Hit the damn things......

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slidey

slidey

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yep

I've been experimenting in the world of drum now for approx 23 years on a dailly basis & pride myself in a good recorded drum sound. I've just had a band in & the drummer had been playing for just under a year......

the point of the story is to get the "ideal" drum sound it more or less all comes down to how you play the kit in the 1st place.......

If the boxes are being relatively well hit then it more or less becomes a sound on it's own. I had a player who smacked the snare toms & cymbals but was inconsistant as hell on the bass drum. I got round & produced a drum sound I was happy with BUT how much easier it would have been to have had it played right in the 1st place

by the time I had the kick mic up loud enough in terms of gain, the snare was coming right through making it impossible to gate......

it all ultimately adds to my experience as a producer
 
You are so right - hitting the drums correctly and as important, consistantly is a large part of the drum sound.

A couple of weeks ago, I did some sessions (as the drummer) in a studio I had never worked in before. The engineer actually commented how pleased and surprised he was that the drum sounds (in particular the snare and kick) where so consistant. He even acted surprised that it appeared that I hit the backbeat on the snare in the same place and at the same volume (thus a consistant sound). He indicated that was the first time in seveal years a drummer had played so consistantly - and it made his job as an engineer so much easier.

While I was pleased that I had done my job well - I was embarassed (as a member of the drum community) to know that it would appear few drummers (at least based on that particular engineer) understand or execute such a basic percusion function.

Fortunately for me - that engineer now plans to hand out my card whenever he can.
 
Agreed. I got a lot of work just for being consistent. I really like to take full advantage of every drum and cymbal. For snare- slam that backbeat in the center, ghost a bit off to the side. There are literally thousands of sounds I can get out of my ride. The bass drum can be ghost pulse or super loud - rebound or bury the beater. But a drummer should be able play it like he meant it.

I think every drummer needs to really LISTEN and focus on what they're playing BEFORE going to a studio. MAKE EVERY NOTE COUNT.

Anyone who calls themselves a drummer should know there's a thousand ways to hit it. The trick is to know how, when, and where to hit it.

Too many "drummers" are in it to feed their feeble egos rather than play for the love of it.
 
whacking is good, especially when there is no danger of being whacked back
 
I have had the experience of recording drummers that hit to hard. They end up choking the skin when hit.
 
slidey said:
yep

I've been experimenting in the world of drum now for approx 23 years on a dailly basis & pride myself in a good recorded drum sound. I've just had a band in & the drummer had been playing for just under a year......

the point of the story is to get the "ideal" drum sound it more or less all comes down to how you play the kit in the 1st place.......

If the boxes are being relatively well hit then it more or less becomes a sound on it's own. I had a player who smacked the snare toms & cymbals but was inconsistant as hell on the bass drum. I got round & produced a drum sound I was happy with BUT how much easier it would have been to have had it played right in the 1st place

by the time I had the kick mic up loud enough in terms of gain, the snare was coming right through making it impossible to gate......

it all ultimately adds to my experience as a producer
Click to expand...

I worked with Kenny Aranoff for a short time. He hits harder than I thought possible, and it proves your point. :)
 
ez_willis said:
I worked with Kenny Aranoff for a short time. He hits harder than I thought possible, and it proves your point. :)
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yes aye.....

Graham Walker (Gary Moore Band) hit's them as well

you worked with Aranoff ez, is there anything one can hear??? the man's a monster
 
I was smacking my skins yesterday. My toms love to be whacked!
 
slidey said:
yes aye.....

Graham Walker (Gary Moore Band) hit's them as well

you worked with Aranoff ez, is there anything one can hear??? the man's a monster
Click to expand...

He actually produced a few songs of a band I was in when we were searching for a producer for our record. We went with someone else, ultimately, but our drummer was the weakest member and Kenny coached him into a consistant, hard hitting monster.
 
Damn. I was gonna post a clip, but Gunnar's site is acting funky.
 
ez_willis said:
He actually produced a few songs of a band I was in when we were searching for a producer for our record. We went with someone else, ultimately, but our drummer was the weakest member and Kenny coached him into a consistant, hard hitting monster.
Click to expand...

cool as fuck, was he a cool guy???

he's a damn cool player
 
hoops said:
I have had the experience of recording drummers that hit to hard. They end up choking the skin when hit.
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Yep, damn right. These fuckers that hit them as hard as they can should really learn how to do it right. It's not just the drums either, cymbals have a point that when hit too hard they sound like ass.

Whack em my ass. The guys that can really play don't hit them hard. They hit em right.
 
HangDawg said:
Yep, damn right. These fuckers that hit them as hard as they can should really learn how to do it right. It's not just the drums either, cymbals have a point that when hit too hard they sound like ass.

Whack em my ass. The guys that can really play don't hit them hard. They hit em right.
Click to expand...

Yes hit them right, you're talking about drummers that physically put everything they've got into every hit which is to much & indeed chokes all the life out of the box. You get the drummer who puts everything into it & ends up with an inconsistant pile of almost un-mixable mess which is equally down to lack of knowledge

& hitting them right leaves the volume about 1/2 way between quiet & loud, leaving a reasonable dynamic range either way for quieter or louder sections
 
HangDawg said:
The guys that can really play don't hit them hard. They hit em right.
Click to expand...


you don't say........& the difference between hitting them hard as opposed to barely touching the things is worthy of a title like hit the damn things

& you're also stating the obvious to those that know how to hit them right. After 24 years I'd burn my sticks if I hadn't learned to hit them right
 
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