying to record drums yourself. For the price of triggers/mic's/interfaces etc you could probably get a couple of days in a studio so you can have your drums recorded by someone who is experienced.

Have a hunt around local studio's. Get prices and hear some examples of metal bands they have recorded. Balance the quality of the drum sound with the price they're asking and take your pick.

Get the drummer to practice like fuck, to a click, every day. Get new skins for the kit and drop the drums off 24 hours ahead of the session. If your drummers kit sucks then borrow a good one from a friend and again, drop it off at the studio 24 hours before the session. Spend the first half day in the studio tuning the kit and getting it sounding great. Then you have a day and a half to get the songs down. Get the engineer to give you consolidated WAV files for your drums and then you can mix/sample replace them back home.

 

[Macke/Crystal Light]

thank´s for the replies so far!

So noone is actually prefering using (quality) digital drums?
why is that? Is it not possible to get as good end result?

 

[Jahbulon]

thank´s for the replies so far!

So noone is actually prefering using (quality) digital drums?
why is that? Is it not possible to get as good end result?

I use a rather cheap e-kit (yamaha dtxplorer) and trigger addictive drums with it and it works wonderfully. The end result will not be as good as a properly recorded acoustic drum kit, but it is a hell of a lot easier if you don't have much recording experience.

 

[crosstalk]

If you consider using an e-kit, you may just want to program the drums.

You can always program the drums and then put up some overheads and just record the cymbal playing. This is essentially like triggering all of the pieces and quantizing them. In this scenario you only need two come up with two overhead mics and get the cymbals sounding good. No money on heads, triggers, 5-7 other kit mics. No worries about not having the snare mic just right.

Just an idea if resources and experience are running low.

Actually, I wish I could get bands to do just that. Would be faster to sit down and program than have them fuck up 20 times and then spend hours in editing. Then again it would render several thousand dollars in equipment unused.

 

[Trevoire520]

To be honest Crosstalk is probably right there. As long as you have a decent Ekit & drum software then you can record MIDI and should get a good drum sound. After that you can just overdub cymbals. Best way to do it if you're on a tight budget and have an Ekit available.

 

[lolzgreg]

I agree with crosstalk as well. As a first timer, you'd be much better off with using an e-kit and something like toontrack's superior drummer.