Pro Tools 503 Recording Drums TUTORiAL
Riley Boylan
Drum microphones utilize polar pickup patterns that make them ideal for recording drums. All of the microphones featured here have cardioid pick up patterns, besides the D2 and D4 microphones that have a hyper cardioid pickup pattern for a tighter response and optimal feedback rejection. This is a technical term that means that the microphone rejects sound from the back and sides, but it successfully picks up sound from the front.
Of course, you will need your drum set and the best cymbals you can get your hands on for recording drums! An important piece of advice I learned a long time ago is that the quality of the recorded input will always translate into the end result.
So I'm trying to record electronic drums for a song I'm writing. I have addictive drums 2 the paid for plug in and stand alone program. I have the drivers for my Alesis drum kit downloaded and the computer picks up the audio when running the standalone application. When I open pro tools, I verified that pro tools sees the kit as a midi controller, and i open an instrument track, switch it to stereo audio, then add the addictive drums 2 plug in. From there, I press the pre record on the track I just created itself, and no audio is picked up within pro tools. I have a usb A to regular usb from kit to my computer. The computer recognizes the kit as well as pro tools, yet no audio. I have no idea what to do here to record electronic drum audio using addictive drums 2 and there's no tutorial that explains why this happens online. Any help????
When recording drums in isolation, it can be useful to set up a mic some distance away from the kit to capture the sound of the room. The ideal distance for the room mic will depend on the size and liveliness of the room. This technique can add a sense of depth, as well as ambience to the kit sound. A stereo pair of mics can also be used for this effect. Try spacing the mics so that they are one or two feet wider than the kit. Panning the two room-mic channels can produce a very good stereo image.
You no longer have to go to a professional studio only to record drums. Simultaneously, recording drums at home can have many issues and difficulties. Not to mention the miles of cables and endless microphones needed to get started. E-kits make it easier than ever to take what you have been practicing and record it straight onto your computer at home.
An obvious advantage to recording electronic drums at home is volume; the quiet nature of electronic drums means you can spend hours playing for the best take without disturbing the neighbors. The other advantage is how your e-kit produces sound. It is generated within the drum module and is not influenced by the size of the room, the acoustic treatment, or the lack thereof.
Recording your e-kit using MIDI ((Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is quite different from just recording the audio directly from your drum module. MIDI is a language that computers use to translate the digital information the pads from your drums create when hit.
Recording powerful and punchy drums is something I have been after since I started my audio engineering journey. I have read countless articles and books about drum recording, but most of them have failed to give me the results I am after. Most of the time, the biggest limiting factor of aggressive drum sound is the tempo. If you want the faster parts not to sound like a complete mess, you need to have total control over the sound.
I'm a drummer. I used to play drums in a death metal band called Dauntless (1993-2008) and in various other projects before focusing into recording and mixing. I have played drums for 20 years and have 10 years of professional recording experience. I run my little studio called Drop Hammer Studios and I have also worked in many other studios. I have had the honour of recording many different drummers, and many of them have been a lot better than me.
I will go through every detail of drum recording from my own point of view. The approach is based on my experience on how to get a sound where the power, separation and definition is taken to it's maximum level. After you have gone through the first part, you can find one chapter dedicated to "raw" drums. It features examples of what I do differently when the end result calls for more traditional, "organic" drum sound.
This was an amazing course! I loved hearing from both Matt and Nolly on their thought process behind drums in general. I love the point they drove home about getting a great source tone. That seems to be forgotten in a lot of recordings and they try to fix it in the mix. Jolly did a fantastic job of making it look "easy" to take already great sounding source tones and making them really shine! Cant wait to put these concepts into practice in my own projects. What a great source of knowledge here. Thanks for this great class!
Best course and overall learning experience I've had in a long long while. Nolly and Matt are superb. Nolly is an astonishing mixing and recording engineer and a great teacher. Not only does he explains his methods carefully and in detail, but also lays down key concepts in an understandable language. Definitely worth the investment if you wanna learn how to mix modern heavy music. Definitely worth the investment if you wanna learn how to track drums properly. Definitely worth the investment if you wanna see one of modern metal's best drummers track a whole song from start to finish. Props to Creative Live for bringing this material to us.
The lesson discusses drum head and shell selection for recording situations, with a focus on the preference for clear drum heads. The instructors explain the differences between clear and coated drum heads in terms of sound and durability. They also discuss the importance of accommodating the drummer's preferences and the challenges of recording drums. The lesson concludes with a discussion on bass drum and snare drum sizes, tuning, and the impact of head selection on drum sound.
In this lesson, Matt Halpern discusses his signature snare drum, the Mapex Black Panther Wraith. He explains that he designed it to have a specific sound that can cut through in live settings and the studio, while still being flexible. The snare drum is 6 inches in depth and has 9 vents to create a dry, quick sound. It was used extensively in the recording of the album Juggernaut. Nolly then discusses the advantages of brass and metal snare drums for recording, as they tend to be louder and produce a more direct sound. He also explains the differences between metal and wood snare drums in terms of sound characteristics. The lesson concludes with a discussion on drum terminology, such as the difference between a dry sound and an open sound, and the benefits of using a vented snare drum for a tight sound without excessive muffling.
In this lesson, the instructors discuss microphone placement techniques for overheads and room mics in recording drums. They cover topics such as the different configurations for overheads, the importance of spacing the overheads evenly from the center of the snare, the positioning of the hi-hat mic, the placement of spot mics on cymbals, the use of room mics to capture the overall drum sound and ambiance, and the potential use of a wildcard mic in a reflective space.
Programming drums allows for instant gratification and the ability to hear and experiment with different ideas without the need for a recording studio. It is a cost-effective way to develop and refine drum parts.
In this lesson, the instructors discuss the importance of drums in adding character to a rock or metal song and how different producers have their own distinct drum sound. They also mention the evolution of their drum recording and mixing techniques, highlighting the development of a system that allows them to achieve the desired drum sound. The instructors then proceed to play a sample of the recorded drums, showcasing the dynamics and intricacies of the performance. They emphasize the importance of maintaining variations in tone and dynamics, even when using techniques to enhance consistency. The instructors then focus on the kick drum sound and mention that the snare drum is usually the main focus when mixing drums. They explain that they will be using a top-down mixing chain and will bypass certain plugins to achieve a drier drum sound.
The options and approaches, of course, are endless, and the seasoned sound engineer will have numerous microphone techniques developed over a number of years. For those of us with a little less experience, it's useful to start with some tried and tested methods for recording drums. Once you've learned the basics, you can adjust them to taste as your experience grows.
Setting Up the Drums
Once you're satisfied with how the drums sound, the next biggest influence on how your final recording will sound is the room it's in. Two very different approaches apply here: 1) Embrace the natural acoustic qualities of your room. 2) Control the room acoustics and apply synthetic ambiance later.
Once you're happy the overheads are capturing a good balanced sound, you can now begin to add spot microphones to support or emphasise certain parts of the kit. In almost all circumstances, you'll want to give the kick drum some more weight, and in some cases, the snare can also benefit from additional support. Consider using a purpose built kick drum mic to boost the bass drum and either a dynamic or condenser to emphasise the snare. Close micing individual drums will be covered in more detail as part of approach number 2, which looks at a more surgical approach to recording drums, by close micing almost every element of the kit.
Pay particular attention to how your kick and snare sound together as this will form the backbone of your beat. The overheads are also important, but less important in context with the kick if you're working on a close-mic model for recording drums. The reason for this is that you'll likely apply a heavy dose of low cut to overheads during the mixing stage for close-mic applications; allowing the individual kick and snare mics to carry the burden.