Tuned vs Not Drums Comparison?
- Thread starter LBTM
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amarshism
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- Feb 19, 2012
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They refuse/don't let me to tune the drums because of lack of time (money) and usually I end up recording bad sounding drums. I get bad reputation because of this and it sucks.
raybrochill
Member
tgs
Elder
Practice on a kit in your spare time so that when you need to do it for a session you can do it fast. You might not get perfect tuning this way but it's better than nothing. Learning how to tune drums is essential for a recording engineer.
Trevoire520
Member
Thats actually a really good idea for a tutorial/demo video. Though it would involve me detuning my nicely tuned kit :/ lol
BLUElightCory
Member
You need to put your foot down. It's not hard to find plenty of information to back you up on the whole "the drums need to be tuned" thing. Get a Tunebot and it really won't take very long to get the kit tuned up, and the time you take tuning the kit is time you'll save (and then some) trying to get a badly tuned kit to sound decent, and will still yield better results.
crillemannen
Member
Tuned drums makes all the difference, can make a cheap kit sounds like a 10k one. I actually realized that it isn't that important to have an expensive kit as long as it is an ok one as LONG as you TUNE it well.
And before the band book you just make sure that you include that to your list of things they need to think of/bring. You know new strings, intonated instruments and new skins etc
And before the band book you just make sure that you include that to your list of things they need to think of/bring. You know new strings, intonated instruments and new skins etc
- Feb 19, 2012
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And before the band book you just make sure that you include that to your list of things they need to think of/bring. You know new strings, intonated instruments and new skins etc
I've got a list with all these things on my page but as optional. I'm a budget engineer and I try to record as many bands as possible in the minimum time to build a client base and reputation. This works good so far but there are always these kind of bands that will come to record a demo in 2-3 hours to market it around or a Saturday night jam entitled "bandjam333!!!" available as free download that will sound bad because out of tune drums, bad intonated or out of tune guitars and bad playing that will get you a bad reputation and will go to a bigger studio to record a full-length or ep that you could do better.
crillemannen
Member
That will get you nowhere. better to record 1 band that are decent, want to dedicate the time needed to get things right then record 10 bad demos.
BLUElightCory
Member
If you let bad work come out of your studio you won't be able to build a good reputation, it's as simple as that. "Good" bands will judge you by the work you do, not by your gear. Everyone has to work with bad bands, but the successful engineers are the ones who don't let bad sounding stuff come out of their studio. I know it can be difficult for some clients to understand the importance of things like instrument setups, drum tuning, using a metronome when necessary, etc., but part of the job is educating the clients as to what it takes. If you put in the work and prove yourself by giving them a better product than they thought possible or deserve, they'll come back, and they'll tell their friends.
heshian46
Member
Tuning drums doesn't take that long once you are comfortable doing it, and you know what sounds your after. Take the 15 or 20 minutes it takes to tune the drums and it will make a world of difference. Like Crillemannen said, a low end kit tuned up well can easily sound like a high end kit.
Would you track guitar without tuning it first?
Would you track guitar without tuning it first?
mstone564
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- Feb 19, 2012
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We're usually recording live because the band don't have more than 2-3 hours and it goes like this.
I point them to the rack tuner and tell them to tune their guitars while I set up the drums. We start recording andddddd...
- Hey, guys, that guitar sounds out of tune.
- But I totally tuned it 10 minutes ago.
- Yes but......
- You're wasting our studio time, we don't have the time and money.
- Ok, it's your record.
I don't know if they're all concerted but that happens often. Maybe it's their cheap guitars with bad intonation or that they can't tune properly.
nezvers
Beast
- Get electronic drums and record cymbals, that will be your back-up, if they don't want to tune drums;
- or don't charge for time preparing/ setting up bands stuff, if your main concern is reputation and want to get best record you can.
- or don't charge for time preparing/ setting up bands stuff, if your main concern is reputation and want to get best record you can.
LMFAO. This is the FIRST THING that popped in my head when I read the OP.
Or else, it sounds like it may take you a little too long to tune the drums, so for practice, offer to do it OFF THE CLOCK and that will solve your bad reputation because of shitty drums.
I'd rather offer MY TIME, for FREE than have my reputation on the line because the band can't afford for me to spend an hour or whatever tuning drums.
ALSO, HIGHLY agree with crillemann. Your approach, while it makes a little sense financially (do everything that comes in the door in order to upgrade gear) but if you really want to get somewhere, it's SO MUCH better to do ONE GREAT band and refuse 6 shitty bands than to just do anything..
Name is everything in this business and when you're name starts popping up on the credits of a few great records; trust me, people DO take notice. THAT's when the financial part gets better. Better bands, bigger budgets, etc..
BUT, this also leads to an EXTREMELY higher level of stress and anxiety. So you just gotta be tough....!
