{"id":26533,"date":"2020-12-11T08:03:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=26533"},"modified":"2022-08-22T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T16:31:49","slug":"9-drum-recording-myths-busted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/9-drum-recording-myths-busted\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Drum Recording Myths…Busted!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recording drums is hard. Even for an experienced engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interactions between the drums, the drummer, the drumheads, the sticks, the room and all the microphones are complex. Sometimes tracking down something that sounds weird or odd can be a real head-scratching, time-consuming experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we’re covering a series of things drummers do (or don’t do) that can seriously hinder productivity or the end result of their recordings. Grab some popcorn, and let’s dig into these nine common myths!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MYTH: \u201cNew drumheads aren\u2019t necessary\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

AKA, you haven\u2019t changed your heads since you bought the kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an engineer, I see a lot of drumheads in the following condition: they\u2019re pitted, scratched, covered in gaffer tape, I think I see some beer stains on the head and…wait, is that blood<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to see why drummers love gaffer tape as a tuning aid. In a live situation, it helps get a controlled decay, kills the overtones, and even makes the drum quieter. So quite a few drummers arrive with the tape already on the heads, while others put it on as soon as they strike their drums in the live room. This is because a recording studio with a good live room will make the overtones quite a bit more obvious than in the deadened practice bunker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand. I don’t like to hear all those devilish rings come out of the drums. But instead of ruining your heads and your drum sound with gaffer tape, reach out to the engineer to figure out the best strategy together. We promise that all we want to do is get the most detailed, full and exciting sound out of your drum kit. Something that extreme muffling will prevent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you’re going to use gaffer tape, please go easy with it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The engineer will know the room well, and hopefully understand the sound you are aiming for. On top of that, the microphones change the perceived sound of your drum shells and cymbals. Hence the phrase “this drum\/cymbal records so well!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great example is the Sabian Max Stax<\/a>. It doesn’t always sound great in person, but it records beautifully.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, most kits – except for medium and high-level kits – usually ship with poorer quality stock heads. Heads are, in my opinion, the largest variable when it comes to defining a shell sound. If you’re unsure of what sound you want to go for, upgrade your top and bottom stock heads to a Remo Emperor<\/a>\/Ambassador<\/a> or Evans G2<\/a>\/G1 top\/bottom combination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TL;DR: Please replace your drumheads a few days before a recording session, and refrain from muffling the drums without the input of the engineer\/producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MYTH: \u201cMy favorite tuning will sound great in this room\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the studio, your kit will be under the microscope. Not only will it be heavily miked from all directions, but the improved acoustics will also bring the best (and worst) qualities out of your shells or cymbals. With larger rooms, it’s not uncommon to change the tuning to get ‘that’ big drum sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The room\u2019s dimensions will directly affect how sound waves behave. What sounded like a thunderous floor tom in your garage might sound weak in the studio because the room will have wildly different dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could go on forever about standing waves, nodes, and antinodes, but we need to move on. Just bear in mind the size of the room has an effect on the drum sound and adjusting the tuning up or down can help change the sound of your kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MYTH: \u201cI should shred while the engineer is around\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The engineer really doesn\u2019t want to hear your chops while in the live room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, we want to spend the least amount of time possible in front of an acoustic instrument. We want our ears to be nice and fresh to make the best possible decisions in front of the studio monitors, not in front of the drum kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the engineer is coming to the live room to adjust something, stop playing. If they ask you to keep playing, avoid playing close to their ears. So please, don’t hit that china if I’m adjusting your overhead, or do loud backbeats on the snare if I’m placing your snare bottom microphone.<\/p>\n\n\n