Drum guide by Glenn "Oz" Fricker
Acoustic Drums for Metal: A Guide
Due to popular demand, here's my guide for recording drums. I'm going to break it down into five parts: Intro, essentials, setup/mics, tracking, and mixing. These will be spread out over the next two weeks or so, as I'm balancing my day job with studio demands, so please be patient!
Once again, this is my way of giving back to the board, as you guys have helped me fine tune my guitar recording techniques more than you could know.
Authour's note: If you're a drummer, you're going to find this article offensive. It never amazes me how easily big, tough heavy metal drummers get offended…. But what I'm about to write down is based on my personal experience.
So, here we go:
Part 1:INTRODUCTION
For the record, I'm not going to hide behind my handle for this article. My real name is Glenn Fricker, and i'm located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada…. right across the river from Detroit. I've got about 15 years experience in the studio, mostly doing indie bands. I've also got a few small label albums under my belt, and I even record the occasional rock star. Making records is what I love to do… and the foundation is the drums.
That being said,
I fucking hate drummers. I really do. These are the meatheads that show up to the studio with broken cymbals, a shit kit, with six year old skins held together by duct tape, give a crap performance, wonder why they don't sound like Lars on "the Black Album" then look at you, the engineer, like it's your fault.
Don't get me wrong, I've had the pleasure of recording some truly amazing drummers in my time, but they're rare birds. As an indie engineer, I mostly have to record "the other kind."
My passion for recording drums goes back to 1990, during my college years. I was doing a music video for my band, and needed to record the audio track. After spending a day in the studio, I found myself asking, "Why do the drums sound like shit?" It took over ten years to find the answer.
This arcticle isn't going to be a magic bullet. Don't expect to be cranking out the next "When the Levee Breaks" tomorrow. Learning to record drums is like learning a whole new instrument. It takes passion & perserverance. The whole point of this article is to be a guideline…. to hopefully save you some time in the trial & error process. Here's a really important rule of thumb: "If the drums sound like shit, the whole mix sounds like shit." You can have the heaviest guitar tone known to man, but if the drums are lame, your song will sound weak. Unforntuately, drums are a bitch to record if you're a newbie.
I take an "old school' (or so I've been accused of) approach to drums. I like the sound of wood. Snares should go "crack" and not "clang." Bells go "clang." Toms should go "boom" not "tick." But I do love speed metal "click kicks." In other words, I'm not a very big fan of the drum sound on Metallica's "St. Awful."
Drum sounds I DO like: Iron Maiden, "Where Eagles Dare." or "Powerslave." Wonderful toms on that record! Judas Priest: Anything on "British Steel" and the snare on "Heading out to the Highway." I also really dig Les Bink's work on "Stained Class."
Of course there's Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss," Metallica's "Black Album," and Pantera's "Cowboys." Those go without saying.
I'm also a big fan of the drum sound on Corrosion's "Blind" album, and Kyuss' "Blues for the Red Sun" ….I guess you could say I'm into organic, natural sounding drums…. for the most part.
Ok, Ok, I realize there wasn't much meat on the intro, but it's important to know where I stand on things before I start in on mic techniques & that sort of shit. If you know where I'm coming from, hopefully it'll get my suggestions across better. But, time is winding down, and I've gotta get my ass to work. I build Minivans at my day job Tomorrow or the next day, will be part two: CRITICAL ESSESNTIALS or "shit you really need to know."
In the meantime, check out the drumsound on this clip. There's no sound replacement going on here… it's all natural.
http://www.spectresound.ca/sound/In4Life%20-%20clip.mp3
—Glenn
______
www.spectresound.ca
Part 2: CRITICAL ESSENTIALS (the shit you really need to know)
Buy GEAR! Preamps! Converters! Summing Busses! Spend, spend, SPEND!
Ok, forget all that bullshit for a minute. Unlike what every pro audio rag is trying to ram down your throat, I'm going to give you some useful advice. Gear is nice. Especially the stuff with lots of LEDs that impress the hell out of the clients. But it's not the be all, end all. Otherwise, every kid who buys a Marshall & Fender Strat would sound like Hendrix.
One thing to keep in mind here: We're going for a "good" drum sound, so it's not always going to be inexpensive.
Where to start: the room.
Take a good look at the space you'll be recording drums at. I'll assume you don't have too much leakage/bitchy neighbours, otherwise stop right here and go buy some V-drums.
Is your room rectangular? Do you have parallel walls? If so, it's time to run down to Home Depot and pick up about 8 sheets of plywood. You'll want to lean these up against 2 of the walls (NOT the opposing ones), with the bottom kicked out about a foot or so. There, you just broke up your standing wave problem. It's probably not the prettiest solution, but it does work. If you're starting from the ground up, don't build paralell walls!
If you've got some extra cash & time, you can also build some Hemholtz resonators. These absorb low frequencies & give you a bit of diffusion as well. They also look fucking cool & sound awesome. I went with the non-parallel wall, resonator design for my drum room.
Take a look at your floor. Is it carpet over concrete? Blech! That ain't gonna work. While you're at Home Depot, grab 2 more sheets of plywood. Fasten them together (piano hinge works great for this) and you've got yourself an 8X8 drum platform. The added bonus of this is you've just brightened the sound of your kit big time, and it WILL save you a lot of grief during the mix process.
Here's a pic of mine:
Notice I've got a wood floor. I'm using the plywood so my kick pegs have something to dig into without fucking up my nice floor. I've tried both carpet & wood, and believe me, the wood works a whole lot better.
Ceiling: I like the reflective floor/absorbing ceiling setup. If you're cheap, tack up some foam pyramids on the ceiling. If you've got some cash, and the time, cloth covered insulation is a great route to go. I built my drum room from the ground up, so we built the ceiling backwards, with the drywall on the outside of the studs. Actually, my whole studio was built this way… it's a bitch to do, but saves huge amounts of space.
Here's a pic of my drum room ceiling:
One final idea: If you've got the time, cash, and a really high ceiling, build an acoustic cloud over where the drums will sit. It's basically a framework built of 2X4's, designed to hold insulation, covered in cloth…. Physically separated by a foot of so from the main ceiling. They're a total bitch to build, but they sound great.
The Kit itself:
Is it in good shape? Are there parts missing? Do the lugs rattle when the drum is struck? FIX IT GODDAMNIT
Most drummers I've worked with are notoriously cheap. They will try to get away with spending as little as possible, so don't expect much help from them. Broken cymbals? Don't waste your time with 'em. Have a set (yes, a full set) on hand, always. Not the cheapest solution, but absolutley necessary.
Skins: Are they ancient? Toss 'em. Are they broken? Toss 'em. Are they divoted? Toss 'em. Generally, I replace the skins on my house kit every other project. Not cheap, but it keeps the drums sounding great.
What skins to buy?
Toms: I like Evans G2 clears on the batters, but Remo clear Ambassadors are great too. Coated also works, but try to stay away from the ebony pinstripes. I like a "rolling thunder" sound on the toms, not "tick." Make sure your resonating heads are in good shape and not too old either. Evans makes decent tom reso heads if you need to replace 'em.
Snare: My top choice: Evans Coated Genera DRY with internal muting ring & vent holes. This is a great head if you want a 'snappy' snare and not a 'clanging' one. It's wonderful for getting rid of primary overtones. I've tried thicker & thinner ones, but I always keep coming back to this one. Evans transulcent on the bottom skin as well.
Kick: Batter… Remo Ebony Pinstripe. For going after the click kick sound, this is what always works for me…. that, and I don't put a front head on, either.
The other option: House kit.
This is the route I went. I've got a five piece DW collector's maple on hand, and it sure gets alot of use. Needless to say, I got tired of drummers bringing in utter crap and having to deal with it. I do all the maintenence, head replacement, tuning, you name it. The bonus here is I'm in total control over how the kit sounds. It never leaves the studio, so I know it's always in great shape. Besides, when I get some idiot whining that he wants to play his Tama Rockstars, I've got the ultimate comeback line: "What, DW isn't good enough for you?"
I'd say that the DW kit gets played on 8 of 10 projects. I'll only let a drummer bring in his kit if it's equal or better quality. That's usually the drummer who has his shit together, has made an investment in his instrument, and knows what he wants. I love those sessions.
Ok, now a few last pieces of advice for this part of the article:
LEARN TO TUNE DRUMS 19 out of 20 drummers will say they know how to tune drums. 18 of those guys are absolute total fucking liars. In 7 years of professional recording, I've met three (not a typo) yes, three drummers who know how to tune drums. Suffice it to say, it's not an easy skill to learn.
But you can do it. And if you want your drum tracks to sound great, you will learn. This, my friends, is what you need:
This is the Tama Tension Watch. An absolutely indispensible tool. It measures the tension on the head at the lug, and is really accurate too. Buy one of these, read the manual, and practice your ass off with it. Try different tunings, top/bottom head variants, you name it. You can't learn to work with it overnight, but it's worth it to put some time in with it.
I've had one of the best (IMHO) Swedish Speed Metal drummers tell me, "Dude, you can really tune drums." After he watched me go at it on the kit with the Tension watch. Practice, Practice, Practice. Learn how to use this thing. You'll be a hero to drummers worldwide
And finally, one last thing… and the most important. Make sure the drums are dropped off at least 24 hours before setup. If you don't have a house kit, or the drummer is bringing his kit, he must, absolutely, without question, always, always, always, drop off his kit 24 hours ahead of the session.
What? Why? Becuase drums need to climatize. The shells & skins must adjust for temparature & humidity variations. If there's one point you learn from all this, LEARN THIS ONE. You will save yourself no end of grief.
Just have the drummer set his kit down in the corner the day before the session. That's all. Not too hard. Tune them up the next day. Just make sure… 24 hours.
If not, you'll be fighting an uphill battle… Like trying to scale Mt. Everest on a unicycle. The drums WILL sound better if they have time to adjust. Try this out, you'll like the result.
Ok, I hope you guys liked this part of the article. Next time: Setup.
I'm about ready to keel over from the flu, so I'll sign off now.
—Glenn
______
www.spectresound.ca
Part 3: SETUP
Oh man, where to begin….
Gear you'll need: (multiple choice)
Kick Mic: Audix D6 (simply the best kick mic for recording to digital.) /ATM 25/AKG D112/Apex 125 (cheap and super clicky)… hell, there's tons of choices. I really, really recommend picking up a D6 though… you'll be glad you did.
Snare: Sm57 is the obvious choice, it winds up on 90% of my records. Other choices include the Audix i5, or a Sennhieser e604.
Toms: Sennhieser 421 or e604/Sm57/Audix i5/ATM 25
Overheads: Again, a wide variety of choices. I really dig my matched Oktava MC012s. You can get them from here: http://sound-room.com/customer/home.php Taylor Johnson has outstanding quality control, and is a really great guy to deal with.
some other ideas: R0de Nt5/Josephson CM45/AKG C414/Apex 210/and if you can spare the cash: Royer SF-12.
Just for the record, i prefer SD condensors for overheads, and occasionally, a pair of ribbons. You might like the sound of LD condesors, if so, you might want to take a look at the studio projects LSD2…. it's definitley a grief-free way of doing stereo miking.
Hi hat mic: ANYTHING. We're not actually going to record this mic…. you'll see what it's for later on.
Other stuff you need:
Soundcard with the abiltiy to send multiple cue mixes.
Headphone amp powerful enough to levitate the phones off of the drummer's head. I'm running an ALTO HPA6… dirt cheap, clean, and loud as fuck…. this is important as most drummers have hearing problems.
Some Falam Slam pads…. I've always got about 6 or 7 laying around.
A REAL feather pillow. Don't fuck around with foam rubber… it's not gonna work.
Several sets of wood & graphite sticks of varying sizes. It's best to have some heavy sticks on hand for the guys that hit like pussies.
Wood, Felt, Plastic, and Rubber kick beaters. 2 each.
Evans muting rings, duct tape, masking tape, a pair of loonies (Canadian dollar coin), toiet paper, WD-40, baseball cap, and most importantly, a baby bonnet for those crybaby drummers.
"Let the games begin!" …quote from the film, Meatballs
GENERAL KIT SETUP
Ok, first things first: I forgot to mention a few things about the kick drum last article. The first thing you should do is take the front head off, as we're not going to need it. Use the masking tape to tape down the empty lugs to keep them from flopping around when the drummer is playing, so the don't make any noise.
I dig a Remo Ebony Pinstripe batter head, and I know a few of you like the powerstrokes…. that's cool. We're going for a heavy attack/short sustain kind of sound, so stay away from clears & coated skins for kick batters.
Once you've got your head on, finger tighten all the lugs, then maybe tighten down 1/2 to 1 full turn with your tuner. That's ALL. Any tighter, you'll lose attack & increase sustain, and we don't want that.
Put your feather pillow in the front of the drum, and make sure it's resting against the beater skin.
Affix your Falam Slam pad to where your kick beater will strike and you should be good to go. You can also experiment with loonies,quarters, credit cards, and different beater types for different click sounds. I like the falam slam with felt beaters & a D6, but your tastes may vary. The key here is to get a nice & clearly defined attack right at the get go.
Ok, so you've got your kick drum on the floor, set the snare up, followed by toms, then cymbals. Everything should be set up around the kick & snare, not the other way around.
Now comes the important point: How high is your drummer sitting? A lot of "not so great" drummers will sit very low. These guys also hit like wimps & can't seem to get the kit to sound good. Let me tell you from experience… the best guys I've ever recorded play "down" at the kit. I.E, their throne is set very high, with the toms set at a level so they're at the apex of a stick strike. One of the fastest double kick players I've had come in actually stacked books up under his throne to get higher. Let me tell you, even I could play double kick on this setup, and I'm probably the worst drummer in the world. One funny point: I've noticed low sitters cry about how much their legs hurt after doing extensive double kick runs. That's because they're playing "up" at the kicks. They have to raise their legs far higher to hit the bass drum…. and gravity is working against them. Have them raise up the throne. It's less work to play & will sound better.
Take a look at the rack toms. Are they suspended at an obscene angle? That ain't gonna work my friends. You're going to need to get them as flat as possible. The reason being, an angled tom will be on the recieving end of a 'glancing blow' The stick will hit the skin at an angle, and not deliver the full force of the strike. A flat tom will recieve the strike straight on, transfering the energy of the stick into the drum with much more power. This means better sounding toms, folks. We're going for cannons here, not Kentucky-Fried Chicken buckets.
Now, I've had one drummer whine that he couldn't "play fast" with flat toms. Well, let me tell you, that's total bullshit. One of the fastest Swedish Death Metal drummers in the world (IMHO) came in an played with flat toms…. and they sounded fantastic. One interesting point: I noticed how he set up, and I mentioned to him: "Dude, that looks like Faith No More's drum setup." and he replied, "That's where I got the idea." BTW, go put on FNM's "The Real Thing" The drums sound fantastic.
As for the whiner, this guy just would not listen to reason. It had to be his way. Some days I wish I had a can of pepper spray in the studio… oh well. Consequently, I had to replace every piece of the kit with samples for his album. Kick, Snare, & toms. It remains the only record I've ever done where the drum elements were replaced… and it still pisses me off.
Some muting may be required here: I usually let the high rack toms fly free, with no muting at all. But the lower toms might get a bit of toilet paper to kill primary & secondary overtones. The floor tom will get an Evans muting ring. It'll give a nice clear cutting Ka-Boom sound that records great.
Snare drum: I like snares that go "crack" or "snap" not "clang." So, you'll need some muting. I'll usually put an Evans muting ring on the snare, which will kill the sustaining overtones, but not the high end of the attack. You can also go with a felt arm, but this will give you a duller sound. Tape & toilet paer also work to varying degrees as well. But for me, the muting ring is a no brainer.
Cymbals: Put your tom mics up first, in thier "general positions." Then put up the cymbals. If the cymbals swing & hit the tom mics, the cymbals are too fucking close. Drummers will bitch & whine on this point, but don't give in. If you break up your kit physically, it will record better, and save you grief in the mix process. If your rack toms are flat, this will be less of a problem. One thing to be careful of here is the position of the ride to the floor tom. If the ride is too low, this will cause bleed problems with the floor tom mic. Raise up the ride cymbal a bit.
Hats: Again, physical separation is the key. If your hat is too close, it'll bleed into the snare mic. This is a very common problem. If the drummer won't move the hats horizontally, try separating the two vertically.
MIC POSITIONING:
Overheads: This is the critical element. If you get these right, everything else is gravy. I've messed around with many types of setups, but I always wind up coming back to two SD condensors in an XY setup. That's where the two mic capsules cross over at 90 degrees.
Now, if you've got your room sounding good, your kit sitting in the room for 24 hours, and tuned correctly, the drums should sound really good just in the room. I'll start by placing the overhead array a couple of feet above the drummer's head, aimed down at 45-60 degrees from horizontal. The idea here is to capture the kit in it's entirety. Take note, the lower you place the overheads, the bigger the stereo field will be. Higher, and you'll get more of the room sound. What we're trying to do here is get a good balance between the snare, hats, cymbals & toms. Moving the array forwards or backwards will help you balance this out. Important point: This is where the "air" on the snare comes from… it's also where the primary attack of the toms comes from too.
Kick: So you've got your Falam Slam pad on, skin tuned, feather pillow & your D6. Good. I'll start with placing the mic at a height level with where the beater strikes the skin, and close to the head. Then, I'll move the mic backwards until I like what I hear. For my kicker, the sweet spot is about 10 inches back from the skin. YMMV
.
Have the drummer play the full kit at this point. With just the kick & overheads up in your monitors, things should be sounding pretty good. Check your phase on the kick and make sure the mics are working together.
Snare: From the drummer's throne, i'll usually bring in a 57 at the 10 o'clock position. This seems to be the null point for the hat, so you'll get plenty of snare in this mic, and very little hats. Make sure to check for bleed in the monitors! Anyway, I'll place the mic on a 20-30 degree angle, aimed at the center of the snare, with the tip of the mic just poking over the edge of the rim, 1-2 cm above it. If you pull the mic away from the snare, you'll get a brighter sound…. further in over the rim, a duller more "thudding" sound. Remember, most of the "snare air" is coming from the overheads, so keep checking your snare mic with the overheads in & out of the mix. Phase is critical here , so keep checking that as well…. and keep checking for that hi-hat bleed.
As far as bottom snare mics go, i usually don't use them. I find with a reflective floor, I get more than enough top end from the snare in the overhead mics.Here's a snare mic in place… along with a muting ring, and a target for the drummer to hit the 'sweet spot.' (Ok, I stole the idea from Max Norman in Megadeth's home video) In this case, a happy face to beat the shit out of.
Toms: Kind of like miking the snare: You can experiment with the distance you place the mic, but generally, aim for the center of the drum. I've used the clips that come with the e604, but sometimes they'll add noise. It's best to have the tom mics on thier own stands. Again, experimentation is the key here. The closer in you go, the more bottom end you'll get. The farther back you go, the brighter the sound will be, but you'll get more cymbal bleed as well. Again, check them with the overheads in & out of play, and check that phase!
The humble yet effective e604
Ok folks, that's it for now. I had a shitload of pictures lined up, but my webserver seems to be down at the moment. I'll add them in at a later time. This stuff is so much easier to explain with visual cues!
-0z-
______
www.spectresound.ca
Part 3.5: PHASE ISSUES & SEPARATION
Hey gang, before I move on to part 4, I figured I'd help out some of the noobs here with some examples of what good separation & phase is really all about.
The sound samples are played by my good friend & monster drummer, Jeff Lelaucher from the rap metal group, CENTRAL SLANG. Ok, rap metal isn't exactly my favourite type of music, but these guys play great & are always fabulous to work with…. that, & I have Jeff play session drums on my own material. He's what I call the quintessential studio drummer.
Here's a pic of Jeff on his kit a few years ago, sorry but I don't have anything recent. As you can see, I've got carpet down on the floor, but these examples we're listening to are with the plywood platform.
The kit itself is handmade here in Windsor by the Glenn Burger Drum company.
It's a 9 piece maple, and is one of my favourite kits to record. If anyone is interested in acquiring a very high quailty handmade kit, for Canadian prices (I.E. totally reasonable) I can put you in touch with Mr. Burger. He's a great guy to deal with, and happens to be in the illustrious three which I mentioned earlier. Let's put it this way, if I ever decide to replace my DW's, I'm getting Glenn to build my kit. His stuff is just plain fantastic. BTW, the snare for this track is a 14" Plexiglass Pork Pie snare Jeff picked up for $200. I still can't belive it sounded that good. Jeff's "other" snare is one of those DW EDGE snares: The Neil Peart model. 2/3rds brass, 1/3 wood, wieghs a fucking ton, and retails for about 2 grand Canadian. I'll have some clips of it in later articles.
Ok, so on with the show… The examples I'm posting are very, very simple, to illustrate my points. I'll post some more complex examples in future articles.
Now, about that goddamn hi-hat bleed. If you take a look at the picture above, you'll see Jeff has massive amounts of physical separation between the hats & the snare. Not only horizontally, but vertically as well. What does this mean? Very little hat bleed into the snare… that, & he hits the snare like his sticks were slegehammers. Meaning less gain on the snare mic, and less hi-hat bleeding into it. A good rule of thumb: Tell your drummer to hit the snare hard, & be soft on the hats. Unfotunately, alot of these meatheads have it backwards.
Here's a raw snare track example: No compression,EQ, or gate.
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20ar...aw%20Snare.mp3
Notice how little the hats bleed, even when he starts hitting them hard.
Now, here's the overhead track from the same part. Again, completely raw.
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20article/Overheads.mp3
As you can hear, this is where the 'air on the snare' is…. that & most of the cymbal sound. If we combine the two, we should get a rockin' snare happening.
Here's the two together:
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20ar...of%20phase.mp3
Well, that doesn't sound right… what the hell happened to the snare? Simple answer: It's out of phase. The mics are working against each other, and cancelling each other out. Here's a pic of the phenomenon.
You'll notice the snare waveform falls below the midpoint line just as the overhead mics are rising…. hence the cancellation. We're getting a very thin & shitty snare sound right now, and belive me, we don't want this. So, what do we do? There's two choices: We can flip the phase button on the channel strip, (green button in the upper right of the screenshot) which is really the only choice engineers had in the analog days, or we can time align.
Here's a pic of what an original snare strike looks like. Since sound takes time to travel, the strike is arriving at the snare mic much sooner that at the overheads.
Time alignment simply means moving the snare track over slightly, so it's in perfect lock-step with the overhead mics.
Now the sounds of both mics are rising & falling at the same intial strike. I don't always do this for every project. It really depends on what sounds better. Some drum tracks sound great with just the phase switch flipped, some sound better time aligned. The key here is experimentation.
Here's what a time aligned & in phase snare sounds like:
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20ar...in%20phase.mp3
And, after a little compression, EQ, and some verb on the kit.. as well as adding in the kick drum. Sorry, but no speed metal click kick on this one, it's pretty much a straight ahead rap song. I have the snare mic fader pretty far down on this mix, but if I wanted a quieter hat, I could drop the overheads a touch & bring up the close mic… the separation gives me that option. However, I do like the sound I have right now.
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20ar...ll%20Drums.mp3
And, finally, here's how the drums sit in the mix:
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20ar...Full%20Mix.mp3
Hopefully this was some help for those of you who don't know what your phase button is for. You can use time alignment on your kick & tom tracks as well. Remember, the key is to experiment between phase flipping & time alignment. Sometimes, the drums really benefit from having a slight delay between the close mic & the overheads. It really depends on the song & the drummer.
BTW, merry Christmas to everyone.
-0z-
______
www.spectresound.ca
Part 4 - TRACKING
"It's like watching a bunch of retards trying to hump a doorknob!" -Rip Torn, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
Man, is this part long overdue. Chalk it up to writer's block, and being completely sidetracked trying to chase down the Nordstrom guitar sound. See "That Clayman" thread and you'll know what I mean.
No other part of making records can be as gratifying, or homicide inducing, as cutting drums. I've heard a lot of drummers talk about how great they are. This is where the truth comes out.
So, you've got your kit setup, tuned, miked, and sounding wicked in the room. Where to start? Headphones!
Now, if you'll recall, I said a baseball cap was needed in the essentials list. Drummers are rather sweaty animals, and phones can slip off (and will) at the worst times possible. Have the drummer put on his cap. Duct tape the headphones to the cap. I've also seen sweat bands wrapped around headphones as well. I've never used it, as duct tape always works for me. (Hey, I'm Canadian.) Now, the cap should keep things from shifting around too much. If that doesn't work, just say 'fuck it' and tape the phones directly to the drummer's head. This ALWAYS works. Don't worry trying to remove them at the end of the day. That's the drummer's problem. Not yours.
Baseball cap in place, it keeps the headphones from shifting around.
Next up: Talkback! One of the most critical elements in recording drums is the headphone amp. You're going to need LOADS of power. Something that will be louder than hell & won't distort. Fortunatley, it doesn't have to cost you a fortune.
This is the Alto 6 channel headphone amp. It's cheap, loud as fuck, and hasn't let me down in three years of constant use. Best $200 I've ever spent. Sure there's more expensive units out there, but with this one, I can gaurantee your drummer will be able to hear the other musicians.
Generally, I'll set up a 58 off to the side of my mix desk and run it into my Fireface's preamp, mix matrix, and out to the headphone amp. I'll usually communicate to the drummer via the overheads, but you can also set up a room mic as a dedicated intercom. Hell, you can even run the free SSL compressor plug on the drumroom talkback mic and use it for what is was originally intended for!
It's a pretty cool comp, and can get you that Phil Collins "In the air Tonight" tom fill if you want. Check out the site HERE.
Ok, so we'll assume communications have been established. Next up: Levels.
For setting individual mic levels, I'll order them as kick/snare/floor/rack2/rack1/OH left/ OH right.
It's important to remind the drummer to hit at HIS PLAYING LEVEL when you're first getting levels. Drummers are notorious pussies in this phase. "tap tap tap" for levels then "smash smash smash" when the song starts.
Also, it's important to note to the dipshit on the throne that drum solos aren't nessescary when getting levels. You've really gotta spell it out here, but make sure he understands that you need a steady 1….2….3….4 on the drum in question. That, and stop playing WHEN TOLD. I don't know how many times I've had a drummer arbitrarily stop hitting when I'm trying to get a level. Man, it's a good thing I don't keep guns in the studio.
Ok, so here's an important tip: No matter how much you scream at the drummer when getting levels, he's still going to hit like a little bitch until the band starts playing with him. I've met ONE drummer where this didn't happen, and the band had to fly him in from Sweden! So, as you're bringing up the gain on your mics, leave about 10dB of headroom. You'll need it. Going into the reds in digital is an absolute no-no, so it's best to err on the side of caution at least until the band has had a couple of practise runs on a song or two. Then, and only then, will you have an accurate picture of how hard the guy really hits when playing. Adjust your gain at that point.
Another point: As much as I hate amp sims & the enitre Line 6 product line, this is where they truly shine…. for tracking drums. It's a total no-brainer to have a couple guitar players in the drum room, running thru some Pods into headphones. You'll get that critical player on player eye contact, and no bleed at all. That, & setup time is absolutely minimal…. aside from the 'more me' bitching about the headphone cue mix. Just remember, the drummer counts here, not the other guys. As long as he's happy & can keep a beat, the rest is gravy. I usually remind the players that they need a mix that they can all agree upon.
So now what? You've got your levels, your guitar players are amp simmed into the headphone mix, and the band is ready to play. Anything else?
Yes….. rolloff the headphone feed. Dump everything below 100hz going to the headphones. When the group starts playing as a whole, that means a shitload of bottom end that most headphones can't reproduce very well anyway. With the bass rolled off, it'll make for a much more pleasant experience. Another trick, if the band can't seem to get the phones loud enough, is to strap an L1 across the headphone feed. Crush & blast away.
Usually, I'll keep a spare set of phones in the control room so I can really hear what's going on. Asking a drummer to describe a headphone mix is like asking Hellen Keller to describe the celing at the Sistine Chapel.
….And we're off. Tape's rolling, the band's rocking, the levels are good, and the fucking hi-hat is bleeding into the snare too much! What to do? Remember that 'extra' mic I mentioned in the essentials list? This is where it comes in handy. You can 'ask' a drummer to hit a hi-hat softer, but you might as well ask for the sun to rise in the West. It ain't gonna happen.
One thing I'll do when setting up: I'll leave the hi-hat clutch set so there's nearly no pedal action, therefore getting a nice 'swish' …. just barely open. I've found that the more open the hats are, the louder they are.
Now the first thing a drummer will do is reach over to open them up. This is where I explain, "Dude, we're recording metal, not disco. You don't need your hats open that wide." Usually, this does the trick. However, if you're stuck recording a stubborn jackass, more drastic measures are needed.
The extra mic: set it up and get it close on the hats. If the drummer asks what you're doing, explain that you want to capture all the 'subtleties' of his hat playing. Yeah, about as subtle as a wrecking ball.
If you have a decent soundcard, you'll have the ability to setup individual cue mixes. You'll want to set up a channel for a 'drummer mix.' This is where you bring in the hat mic. You won't actually be recording this mic, just running it back to the drummer. Get some gain on it, and work it into his headphone feed. DO NOT actually tell him what you're up to, or it won't work. Increase the level going to his phones as he's playing. He should back off on the hats as they're going to get painful in the phones. If you're stilll having trouble, strap an L1 across the hat mic & crank it up. That should do the trick.
It's also important to note that drummers are used to playing with tons of hi frequencies smashing around from the cymbals. When he puts on headphones, it's like adding a Lowpass filter to his ears. Make sure he's getting plenty of overheads in his phone mix, or he'll subconsiously compensate for the lack of hi end by hitting the cymbals harder, and the drums softer. This is what we DON'T want.
Ok, so now we've got things finally rocking. Hit record & hope for the best. You're going to have to play 'coach' for the drummer. Keep his morale up. If he can play to a click, then by all means, track to a click. If it screws him up , dump it. It can cause more grief than it's worth.
Remember, it is possible to punch drums. If there are some rests in the song, these are prime spots for a punch in. It's much harder to punch drums during the middle of a fast beat. Slip editing can be a huge help here.
One final thing: at the end of the day, sample the kit. Kick, snare, toms, individual cymbals, cymbal pairs, you name it. I find having a couple of cymbal samples can help during mixing. You never know where you might need to fly in a clean cymbal tail… I.E., then end of a song where you got a perfect performance, only to have the dumb fuck drop his sticks as the cymbals are fading out…. That sort of thing.
Ok, that's it for now. I might add a 'part 4.5…. punching drums' because it can get pretty in-depth. But, hopefully I've helped you guys get a strategy together for tracking drums.
Until next update…
-0z-
______
Spectre Sound - SawStudio Fueled Metal Mayhem
Part 4.5 - Revisions & Ammendments
"Even when you know it all, try to learn something new everyday." Chip Foose, Overhaulin'
Alright, alright, I get it. This has been really, really overdue. What can I say? I've been learning all kinds of shit from this thread too! Suffice it to say, I've been putting many of the ideas presented on here into action on client projects, & the results have been stunning…. And, more importantly, the clients are really, really digging it. Case in point: It's June 1st, and I've got 3 full length albums to do between now and January 2007. It's gonna be a busy second half of '06.
So, where to start? There's three major points I've worked on between the last installment & this one. So, we'll start at the beginning.
#1) Overheads. I was a die hard X/Y kinda guy until James Murphy called me out on this one. As already discussed in great detail, the spaced pair method has some serious advantages over XY. Especially when you get into massive low end rolloff & sidechaining, which will be covered in part 5: Mixing.
Just to recap, with a double kick setup, it's pretty obvious where to put the spaced pair. Make a mirror image of the kit with the snare in the center & you're good to go. Observe the 3:1 rule:If one mic is one foot from an instrument, the other has to be a minimum of three, thereby creating a -6db drop in level, thereby minimising phase issues. (I hope I got that right, someone correct me if I'm wrong. Bottom line: put some space between those fuckers!)
With a single kick setup, it's a little bit different. We want to keep the mic levels matched, and still have the snare in the center. Somone was kind enough to point out this little piece of genius:
And, I must say, it works like a charm. The only caution is that some drummers don't like to spread thier cymbals out too far, so make sure you have your cattle prod or can of pepper spray handy to convince the drummer to see things your way. If they're not spread out correctly, you could wind up with your cymbals over to one side. This applies to the ride as well, depending on what side of the bell the drummer is hitting. The cool thing is, if you tweak things out a bit, you can actually use the rack toms to hide the ride bell from the right side mic!
Here's a couple of pics of the spaced pair/single kick setup in action:
This is my bud, T.J. (he keeps telling me it means "tit juggler") who's currently in with one of his groups. This guy used to have the nastiest attack on the cymbals, but after a year of hard work, he's improved massivley. Don't ever be afraid to be honest with a drummer. He'll appreciate it in the end.
We found his ride was winding up in the right mic a little too much. Moving the ride forward by about a half inch put it in direct line with rack tom #2, therby hiding it from the right overhead. We also spaced out his crashes a little farther than he normally plays, but it paid off in spades.
Here's an example of the spaced pair sound. Personally, I couldn't be happier with it!
http://www.spectresound.ca/drum%20article/fsnight.mp3
Here's another pic of the single kick, spaced pair method. This was for a pop punk project I did just before TJ's band… I would have preferred to have the crashes spread out a little more, but the drummer just couldn't get into it. Oh well, I made sure TJ suffered for this guy's mistake.
#2) Front head on the kick. Once again, this is Mr. Murphy's doing. What can I say? The guy gives great advice. I only recorded single skin kicks for years & years. Finally, I got around to putting the front head back on, and it's been pretty cool. There are many benefits to this method: Less bleed, more "bounce back" from the batter head (which will make drummers less bitchy) and the ability to double mic the kick from the inside & outside. The benefit of this is simple: The inner mic picks up the attack, while the outer mic picks up the boom. Run these two to individual tracks & all of a sudden, you have a very cool "slideable EQ" for your kick in the mix. You can also look into the Yamaha sub-kick as a substitute for an outside mic. Make sure to play around with placement of the inner & outer mics. And above all, check phase to make sure they're working together!
You can do some pretty cool things with the outside mic as well. Rolloff the highs & add a bass enhancement plugin for some real ka-boom. This always impresses the drummers. Don't go too low though, leave some room for the bass guitar.
One other thing I've noticed: When a front head is present, the attack on the kick drum moves down from the 10K region to about the 8k region, making life eaiser when it comes time to mix. I highly recommend this approach.
3) Often overlooked, but really, really, goddamn important: Impedance. If you're using an sm57 or an i5 on the snare, check up on your mic pre's specs and see what kind of impedance load it's creating on the mic. To be brief: Some dynamic mics do NOT like high impedance preamps!!! Guess what: The 57 doesn't, and to a lesser extent, neither does the i5. (if you're using e604's on the toms, not to worry, they love high impedance) Now, I'm trying to keep this simple, so try to follow me: I'm using a Great River MP2NV on my snare mic. Thankfully, it has switchable impedance: 300 ohms & 1300 ohms. It defaults at 1300. After much experimentation, take my word for it: With an sm57, the diffference is NOT subtle. Most low cost preamps have fairly high impedance. (I'm generalizing here) From what I've read on the subject (There is an FANTASTIC article in the last month's issue of RECORDING by Paul J. Stamler on the subject of 57's & too much impedance) when the 57 it put to a high impedance load, the element is not properly restricted. Meaning it physically moves too much. Meaning you get too much exteme bottom & a brittle top. Switching the impedance on the Great River pre was like breathing new life into my 57. Holey crap, what a difference. Two theories on this subject: 1) This is why Neve preamps are so popular. They're 600 ohms (someone correct me here if I'm wrong) so the venerable workhorse sm57 is going to sound much nicer on one of these than say, a Mackie XDR which is 1300 ohms.
2) This is one of the reasons why so many people hated digital when it came out. Digital plays back what you put into it. Whereas anaolog tends to smear things, I'm guessing some of the digital 'harshenss' some engineers were hearing was the result of thier own stupidity regarding impedance loads. Hell, I've been recording to digital for years & I only just figured it out!
Fortunatley, having switchable impedance settings on your preamps these days doesn't mean you have to break the bank.
http://www.mackie.com/products/800r/index.html Here's an 8 channel Mackie Onyx. Channels 1&2 have switchable impedance. I think it goes for about $1k USD. Not bad for 8 pres! That's almost enough to to a full kit.
Part 5: MIXING
"This is art, not mathematics. There is no "wrong." Jazz session drummer, Kevin Schmidt.
The best way to teach is by example. I can ramble on for days about things, but to help you truly understand, I've put together a very short demonstration.
Here's some tracks, first raw, then mixed, then with accompanying instruments:
You can grab the file HERE
"Just Do It. …Later." —T-Shirt I saw earlier today.
Ok, I know this installment is seriously overdue. When I started this thing I was starting five week layoff from my day job & I had a grand total of one project on the go, and it was only a 2 song deal. Here we are some eight(!) months later… I've got 2 albums on the go & one more to start before year's end… not to mention I'm back full time at my day job.
Not only that, but I've seriously been wrestling with the notion of how to write this segment. Mixing can be a difficult task, and how to put my ideas into words can be quite challenging. Chalk it up to writer's block. I know what I want to say, but it's been difficult to say it. So, I'm gonna take Strongbad's advice here: "Hold out your hand like you're holding a giant mystical orb and let the evil flow…."
Philosophy
So, you've got your record tracked. Playback is pretty cool. Guitars are thrashing away & your vocalist sounds like he's gargling razorblades. But the snare is a little dull. So, I guess you should reach over and crank up the 10K on the snare mic to brighten it up, right? FUCK NO!!
Ok, repeat after me: "Boosting EQ sucks." Why? Well, that subject could be a book, but to simplify: When you boost an EQ, you're adding noise. And on a snare mic, it's like a "turn up the hi-hat knob." Which is what we don't want…. that is unless you're doing disco. If you have a wood floor, you won't have to reach for a boosting EQ nearly as much, either. Subtractive is the way to go here, folks. The end results will be cleaner.
Don't get me wrong, both have thier place. But a good rule of thumb should be "Cut first, boost later."
Some tools you'll need: A compressor plugin with a backend limiter on the makeup gain, & a DAW that can sidechain. If your DAW can't sidechain, you can get a copy of SawBasic for $300 US, and it's faster than anything you've ever seen.
That being said, I'm still very much an old school guy. I try to avoid drum replacement as much as possible. I'm into capturing the sound of the band, as opposed to the band having my stamp on them, and having the mics work with each other. So, where do I think drum replacement is appropriate? Well, let's start at the bottom:
Kick Drum
After you've spent so much time adding new skins, falam slam pads, changing out beater types, moving mic positions & generally tweaking to perfection, this is the drum, for me anyway, that most likely winds up being replaced. Why? Dynamics. Some drummers just naturally hit a little softer during fast double bass parts… and look out if he doesn't hear it in the mix. Now, there's numerous ways to deal with this. Gating, compression, etc, etc, but the harder you compress the kick mic, the more background noise you bring into the mix. That means cymbal wash, and more importantly, bottom snare noise.
Generally, if the drummer has put in a very solid performance on the kicks, I'll stick with the natural mic. But if not, I'll have him play some solo kicks at the end of the day & make up a custom .gog file for the record. It's really not that hard to do, it just takes some patience as there's lots of cutting & pasting the hits into individual files. If you've tuned your drum right, have a good mic & pre on it & the kick sounds wonderful, you'll have a pretty killer sample to work with.
I find the kick is the easiest part of the kit to replace. Why? Because the beater only hits in one spot. The only variable is dynamic strength… position doesn't matter. If the drummer is using two bass drums, you can sample each one & run a pair of drumagogs for that authentic 2 bass drum sound. A little bit of variation from drum to drum is a good thing. This avoids the "machine gun effect."
Replacing the kick also give you room for some boosting EQ to bring out that all important "click" sound. Since it's an "after the fact" sound, you don't have to worry about a big boost fucking with the phase of the other mics.
Usually, I'll put a pretty wide scoop in around 500hz, and a boost around 8-10k depending on the sound I'm after. That, and lots of compression. 15ms or so attack, and around 100ms release, with plenty of makeup gain. If you're using drumagog, one critical point: Remember to click on the "advanced" tab & pull back the "dynamic tracking" knob. This will really even out the kicks. Here's a shot:
Pull back the dynamic tracking knob to even out the kick hits
On the other side of the coin, with a natural kick, I'll sidechain thru Saw's channel strips. In the pic below, I've got the key coming in from channel 2, which is the snare. Attack 0, release 20, a gentle ratio & a very low threshold. This will step on any snare drum transients bleeding into the kick mic.
But if you'll notice, I've got 2 kick tracks. The top is using drumagaog, for the attack. The second track is a copy of the first, but it's the live mic, with a lowpass filter set around 200hz, and a bass enhancement plugin. Mix the two together & you get a pretty slammin' kick!
SNARE
This can vary greatly. Each drummer has his own style of hitting the snare, from strength to position, and it's your job to make the dumb shit sound good. One HIGHLY, highly recommended tool is the Dominion plugin from digital fishphones. It's free, so why don't you head on over to Dominion Download Site and grab a copy.
Now, if you've lambasted the drummer enough about the hats, hopefully he's backed off enough & you've got something useable. Hopefully you've also put the mic in the right place & minimized bleed.
If not there's a few tricks to get around it. First, you can gate the snare. With an ultra-fast attack & a sensible release, you can get away with a lot. The other idea might be to use an expander. This will drop the noise floor, i.e. the goddamn hihat bleed, in relation to the snare. Dominion has one built right in, and it's great.
So, EQ is next. As you can see, I've violated my own rule & used a pretty healthy boost around 8k on this snare. I was able to get away with this because the bleed on the snare mic was pretty minimal. If the hat was louder I'd have to get a little more crafty. Physical separation, mic placement, and most importantly, a light touch on the hat make life easier for the engineer.
I've also got a 1.5 dB cut at 460 & a 2.5 db cut at 100, and the mic is rolled off at 75hz. This will vary from drum to drum & drummer to drummer, so don't take these numbers as concrete rules.
I'm also using Dominion, post channel EQ, to drop the bleed. Look at the "sustain" faders and you'll get what I mean. Dominion also has a pretty cool high frequency exciter, under the "hf details" knob. This can be a very cool alternative to boosting EQ. The attack faders are used for tuning the incoming transient. Overall, I've found this plugin to be indispensible. You can tweak the attack & release of a drum, drop the bleed by several orders of magnitude, and generally fuck with sounds till your hearts' content. On this particular track, I felt the snare didn't need any more attack, just a little bleed management.
After dominion, I'll use a plugin comp to bring the level waaay up. If you've got one with a backend limiter, say, a waves Rcomp or a Sonditus comp, this will be your best friend. Set for about 15 ms attack, & crank it up till the output limiter light goes off. Say, 8-10 dbs. Ba-Bang!
OVERHEADS
This has gotten a lot easier since I moved over to spaced pairs. Rolloff at around 600 hz, depending on the drummer, (Mr. Sneap's idea. Just fn' brilliant!) and sidechain from the snare. Attack 0, release 20ms, ratio & threshold to taste. This will take the snare transient out of the overheads & leave some of the sustain. If you've set your threshold right, you can get a great effect with ghosting on snare rolls. It will leave the softer hits in the overheads & only step down on the hard ones. The rolloff with clean your mix up big time as well. Cool!
The other nice thing about sidechaining from the snare is it turns off on the tom rolls. This is great at it adds some pretty heavy attack to the toms in the full mix. Great stuff.
After the sidechain, I'll usually use a plugin comp to even out some of the cymbal hits. Theshold at around -15 to -18, 4:1 ratio & perhaps a bit of makeup gain. Put this up with the snare & things should be sounding pretty explosive.
Toms
Pretty much the same idea as the snare. Mid scoop, & smashed with a comp. Be sure to rolloff the lows though, so your speakers don't puke on the floor. Dominion can be a great help for adding attack if your drummer can't hit toms very hard. That & the 'hf details' knob can be a big help too.
I'll usually set up SAW to auto-remove silence for the tom tracks, & remove the bleed when the toms aren't being played. Saw has a pretty cool feature to add a 'reverse' to the gate when removing silence. What this means, is that if you set it for say, 5ms, it will open the gate 5ms BEFORE the tom strike, thereby letting the tom thru with all it's attack. Man, what a timesaver. Generally, after silence has been stripped, I'll listen to every fill & make sure things turned out correctly.
REVERB
Don't overdo it. Seriously. Pick ONE reverb you like and stick with it for the song. I set the verb's tail to the tempo of the song, so it's not stepping over itself. Generally, I'll put the ver on a return buss & take a send from the snare & toms to a verb plugin, & that's it. Kick? Almost never. Only in very special cases, when it's all out in front by itself. Overheads? Even less. It just clouds up the mix.
One critical point: On your verb return buss, add an EQ plugin before the reverb & rolloff everything below 200hz. That way, you're not reverberating the mud, only the mids & hi end stuff. This will clean up your mix bigtime.
If you listen to the mixed drums in the .rar file, you can hear the only thing with verb on it is the snare. Since it was an old school tune, we used a fairly large verb. But, the key is to go with what works for the song. Talk to the band you're working with and make sure you can get what they're after. These days, a big fat verb on the snare is usually not what people want. It usually makes people cringe "Bon Jovi." The trick is to use 'just enough.' Because even a short verb can greatly enhance a snare sound. Same with the toms. Make them sound like they're on the inside of an oil tanker only when the song calls for it. The rest of the time, make sure there's 'just enough.'
Well, that's it for now. It's a pretty basic mix guide, but hopefully someone will find something useful in here. Feel free with the questions & comments.
-0z-
xxxx
Side Notes:
"How do you check for phase problems?"
It's quite simple: Set your main outs to mono, and bring up your overheads…. then bring up a snare or tom mic. Click your phase button on the channel strip of the snare or tom mic… you should hear some major differences in the sound. If it's out of phase, it will get very thin & weak sounding. If it's in phase you'll hear a lot more bass in the sound.
Each sound is a wave. The idea is to have the waveforms of the different mics rising & falling together. However, if one rises & the other falls at the same time, they cancel each other out… usually meaning a loss of bottom end & a very thin sound. If you zoom in on your DAW and look at the waveforms, you can see what I mean.
