Under a Mile – Getting There (hearnow.com)
Getting real acoustic drums recorded to a standard, that I think is reasonable, was the toughest task. Nowadays it’s easy and cheap enough to get perfectly quantised and levelled electronic drum sounds. It’s a good target to try to match the sonic and metric consistency and accuracy, but as a human being will never quite get there. This is said as a lowly bass player attempting to turn themselves into a drummer. The inevitable human imperfection will hopefully not tire the ear as much. I take solace from the fact that many a decent drummer in household names had their playing replaced by session guys for professional recordings. And I don’t claim to be professional musician, much as it is a lifelong goal to achieve some good sounding recordings, as well as the overriding urge to be creative.
So I won’t be troubling any career or session musicians with my playing, but with the help of my drum teacher, and a Guitar Techniques subscription I’m finally reasonably happy with what I’ve got recorded. In a few years I’ll be able to play better on a new set of tracks, as learning to play better is a constant goal.
But what’s here is all recorded mixed and played by me, with the exception of vocals, and a couple of guitar solos credited below. A click and drum machine were used during recording, but have since been replaced. So, what you hear on drums is me, with a fair amount of comping to get the best takes, as is universally the way in these precise digital times. Also I’ve found, only in the final stages of producing this album, that a little bit of Melodyne Lite correction can go a long way, when there isn’t the chance to re-record the whole track. Digital technology has made it entirely feasible to hone the tracks and apply exciting effects, but also to over-egg the whole thing and never finish.
As some of my favourite bands are in the field of progressive rock, and I’m sure some of those influences will be hinted at or made obvious, I won’t beg too much indulgence for any of my indulgences.
A huge part of the recording process in any studio, is getting a good drum sound. In a very compact low-ceilinged drum room, this task is not to be understated. From years of experimenting, adding yet more close microphones, and then applying effects plug-ins, I think I have eked out a fairly contemporary sounds. It hopefully its sound slightly belies that it was recorded in a tiny stud walled drum room, within a soundproofed garden room. Albeit with a properly designed nifty floating slab floor. I have spent more on rubber and soundproofing products than I wish to reveal!
Equipment Run-down
For those that like this kind of info, here are the tricks of my trade.
I have used a Line6 Guitar Port, Zoom B3N, Boss GT1 for my guitars. My guitars are fairly cheap, my best being an Ibanez semi acoustic. I’ve used mainly a Warwick, and my Ashbory bass here, which gives a thump equal to none. Although it required me to learn fretless.
I started using Sonar Professional in 2016, and soon after this was acquired, and now updates are provided by BandLab. I use a variery of VST plug-ins from Plug-In Alliance, Waves, Melda Production
For acoustic drums, I found the IR1 reverb from Waves and Melda’s drum levellers are essential. My kit is a Pearl Forum with Sabian AAX’s, and Pearl Sensitone steel snare. One day I’ll save up for the aluminium version of that, with all my royalties flooding in what won’t be long, haha, as if. If you really wanted to know, I used Evans Level 360 on the tom heads.
Kit mics include overheads: Rode NT1’s. Snare: Lewitt dynamic, Beyer condenser. Toms: Samson kit mics. Kick: AKG D112 Mkii acquired most recently, superseding a variety of experiments even with a Shure SM57.
Watch this site for more studio chat later.