well tuned drums = great recording session

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BrettB

BrettB

Well-known member
Hi all,

I just want to brag with my great drum recording session this weekend :D.

Seriously, I had a lot of fun, it is the first time I got the drums sounding that good unprocessed. And the reason: great drum tuning!

With bad tuned kits and drummers who don't know shit about it, it is a hell to record: I hear about ppl using paper and tape on the toms and completely demolishing the sound even further. It used to take me hours to set up my mics correctely.

Now with this great sounding kit, it took me almost nothing of my time. The drums sounded great live, and they sounded great recorded. I can't wait to post the results in the clinic when everything is recorded

greetz
 
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I'm interested in hearing what your drums sound like, Brett. It's always a treat to hear people using tracked drums around here.
 
Way to go brett. Tell us what steps you took in tuning your kit. What kind is it? Give us some juicy details. I find it hard to relate that energy and magic when I sit down behind the recorded kit. I keep it going live, but it is kind of lost when no one is there.
 
Hah, just brag why don't you. I've only spent the last two months trying to get my drums to sound good. I can get the toms okay, and the snare pretty good. But the STUPID bass drumm won't shape up. I tune it up, I tune it down. I move the mic this way and that. Nada. I've gotten new heads for the drum, nope. Put a pillow in, nope. Put a towel in, nope. Put a pillow out. Tried the D112, Sm57 and Behringer B1 (I was desperate.) still sucks. I've compressed, I've eq'd. I still can't get the stupid rock sound. The quick cannon blast to the chest.

So when you are done gloating, why don't you enlighten us all about your great techniques for getting your kit to sound SO great.

ps- i'm just jealous. Way to go dude. I can't wait until I get where you are.:D
 
hehe, well, I can't have all the credits: I wasn't the drummer:D, I only did the recordings.

Our drummer told me he spend a lot of time on his kit. His playing is kinda John Bonham style, so he tuned his kit very heavy. pretty low tunings on the toms... For micing I used a Shure Beta 57 on the snare, pointing near the edge, an AKG C1000 for the Hihat, Two Shure condensors as overhead and 2 akg condensor clip ons for the toms, which I used for the first time and sounded very good!

We recorded in a living room that was filled with furniture: There were some reflections, but no standing waves so the sound was quite vivid.

I can let you hear them in a few weeks, whe we recorded al the rest of the demo tape,

cu

Brett
 
What about the bd brett? I think a lot of what you are capturing is the confidence of the drummer with his kit. Sounds like he knows what he wants and knows how to get it.
 
Sounds Great BB, anyone know of a "drum tuner" that works. My ears not that good, it'd be nice to have one. Iv tried the drum key/torque thing that they sell...it's ok i guess but doesn't seem all that accurate.
 
i'm realizing more and more that well tuned drums just sound better under any circumstance....
 
the bassdrum has got great attack and lots of body without being muddy.. I don't really know hov he does it!

I really think it is just well tuning. There is no blanket inside and a whole in front.
 
It is so achingly simple (not getting them to sound good that is) and no secret at all that when it comes to recording:

GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Speaking as a drummer and a recordist I'd like to mention a couple of points on the subject: Drummers, especially young ones can't usually afford a drum head change when it needs one. I remember back in the day thinking about the $100 it would cost me to rehead everything and going "riiiiighttt..." and then wondering why I could never get the sound I heard in my head out of my drums, which were not a cheapo set.

In addition, just replacing heads isn't even going to work sometimes. Dethska - I had the same quandry for the longest time wondering why my drums sounded like butt even after I spent (to me) a lot of money on heads. Well, there are as many drum head types as there are guitar string brands & models but how was I going figure out which ones to buy without spending a fortune trying them all out? Fortunately, I found Usenet newsgroups back then and got a lot of input from others about what heads sounded like what on what kind of drum shells, and blah, blah... and I bit the bullet and got all new heads, different from what I had been using for years and voila! It was like a got a brand new kit! The difference was like I had been playing under a heavy, wet carpet all those years that was suddenly removed to reveal the sound that was in my head.

Finally, wonderful instruments, tuned well, sound & record wonderfully. I got a low-mid level Sonor kit a couple of years ago, used on ebay to replace my "old vet" kit. Nothing fancy, but really nice Scandanavian birch shells. I can kind of afford head changes more readily these days being the old phart that I am. I get a lot of comments about how good the drums sound both live and in studio sessions, something I never got when I was playing my old kit. Of course I don't think I was as anal about how I tuned back in the day either.

So, be kind to the youngsters that come in with their beat sets. I recorded a 15-year old with wonderful chops lately and I worked hard to make his old, tired set sound decent on his band's demo. 'Course, that's probably because I remember being in his shoes :D

Larry
 
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