Cut and Paste drummers... Venting...

[drummercat]

If your drummer can only record when he have a scratch track, then give him a damn track, he sucks.
If he still plays like crap with the scratch track, give him a metronome, he really sucks.
if he refuse to practice and play with the clicks, get a new drummer.


If the drummer played and practiced the song with your bandmate,
all the music should be in his mind already.
I personally only play to the clicks when recording.

about the tom tom sound.
record it and send it to all your bandmate and let them vote,
if all of them say his floor tom sound like shit then I think you have the right to keep it out from ur recording. The recorded song is your bands property, for every of your bandmate, not only the drummer.

 

[sepsis311]

I feel your absolutely right. I may end up using his floor tom track as a "trigger" for a sampled floor tom.

 

[DamnYankee]

After reading this thread, I understand your frustration.

I'm just wondering the age of his skins? Even with 18", you should get a nice tight but deep thoop if the skins are fairly new - they shouldn't come off sounding like a cardboard box....maybe his kit is made of cheap wood...hmmm...

Secondly, I can certainly understand him wanting to listen to musical parts while drumming; in my opinion, there's more to drumming than just keeping time. A Drum kit is an extremely dynamic instrument and can keep a back beat in quieter parts and are instrumental in crescendos and explosions in other parts of a song. My drummer insists on having the click track, guitars, AND bass line (so he can floor tom along with the bass picking) to play along to. Just my two cents, anyway...

Good luck on yer project!

Hey buddy, like i said, who the hell asks for scratch tracks on the spot? Not to mention, I myself (a beginner drummer) could play the songs straight through to a click. I tired it yesterday without scratch tracks and nailed it.

As far as the comment about being only 22 and you guys thinking im inexpirienced, i worked a good 4 years at a studio in my town, the one where i learned drums. And it wasn't with no damn multitrack evironment. Yamaha 32 track board, with inserts here and there, straight to stereo dat, and cd. Sometimes were talking about 10 piece gospel bands, bookin a room for 2 hrs, and want a nice recording.

I feel confident in my skills, but not cocky. So don't always assume thast someone's age is a representation of how much they know. Btw my drummer has told me he doesnt like how it sounds and he should've at least tuned it up.

As far as trying different mics on the floor tom, i only have enough mics for the entire kit. I work my ass off to buy equiptment, and currently about to buy a firepod. So right now, extra mics is out of the question.

 

[Drummerbones]

I didn't read every reply in this thread, but as a drummer first and an engineer second, you can look at it two ways.

One, this guy obviously can't cut it as a studio drummer. Do what you will with that comment.

Two, one of the most challenging, but necessary, qualities of a good engineer is being able to take what you're given and find a way to make it work.

I'm a very solid drummer with years of experience, yet being the anal engineering that I am, I do edit my drum parts to a certain degree. I'll cut & paste a chorus over another if I really nailed it or whatever. The final product is all that matters to me.

I've recording plenty (MOSTLY!!) drummers who had no business trying to be a real studio drummer, but when it was all said and done, most of them actually thought they could play once they heard the finished product.

Do what you will or do what you must.

 

[Zaphod B]

A few years back my band went into the studio to record a demo tape. The drummer, who was (still is) a nice guy and a good drummer with a decent-sounding drum kit, set up his drums in the drum booth. The engineer set up his mics and I followed him into the control room while he got a line on the drum mix.

To my amazement, the drum kit which sounded pretty decent in real-world, un-mic'd situations, sounded like absolute crap through the mics. Every drum except the snare was slightly out of tune, and there were some truly ugly resonances going on.

The engineer didn't criticize the sound. He simply asked the drummer to keep hitting one drum at a time until he managed to gate, EQ, compress, and otherwise tame the ugliness out of that kit. He never once said anything to the drummer about the sound of the kit.

The final result didn't sound anything like the drum kit - by itself it sounded artificial and flat. But you know what? It sounded good in the mix and everybody - including the drummer - was happy.

My point: sometimes you've just got to work with what you're given.

 

[sepsis311]

In my situation, there's no way to add tone to a drum that didn't have it to begin with. He wasnt tuned at any pitch. It was just a slappy sound, like hitting a head you hold in the air.

 

[Tim Walker]

Well I recorded my drummer this weekend.
Sincierly,
::Frustrated, and possibly looking for a North Jersey metal drummer...::

I would play live with him and do a scratch track, if not an actual track. You should be tight enough to do that. Your songs will sound much more coherent.

tim

 

[Zaphod B]

In my situation, there's no way to add tone to a drum that didn't have it to begin with. He wasnt tuned at any pitch. It was just a slappy sound, like hitting a head you hold in the air.

No, I understand your situation. He's got the heads so loose that they don't even resonate, and won't listen to reason.

That's why I recommended a drum machine.

 

[jonnyc]

I really think way too much time has been devoted to a guy that should obviously kick the drummer out of the band. Its very very obvious that you don't want him there, you keep complaining about the same thing over and over if your drummer really keeps his heads that loose, can't tune them, and can't keep time, then I doubt he's a drummer. Just kick him out of the band buy your own damn kit and record your own tracks, you said you can do better than him. If he leaves his kit just tune it and record without him. But for real make a decision.

 

[sepsis311]

I really think way too much time has been devoted to a guy that should obviously kick the drummer out of the band. Its very very obvious that you don't want him there, you keep complaining about the same thing over and over if your drummer really keeps his heads that loose, can't tune them, and can't keep time, then I doubt he's a drummer. Just kick him out of the band buy your own damn kit and record your own tracks, you said you can do better than him. If he leaves his kit just tune it and record without him. But for real make a decision.

As I said, I already have my own kit, and I could record the tracks myself. However, I do like to play out, and obviously I can't do 2 things at once. If you think that too much time has been devoted to this thread, than why are you contributing to it? And why should you decide how a forum member spends their time? They have every right to respond if they want.