Preface

There’s a lot written out there on various techniques for recording drums. I'm glad that there are so many resources out there, and I think they have a lot of value. However, it has been my experience that a lot of these pages focus on techniques that are either aimed at very specific (and often esoteric) applications, or are so general in nature, that it can be hard to figure out just how and when to use them. In addition, this type of web-reporting often times continues to lead to more of the same old approaches instead of pushing the engineer to explore more creative methods and techniques. This article is meant to be a suggested guide to thinking critically about specific and important aspects of the performance of the musician and how the player influences the instrument’s performance when developing a plan for microphone choice, placement and processing. While there's a lot to be said for case study, and how-they-done-it research, I feel that sometimes it helps to understand why the drums sound the way they do first. It is my hope, that if we can approach making drum recordings from this perspective, new ideas (as well as new understandings of old ideas) might be brought to the table and help us to set the bar just that much higher.

When you take a survey of the innumerous recordings that have been made over the years that include the drum kit in the instrumentation, you might notice that while at first look most drum recordings sound similar, on closer inspection, no two recordings sound exactly alike. In part, this is because in the studio, recorded sound is carefully shaped and colored through microphone choice, placement, EQ and sometimes FX processing as applied by the recording engineer. However, the person attached to the drumsticks is the one who harbors most of the control over the sound of the drum kit. A great drum recording starts and ends with the ability of the drummer to relate their musical ideas and emotions through their instrument. By learning how to recognize the subtle ways in which an artist physically interacts with their instrument and using that information as the basis for creative microphone choice and placement, an engineer or producer will become more a part of the creative process and will be better able to understand what the drummer is intending. Suddenly, all of the subtle nuances as well as some additional overtones and harmonics brought out by close mic placement will come into clear vision; this is what every drummer and every engineer hopes for.

While there have been many articles over the recent months that feature various computer-aided “fix-it-all” mix techniques (drumagogue, sound-replacer, and even auto-tune…), it has been widely agreed by those that never need them that these techniques should only be employed as a last resort.  The fact of the matter is that while these methods might appeal so some by seeming to be a cheaper alternative, offering more control to the engineer and saving tons of time, the reality of the matter is that they ultimately take control away from the artist, they rarely sound natural and they actually take away control in your productions by restricting you to pre-recorded drum sounds (that everyone and their mother’s brother have access to). Before I start sounding too much like a purist, I will add that there’s a time and place for everything; including drum machines. While what I’m going to be talking about is not specifically geared toward synthesized production techniques, this article contains a lot of information that should be put to use when approaching any percussion recording. By learning how acoustic instruments behave and how we listen and record drums, the engineer will make more informed decisions when it comes to the use of synthesized drum samples and sequencers.

Stay Tuned for part II....