Anyone?
Didn't know where to put this thread maybe recording drums???
Were recording a proper demo at a recording studio in 2 weeks so we have something proper to send out, we did a recording our selves a week or so ago, it's ok but we don't think it's up to stratch, We have no idea what to expect when we get there, we have a full day there 10am - 6pm, how does it work? do you just keep playing the songs over and over or do it one time all together then play indivdually to the play back, is it a good idea to take all our own kit or use what they have? Just want some kind of idea what to expect, were all buzzing about it...
Cheers Mark
Have you got you're ticket for the rock train? You gotta earn that Ticket!!
Premier Genista - Pearl Masters - Primus custom snare - Zildjian A Custom- DW 5000 pedal - Zildjian Zack Starkey sticks
I play lead Drums
Anyone?
Have you got you're ticket for the rock train? You gotta earn that Ticket!!
Premier Genista - Pearl Masters - Primus custom snare - Zildjian A Custom- DW 5000 pedal - Zildjian Zack Starkey sticks
I play lead Drums
Expect a long and BORING day.
HA HA I hope you've been practicing with the click! The almighty noise that haunts you wherever you go after you've heard it hundreds of times
Mark, you'll do the songs as a band, one at a time, to the best of your ability and then they'll do overdubs for guitar or whatever else you want on there, then make some minor corrections to vocals or whatever needs fixing here or there. Then you move on to the next tune.
Drummers don't get as much opportunity for overdubs because of the nature of how most tracks are laid down. It's also because cymbals bleed and they're hard to edit cleanly and without being noticed, so you'll need to be as "on" as possible when you're tracking. That said; the first track is rarely ever used. They'll usually run it through a few times first. Give each track 100% regardless just in case they want to keep it.
A few more tips:
1. For most rock stuff, drums track best when hit real hard. Make every note very count.
2. Keep it simple. Technical licks or fills don't always work in the studio the way they work live so be careful. If you have no studio experience, I would concentrate on keeping real good time first and foremost. Make it feel as good as possible.
3. When doing a fill across the toms, drummers don't always hit the floor tom (at the end of the fill) with the same amount of force as they do the first tom (starting out) so be sure to follow through the roll with the same amount of intensity.
As to who's drums to use? Since you have no experience at this, I would recommend that you use theirs (assuming its an established, credible studio) because they probably already have the house kit tuned and muffled to get a good, reliable sound. While you may like your drums, they may not be tuned to how they like them and this could end up eating a lot of time up in the studio trying to prepare them for recording. All this said, I would see if you can make a trip to the studio to check out the drums they have and assess how you like them beforehand because you don't want to use their kit if it's extremely uncomfortable to play. Most drummers will bring all the basics anyway (snare, bass drum pedal, cymbals, snare stand, extra cym stands, etc) so they can play with as much of their own gear as possible.
I hope this helps. Feel free to also call the studio and talk to the recording engineer and ask him these questions. Just tell them that you're new at it and you want to do a good job. He should be cooperative.
Good luck and HAVE FUN!
I've spoken to him and he say we can do it either live 3 songs or overlayed 1 maybe 2 he said it's up to us so we'll go for live, will this just be playing the songs over and over till it's right?
Have you got you're ticket for the rock train? You gotta earn that Ticket!!
Premier Genista - Pearl Masters - Primus custom snare - Zildjian A Custom- DW 5000 pedal - Zildjian Zack Starkey sticks
I play lead Drums
Don't they have you play it live a few times, then each of you individual a bunch? I know one thing though, each studio will do things differently; no one can tell exactly how it is going to work, unless of course, they go there.
You can have them record your fills seperate. That way you can keep the fills completely on time. The reason fills don't come out nice when you record live is because they are not on perfect time. If you record your fills seperate you can get them timed way better; plus, you won't have your last tom being hit less hard then the first tom you hit.
So make sure you can get everything on time and do your fills separate.
Ask them anything you may be wondering about a while before you supposed to go. Every little thing matters if you want the best demo you can get, they understand that and will be happy to let you know everything before your big day, they want you to be prepared.
Try to go there a few days before you record, so you can decide what you need to take. See if you can demo their kit(s), this is the only way you can be 100% sure about what you need.
I would like to chime in here.
Since you are limited in your time I would not even think about individual tracks one person at a time. This is a long drawn out process.
You are not recording a CD for release you are recording a demo to get gigs right?
I would pick the songs you want to use and rehearse only those songs until you are sick of them, then go a little more.
Then when you get in the studio, record them as a band. If it was me I would lay down all of them first. Then listen to them and decide with the time you have left what you want to fix, over dub etc..
Also a tip, if you make a mistake, keep going, do not stop. A simple mistake can be fixed, you risk loosing momentum and fell if you stop every time there is a mistake. Also I have found there are many times when you feel like you messed up but on playback you can't even find it.
You don't try for perfection and get nothing but half recorded tracks at the end of the day.
I assume this will be digital recording? if so you can alway take the tracks and import them into your recording system and take your time later fixing and perfecting.
This is how I personally would handle it.
And above all, try to have fun.
Last edited by rmandelbaum; 05-23-2009 at 01:19 PM.
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