How to Record a Killer Drum Sound Straight Out of the Box

Published: Fri, 09/18/15

We talk a lot about how to get a good recording and how we can make the best mix but we often gloss over the most important part of getting it right before any of that.

Getting the right instrument for the job.

Drums are especially important in that aspect because not only are they hard to record in general, they can be constructed in so many different ways that directly affects the tone of the drums themselves and the recordings they’re used on.

I’m no drum construction expert so in this week's Long Wait Patreon video I’ll have Ty take it away with his thoughts on getting the right instrument for the job, in his case his perfect drum sound.

Our Drummer and His Perfect Drum Sound

Note: the full ad for his drum kit can be found here: http://tucson.craigslist.org/msg/5201845515.html

Your drum recording take-away into the weekend is this:

Get the best drums for the job. If you have multiple ones try them all out and see what sounds the best.
Tune your kit and keep it tuned throughout the recording process.
Test the drum kit in multiple positions in your room. The placement of the drums inside the room will affect the sound.

Then it's all about how you want to mike the drum-kit depending on what kind of sound you're after.

If you're trying to minimize the room sound then certain methods are better than others.

I go over multiple different miking techniques for drums in Recording Strategies.

Ditch your school books and make that your required reading over the weekend.