Advice on Recording Drums

[antisocialjohnny]

Hey Will (and everybody else)

I'm in a band just outside Toronto, Canada. We've been playing around the area for a year or so now and we've just confirmed that we are going to get into the studio to self-produce our first full album (we put out an EP a little while ago). We have a really well-known engineer doing the entire record for us and we know it's going to sound great.

We've gotten a lot of show reviews from fans and other bands we've played with however saying that the "drum tones are lost" and saying that it doesn't sound tight enough or it's too mushed together to really be defined. Admittedly, our drummer does use a lot of cymbals in songs, could this be the only reason for the "lost tones"? He really bashes away at the things sometimes. I hear recordings and see bands live where they only use cymbals every 4 bars or whatever.

What is some advice you can give us for making the drums sound outstanding on our album and in our stage show? I'd really love some advice we can take in to the studio (starting July 1st).

Thanks a lot!

[Thrill Kill Will]

hey hey,

well, toronto is awesome, so congrats on the geography.

since you are working with an engineer hopefully he'll have a good grasp on the tuning and recording aspect to make the drums sound great on record. as for the playing in general, studio and live, that's a tough question. i think you just have to think about what is appropriate for the band/song. or rather, your drummer has to. bashing away at crash cymbals all the time is definitely not appropriate for a jazz drummer, but if you're in a hardcore band and the drummer is just tapping away on a ride cymbal, that wouldn't have any energy, nor would it be exciting.
a great idea would be to do a quick demo, even a boombox to do a live room recording would work. then sit back and listen and ask yourselves if the drums are too "busy", or if the drummer is overplaying. if its the big heavy chorus then by all means ride away on the crash. but if its a verse where the attention is on the vocals, then make sure he's keeping the beat and letting people focus on other things. (unless you're in some super technical prog band, then over play away)

also, i'd ask one or two people that you really trust. reviews from online webzines and feedback from fans is cool, but more often then not, these people are NOT great critical judges. some people that don't know instruments, and live sound reinforcement might mistake a bad sound engineer for a bad band, or might think a louder band is "better", or might think the band that jumps around the most is better. so yea, i'd say find one person who is a true musician, who's a good judge of things, and who is honest, and ask them what they think.

most importantly you have to learn to be honest with yourself. being able to evaluate what you are doing is really key to improving upon what you are doing. there's nothing wrong with your band being a little sloppy or simple or whatever. everyone starts somewhere, as long as you can look at your music, or listen to it, and realize what needs to be improve, then work towards that, you're golden.

good luck with it.

-will