My recorded drums What am I doing wrong??

  • Thread starter Thread starter rimshot86
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My next question is how do those guys in studios get that studio sound that we here in songs these days?I dont know if they sound like that because there mixed wither other instruments or something else.
 
rimshot86 said:
My next question is how do those guys in studios get that studio sound that we here in songs these days?I dont know if they sound like that because there mixed wither other instruments or something else.
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Good drummers, good drums, good rooms, $200+k worth of gear, a few great sets of ears, and decades of experience.

Or samples.

You would do well to forget about what guys in studios do, unless you're asking the question academically. Better to ask how people in the MP3 forum get their sound, the answer will be more likely to be attainable. Seriously, I am sure any "real" studio has more money invested in cables than I will ever have to spend on recording gear.
 
rimshot86 said:
someday i might want to make money doing this.
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Irrelevant. If you want to make money at recording, go intern at a pro recording studio, and take audio engineering classes at somewhere other than Full Sail.

In general, we on this board do not have the resources to duplicate the work of the mainstream pro studios (a few do, and I suspect they will agree with my broader point). In fact, the typical studio that makes it's business making demos for local bands does not have the resources to make a major label recording.

You can learn about gain staging, mic placement, eq, basic effects, mixing, etc at home, and you can learn to maximize the effectiveness of the equipment you have access to, but you are not going to make a pro recording any sooner than you are going to build a Formula One car, for the same reasons.

None of the above is intended as a put-down, but they are pretty much facts.
 
That's a pretty doom and gloom look at the situation. I've been talking with a guy who does big-time producing, mixing, and programming, all from home. It's possible by all means. Is it PROBABLE that you'll record Metallica's next album? Of course not. But if you can learn how to come damn close you could become a big player in the local market in your area. I have no doubts I could compete with the local studios in my area. Not only would I charge less, but I'd spend more time making their stuff sound the way THEY want it to sound.

The situation isn't so dire man. I have way more hope than that.
 
I dont mean being a MAJOR recording studio but what I mean is being a big local studio making demos for guys to help them get signed and stuff,those guys still make alot of money if they stay busy...In my particular area oklahoma theres not alot of nice studios atleast that I can see, but there are alot of bands because the few guys that do have studios here are making a killing from what I hear..
 
rimshot, if you keep recording drums and learning about how to make them sound better you'll get there I'm sure. If the two samples you've put up lately are your first attempts at recording drums, they're better than my first attempt.

The local studios around my town, Madison, WI, are always booked a couple months in advance, and the stuff I hear coming out of them isn't ANY better than what I'm doing in my basement studio. The only big-time studio in Madison is Smart Studio. They recorded Nirvanna, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage... The drummer of Garbage, Butch Vig, is the owner. They're a GREAT studio, but at $100 an hour it's a little steep for most bands trying to get heard on the radio. That's where I think I can come in. :) it's a dream anyway.
 
What a great thread for learning to mic drums!
2nd clip is much improved from the first. My advice (since I am still learning as well) would be to be very experimental, move the mics around till you find what sounds best. If you think you have them at the opimal places, maybe you could slowly start to improve the sound of the room!
Scott
 
SonicClang said:
rimshot, if you keep recording drums and learning about how to make them sound better you'll get there I'm sure. If the two samples you've put up lately are your first attempts at recording drums, they're better than my first attempt.

The local studios around my town, Madison, WI, are always booked a couple months in advance, and the stuff I hear coming out of them isn't ANY better than what I'm doing in my basement studio. The only big-time studio in Madison is Smart Studio. They recorded Nirvanna, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage... The drummer of Garbage, Butch Vig, is the owner. They're a GREAT studio, but at $100 an hour it's a little steep for most bands trying to get heard on the radio. That's where I think I can come in. :) it's a dream anyway.
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Same dream for me,im not one of those guys that want to get rich and all of that stuff I just want to do something I like to do and make good money doing it.And as for what the last guy said cant remember his name, this is a great forum it's so much more helpful then other forums I go too, the people here are awsome.I go to a few drum forums and most of them are jerks who dont want to give advice and if they do there just trying to cut you down to make them feel better,so thanks alot guys for the help.I will have another clip up soon using my newly purchased drum dial for good tuning and im going to try my first stereo image or whatever they call it.
 
Fair enough. I would maintain there is a big difference between "how do I get the drum sound on major albums," and "I'd like to record demos."

Continuing my theme of being the waft of flatuence in the elevator, a cheap estimate for a stash of recording gear capable of making decent demos is about $10k. That would not include a room, or real mastering capability. I would guess about 2-5 years of "practice" recording would get one close to the level where you could make a CD that you could suggest is appropriate for distribution, with a straight face.

This type of recording seems to be getting done for $25-40 an hour. So while, if very busy, you could make a living at it, I don't know that I would consider it a fair return on the investment. It would take a whole lot of $30 hours to make up for a $10k investment, and a couple thousand hours of free work.
 
A guy here in oklahoma who records demos and stuff is getting around 70 to 80 dollars an hour.He was running out of from what I heard an old warehouse thing now he was able to build his own place with a 40 dollar recording room a 60 dollar recording room and an 80 dollar recording room so you can make the money .On the flip side hes real good and has the best drum sound in oklahoma.
 
There's the main difference: he has built a couple of rooms. Building the rooms, and leasing the space, will multiply the $10k figure I guestimated.

I am not saying it can't be done, and maybe the market is so thin in your area that the timing is perfect to jump in and establish yorself. Go ahead an try, if you will enjoy doing so. I say "if you enjoy" rather than "if you want to get rich," but I think you already understand that.

Good luck, I'd love to see Rimshot Studios credits on big CD's. Seriously.
 
Well I've been building my studio for over 5 years now. It's finally getting to a "finished" look and I'm actually using it to record. It's not like I'm in debt the amount of money I've spent building it. I pay for materials when I have the money and I only buy what I can afford. Over 5 years, that's a lot of material, a lot of money, but spread out so much that I don't even notice it coming out of my account. Look, some people go out drinking every weekend, or spend a ton of money on entertainment, or things they really don't need. A lot of people are really bad with managing their money. Someone like me though, is very good with money. Whatever money I make is, in my eyes, profit. My equity in my house has gone way up because of the additional floor space added, which would have been basement. So the $10,000 or so I've spent on materials over the years is far out-weighed by the $25-50,000 of added value to my house.

I've been recording a girl for a few months now at $10 an hour. She's my first client since getting the control room done. Every dime she gives me goes right back into the studio, which means I don't have to spend my general fund money on supplies. That to me is proffit. The studio is already successul as far as I'm concerned. Now it's just a matter of getting word of mouth around. A second flow of income is fine by me. I don't have to do it full time.

Hopefully the work I've done on "Classic Doom 3" has gotten me a little bit of credibility. It's a modification for Doom 3 that I did the music for. I actually had a friend tell me last weekend that someone asked him if he had played it, or heard of it. My friend told the guy, "Hey, I know the guy who did the music". And that was in the town I live in, so it would appear as the word has gotten out enough that it could get me somewhere.

Either way, I've got a very optimistic outlook on the furture as far as my studio goes. :)
 
Ok I got my third, and for awhile my final clip.I used my tuner on my snare and mid tom I also used a tiny bit of reverb on my snare and base.I apologize for the horribal drum beats I was just making crap up as I went and tryed to use all drums and everything, anyway let me know.
 
oops forgot the link again rimshot860.tripod.com paste that and go to drums sound check 3....
 
oh no, i just gave a few positive rep points in this thread and then went on to read other post by the users that have been flat out misleading and wrong! oh god this thread is bad news!
 
Must be me. Misleading and Wrong is my middle name. I never let a lack of knowledge stop me from sharing information.
 
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