Recording Drums

"Recording a Great Drum Sound
Recording Drums

Recording a great drum sound should not be difficult. Start with a great sounding room and tune your drums well so that they sound good in the room. Then all the engineer need do is put up a few decent mics and record.

I remember a session I recorded with the fabulous engineer Gary Mankin. Someone came through the control room and asked him how he got such a great drum sound. He said it was VERY DIFFICULT, he had to put up a few mics and run them into the board – that’s it – no eq, no gimmics, no tricks. Just a well tuned drum set, in a good sounding room, played well and we had a great drums sound.

I have been fortunate to recording in some very nice recording studios, I have also been involved in some very low budget recording projects. You don’t need a high priced studio to get a great drum sound, it helps a lot, but it is possible to get a great drums sound in a low budget situation too. You need a great sounding room! With the portability of recording technology today you can take the recording studio to the great sounding room. I recorded the drums for one project in an empty parking garage. It sounded fabulous, and it was FREE!

I had a very unique experience recording two different projects in the same room a few weeks apart. The room was huge brick walled room that sounded WONDERFUL!

On the first project I got the drums set up and tuned and they sounded amazing in the room, to this day I don’t know how the engineer managed to screw up the sound so badly! The sound that guy was recording had absolutely nothing to do with the great sound the drums were creating in the space. I was complaining about how bad the drums sounded on the tape and he kept asking me what kind of sound I was looking for – I said come out into the studio and LISTEN to what the drums sound like – THAT is the sound I want to h"

PARADIDDLES

"A paradiddle is a rudiment that combines single and double strokes in such a way that alows drummers to make more interesting patterns, free up a hand so that it can move somewhere else on the drums and of course makes for a lovley variety of beats particularly in the funk genre.

here are the major paradiddles and their most common names then:

paradiddle
RLRR LRLL

double paradiddle
RLRLRR LRLRLL

triple paradiddle
RLRL RLRR LRLR LRLL

paradiddlediddle
RLRRLL or LRLLRR

paradiddlediddlediddle
RLRR LLRR LRLL RRLL

inverted paradiddle
RRLR LLRL

permutated paradiddle
RLLR LRRL

double inverted paradiddle
RLRRLR LRLLRL

double permutated paradiddle
RLRLLR LRLRRL

triple inverted paradiddle
RLRLRRLR LRLRLLRL

triple permutated paradiddle
RLRLRLLR LRLRLRRL"

Drum Doctors

Cures For Common Drum Problems

SNARE DRUMS

Symptom:
The Snare Drum has too much ring.

Cures:

1. Tune the heads lower.
2. Use a heavier head (i.e. Coated CS with Dot on Bottom or Coated Emperor).
3. Use a full or partial muffling ring.
4. Use an alternate Snare Drum.
5. Have the edges checked and/or recut to a flatter angle.

Symptom:
The Snare Drum doesn’t have enough ring.

Cures:

1. Tune the head higher.
2. Use a thinner head (i.e. Coated Ambassador or Diplomat).
3. Use an alternate Snare Drum.
4. Have the edges checked and/or recut to a sharper angle.

Symptom:
The Snares buzz when the Tom-toms are hit.

Cures:

1. Check that the snares are straight. Replace as needed.
2. Check that the snares are flat and centered on the drum.
3. Loosen the bottom head.
4. Retune the offending toms.
5. Use an alternate Snare Drum.

TOM-TOMS

Symptom:
One or more of the Tom-toms are difficult to tune, don’t blend or have an unwanted 'growl.'

Cures:

1. Check the top heads for dents and replace as necessary.
2. Check the evenness of tension all around on the top an"

Troy's Drum Tips for Young Drummers: Drum Tips - More on Tuning The Snare Drum

Troy's Drum Tips for Young Drummers: Drum Tips - More on Tuning The Snare Drum: "Drum Tips - More on Tuning The Snare Drum
In the truely 'artistic' sense, there is no right or wrong way to tune a snare drum. However, there are some consistent elements of tuning that will make it easier to get the sounds you want out of your snare drum instead of being stuck with a drum sound that you don't like.

For those of you who are frustrated with the current sound you're getting from your snare drum the following steps should help maintain equal tension between the lugs and ultimately get the sound your looking for from your snare drum.

Start with New Heads
It is best to start with new heads - can't get a good sound with those old, worn out, beat up, crusty heads. Spend a few bucks and get yourself new heads. Especially think about replacing the heads before any big show or recording session. Your audience, bandmates, and engineers will thank you! Personally, I prefer the old standard Remo Weather King Ambassador Coated Batter for the top head and something very thin, like the Remo Diplomat on the bottom or snare side.

Check the Bearing Edges
Take the old heads off your drum and place the shell on a smooth surface (a glass tabletop is best) to inspect the 'bearing edges'. The 'batter side' (top) edge should rest flat against the surface of the table. On the 'snare side' bottom you should see slight dips in the bottom bearing edge where the snares meet the shell. This is normal, this is called the snare bed and it helps the snares have a nice tight fit against the bottom head.

Beware - Any warping or chips in the bearing edges may cause very strange and inconsitent sounds and make it very difficult to control the sound. If there are problems consult your nearest drum shop about having the bearing edges re-cut. This is a job best left to the pro's who have the right tools to make it quick and perfect.

Once you've got nice clean, pefectly"

Troy's Drum Tips for Young Drummers: Drum Tips - Bass Drum Tuning

Troy's Drum Tips for Young Drummers: Drum Tips - Bass Drum Tuning: "Drum Tips - Bass Drum Tuning
Heads

Good heads are essential part of good tone. If you have a dent from the beater wearing into the batter head of your kick drum you are overdue for a head change. The resonant (front) head needs replacing much less often - but once in a while it's not a bad idea to replace it too.

Drum heads are actually much stronger when they are very tight. Bass drum heads are generally at a much lower tension than any of the other drums. Low tension makes the bass drum head more prone to damage and it does suffer when you kick it over and over in the exact same spot with every stroke!

Mic Hole

A hole in the front bass drum head gives access for microphone placement and changes to any internal mufffling. It also changes the sound of the drum.

The air stream generated by striking the batter head will bounce back and forth better with as much of the front head remaining as possible. A small hole will leave plenty of surface to provide the sound and feel of a full two heads. 4' to 8' is pretty good size - depending on the size of your bass drum.

I would use no more than a 4' hole in the front of an 18' bass drum and no larger than an 8' hole on a 22' bass drum. Keeping the hole off-center - with one edge of the hole around 2' from the edge of your bass drum - will also help to maintain the sound and feel of a double headed drum.

Preparation
Remove the old heads. Check the bearing edges - be sure to remove any dust, stick debris, old spilt beer residue, or any other strange growth that you might find. This is also a great time to clean and polish the rest of the drum as there are no tension rods or hoops in the way.

Seat the heads
Place the head onto the drum and make sure you have a nice clean contact all around. Tighten the tension rods until they just make contact with the hoop.

Batter Tuning
Place the drum with the front head flat agai"