Tag Archives: drums

Recording drums on a budget

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(Note to my VoIP readership: this is an indulgence since I don’t have anywhere to blog about my other passion, amateur recording. So bear with me. After all, this used to be a blog about music.)

I’ve been looking for a good way to record my drum kit, since my home recordings reek of pre-recorded drum loops that scream amateur. This is fine if you spend all day in Reason doing techno music, but not so fine if you like rock and roll. You just need real drums, at least I do, and I needed a good, cheap way of recording my standard setup, a four-piece drum set with ride, two crashes, and of course, hi hats.

So I experimented with a variety of potential setups before settling on something I’m happy with. Keep in mind, I’m using a Macbook without a digital input/preamp device, so I only have two inputs (left and right). The drums, which are recorded using four microphones, are mixed down to the two inputs using a cheapy six-channel mixer, again, with no preamps. Here is the result.
The mic I chose are also cheapies, but I was very pleased with the outcome. A Nady kick drum mic and two phantom-powered condensers. The condensers go overhead, each equidistant from the snare drum. My first couple of takes I tried with just these three mics, and it came out very crisp and clear once I had the levels set right on the mixer. The only problem was, the snare drum wasn’t present enough. I toyed around with moving the overheads closer to the snare, but it just wasn’t good enough. So I ended up close-micing the snare with a trashy 57-style vocal mic, and that gave me just enough volume to bring the snare up to right level of smack I was looking for. The only problem is that the quality of the snare sound suffered when I did this. The overheads were definitely more articulate than the clumsy old mic I put on the snare.

In the end, I came up with a recording that you can listen to by clicking here. Keep in mind, this isn’t a performance, just a quick drum session of several rock beats and rolls designed to evaluate the recording setup. The only post-processing I did was compress the final track a bit and add a hint of verb. There’s no EQ anywhere, not even from the input mixer. This should give a good idea of the frequency range and capability of this particular recording setup. BTW the single stereo track was recorded using GarageBand.
Generally, I’m pretty pleased with the result, considering the mics and cables only set me back less than $200. What do you think about it?

Flight 93

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I just saw the movie Flight 93 and I it was the most devestating thing I think I’ve ever watched in a film. I just can’t imagine what the people onboard that flight went through in reality and I hope so much that the man that orchestrated it is found and dealt with, soon.  God Bless the victims and their familes.

Use EQ, not panning, to remove low-end mud

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Drum-kit.com has a great little tutorial answering this question: Is it OK to pan low-frequency instruments to the left and to the right in order to restore clarity and get rid of that mid-low muddiness that always seems to be such a nuisance.  The answer is essentially “no”, for a number of reasons:

  • Bass isn’t as directional as treble, so panning doesn’t have the same perceived effect on the stereo image with low-freqency instruments as it does with high-frequency ones.
  • Certain analog media–especially vinyl–just don’t deal well with low-frequencies that are too far to the right or left. In fact, some producers master vinyl with certain low frequencies at dead center, regardless of how they’ve been mixed.
  • EQ is much more effective in bringing clarity to the low-end. Check out these tips:

Rule number one is to to cut the bass below around 100 Hz for any instrument or sound source that has not been specifically included in the mix for its bass content. Anything else is just mush, and should be filtered out.

In many cases, that will be enough to provide clarity in the bass. However if you wish to combine several bass instruments, you need to carefully EQ them so that each has its own little space in the frequency spectrum.

For example you could tune and EQ a kick drum to say 80 Hz, then cut the bass guitar slightly in this region while boosting it in the 150 Hz -200 Hz zone. These are not hard and fast figures, just instances.

The Drummer’s Job???

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Came across this post on a Yahoo group about drumming. Being first and foremost a drummer, it reminded me of a few bands I’ve been in:

The job of the drummer is:
To show up before anyone else, since it will take longer to load in the drums.
To stay later than anyone else, since it will take longer to load out the drums.
To be the only one in the band who has any idea what bar of the song the band is in at any given time.
To hit the crash in the right spot so the singer knows when to come in.
To play the right fill to remind the guitar player it’s time to go to the chorus.
To play the right fill to remind bass player where the bridge is.
To play the right fill so the entire band knows the bridge is over.
To play an obvious “end the song here” fill so the guitar player doesn’t turn your 3 minute song into an extended 10 minute guitar solo showcase.
To remind the band it’s your band too.

Chris Layton interviewed in Classic Drummer

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I was just watching a Stevie Ray Vaughan DVD with my wife the other day and I kept thinking, man is his drummer good. The guy just sits in the groove throughout all of those jams Stevie used to rip. Amazing stuff. Anyhoo, Chris is interviewed in the newest issue of Class Drummer Magazine.

Also, check out the  Classic Drummer blog, where the eds of the mag have posted their thoughts about the Queen and Paul Rodgers concert they recently saw.

Check it out!

What’s the deal with drum circles?

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Is a “drum circle” that ring of metal or wood that holds the drum head onto the drum? No, not exactly. A drum circle is a relatively new community drumming event geared around providing therapetic interaction between participants. Folks sit together and play hand percussion–sometimes in a highly organized fashion, and sometimes in an organic, uncoordinated manner.

The object of drum circles depends on who you ask. Some drum circles are intended for team-building training. I’ve seen business consultants promoting drum circles as a way to get teams working together better. Then there are the drum circles that are geared towards mental well-being. By playing drums together, therapeutic drum circle facilitators hope to help their participants relieve stress.

Then, there are the kinds of drum circles that are, apparently, just for fun. Popular in central and south Florida, there are beachfront drum circles that get together at dusk and proceed to, well–drum.  Sometimes, the drumming depends into partying.  Chicks come up and dance along.  Middle-aged couples suddenly harken back to their days as hippies.

And all the while, Remo sells more drumheads.

“Decent” Portable Drumset from Pearl

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Yes, Virginia. For around $500, you too can have a “decent” yet portable five-piece set of Pearl drums. The set photographed above, as a matter of fact. No, they won’t be made in America. No, they won’t have bottom heads… and they may only be good enough for rehearsal. But I digress.  Anything’s better than a practice pad, right? Check it out:

The Rhythm Traveler comes complete with a full set of Pearl 70W Series double braced hardware. This impressive hardware line was developed to provide maximum stability and durability, while keeping weight to a minimum for ease of transport. Every function and feature on our 70W series hardware is straight forward and dependable, with ease of use as the ultimate goal. All pipe joints feature an extended nylon joint bushing providing an extremely strong and stable adjustment system.Rhythm Traveler’s H-70W Hi-Hat stand offers a direct link pull system for precise feel and strong action, sturdy double braced legs, full height adjustability and a fully adjustable cymbal clutch. The S-70W provides adjustments for both height and basket tension, and its double braced leg tripod and low center of gravity make it an extremely stable stand.

The C-70W cymbal stand provides a 3 section adjustment system, a deep gear cymbal tilter, and sturdy double braced legs. The P-70 bass drum pedal features a great feeling strap drive cam system, full adjustment over spring tension and Duo Beat beater for use with both standard and Muffle Heads.

Get your own set here.

What’s in a kick drum pedal?

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I was reading a post on a Yahoo drumming list today and I came across an interesting discussion about the pros and cons of different kick drum pedals. For the record, the kick drum pedal I use at home is a Pearl chain drive pedal that used to be one half of a double-kick setup. At church, we use a very light duty Yamaha strap-drive pedal. I get on OK with either, although I prefer the action on my pedal. It’s a cheap pedal but hey, it’s what I’m used to. Anyway, check out these comments from the post:

Like everybody, I eventually ended up with a SpeedKing pedal that I literally played into the ground; I repaired it, I fixed it, I oiled it, I adjusted it…but could never get it quiet. For a long time my fave was my old Slingerland TempoKing (really quiet and very responsive), but those infernal leather drive straps just couldn’t hack it. Eventually, I would up with a really good Gibraltar pedal (and then the matching double pedal), which have served me well…BUT, none of them could even come close to the feel of this very expensive Axis pedal.

Before I spring for it, I may have to look at the DW 9000 series pedal (based on the experiences of “Stretch” and Keng), but the linkage slip issue is very important on a double pedal and it was barely noticable (if at all) on the Axis that I played.

Visit the site for the rest of the thread. And while you’re at it, check out this review of, in one man’s opinion, the “best pedal ever“.