Custom Drum Tracks: Major Label Quality by a Pro Session Drummer
By Session Drummer Shay Godwin - eDrumSessions.com
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Podcast Description
Session drummer Shay Godwin and sound engineer Thai Long Ly of eDrumSessions.com bring you tips to get the most out of your custom drum tracks and other instruments when creating session music in a recording studio. You can learn more at eDrumsessions.com
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| 1 | CleanVideoDrum Track Video: Thai Long Ly interview | This is an interview with Los Angeles recording engineer Thai Long Ly. Ly is the engineer for eDrumSessions. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) com. Ly is a huge and integral part of the well-known quality of online drum tracks eDrumSessions. A great thing about Ly is that he understands the physics of sound, the gear he is using, and all necessary technical knowledge while allowing his ears and his artistic sensibilities guide him. Whether recording online drum tracks or anything else, Ly doesn't allow his vast technical knowledge dominate his great ears and artistic instincts. | 10/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 2 | CleanVideoDrum Samples Cripple Your Music | Drum Samples are quite commonly used these days. This is no surprise, as there are some good software packages out there such as BFD. This and other high-quality drum sample software features extensive sampling of a wide variety of drums, in different rooms, with different sticks/mallets/brushes. I did the brush samples for the BFD FXpansion and played a plethora of sweeps and hits. So clearly there is no problem with the individual samples within such software. They are amazingly thorough in terms of capturing great drum sounds individually. The problem is that they are only useful in a compositional sense. They are not useful in terms of a good end result. Why? Because there is no natural flow, no matter how much time you spend putting all these samples together to sound like a real performance. And the listener can tell something is amiss, even if fooled that the succession of samples constitute a real drum performance. If you really want your music to sound professional and not to sound "canned", then you have to have custom drum tracks performed for your song. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) Make no mistake, if you use drum samples instead of a professionally recorded session drummer you will severely limit your music's potential. How do you accomplish this on a budget? The solution lies in the use of an online session drummer. | 10/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 3 | CleanVideoOnline Recording Studios: Get Pro Studio Services Affordably | For years professional recordings were made only by those who had a large budget. Artists signed to major labels and those with investors were predominately the privileged ones who got record professionally. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) The difference in sound between recordings made in a professional studio and demos made otherwise was always as chasmic as it is now. However, with the advent of online recording studios has come a real "power to the people" type of situation. Now artists that don't have huge budgets can get the professional studio recordings they need to make their music really stand out. This goes especially for drum tracks, as recording drums is the most complicated procedure requiring the most expertise. Now artists don't have to rent a room to record in, nor do most of the other work that used to be involved in obtaining pro drum tracks. One can now simply pay on online recording studio to track drums or other instruments, with no logistical fuss and huge budgetary requirements. Welcome to the revolution. | 3/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 4 | CleanVideoDrum Track Processing Tips, Part 4: Ambience by Thai Long Ly | Drum Track Processing Tips, Part 4: Ambience by Thai Long Ly You have received your WAV’s from an online recording studio, imported the tracks into your session and pulled up the faders to zero. "Wow, that's a lot of room", you say. Sure, that is a lot of room if you solo the drums. But when you start adding keys, vocals, guitars, bass, etc. is there still too much room? Or are the drums now sitting in a nice “space” in the mix eliminating the need for artificial reverb? I usually like to record my room mics on the hot side, with plenty of level. Often I will use even more than I’ll actually use in the final mix, but that way it’s there if I need it. You will get the same results from this, in that it will give you a lot to work with when it is time to create atmosphere and space. Now,if you want a Beach Boys type thing or a dry drum sound reminiscent of the 70's, then back the faders down. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) If you are going for that tight modern R&B sound, then mute the room mics completely. For a rock project, crank those room mics up from the start! Here is a creative, fun use of room mics: bring the room mics in during choruses, or during big drum fills, leaving them low or out on verses. This creates sonic excitement without resorting to EQ or level changes. Again, don’t be afraid to experiment with processing. Healthy use of compression on room mics is pretty much standard practice for rock productions. The aim is to get the compressor pumping in time with the track so that the drums start to get lively. You want the drums to sound like they’re about to explode out of the speakers! But dig this: once you realize that a good drum track isn’t merely about punch and impact, that it should have depth and a real sense space as well, your productions will take on a whole new life. The quickest, most natural way to a cool sonic landscape is through the creative use (and non-use) of room mics in your mix. Check out my other articles on drum processing on this site, covering topics such as use of compression and gating. In Part 5 equalization will be the focus. Until then, enjoy applying what you have just read. | 11/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 5 | CleanVideoDrum Track Processing Tips, Part 3: Parallel Compression | This is the third installment in my series of tutorials on processing of drum tracks. We focus here on parallel compression.So your guitarist has decided that he's going to triple track all nineteen of his brilliant ideas using his Mind Bleeder distortion pedal and your keyboardist wants to layer every rad Moog and Nord patch he’s ever programmed since the 80’s. Your bassist insists on playing nothing but chords he learned in Bass Frenzy magazine on his custom Booty Humper Low F# seven string. So how do you deal with trying to get your drum tracks to punch through this wall of sound? You should experiment with parallel compression of your drum tracks. Simply put, you’re blending a compressed drum track with an unprocessed track for more “oomph”. I don’t generally care for this technique on anything Jazz related, but if you’re dealing with a wall of mud and you can’t carve out the proper space any other way (or don’t have the time), this technique is worth exploring. How do we do this? Once you’ve gotten your drums in a good place, take a few elements of the drum tracks… say your kick, snare, and toms and bus them to the input of a compessor in wait via an aux send. Remember your drums are still being bussed to the master out in addition to the aux send you’ve just created. Knowing you have a clean signal as well, feel free to smash the snot out of the compressor and gently blend the output of this mangled signal with your original drum tracks until you start to feel the drums gaining weight. You may find that you won’t need much… just a “hint” is all it may take to cut through that wall of doom. Essentially, you’re increasing the perceived loudness of the drum track without resorting to radical EQ or unjustified levels of gain. Many pro mixers have mastered this subtle art and have produced amazing drum sounds that we hear day in and day out on the radio. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) Play around with it and see if it works for you. Hell, if you’re really feeling frisky (audio – wise) mess around with some slight distortion on the snare and kick drum tracks, too. Enjoy your experimentation with parallel compression on your drum tracks, and be sure to read part four of this series on drum track processing. In part four, I will discuss ambiance. | 11/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 6 | CleanVideoDrum Track Processing Tips, Part 2: Compression | This is the second installment of my series of articles addressing the processing of drum tracks. My focus here is on compression. I tend to use compression for two distinct reasons – either to color a signal or to control its dynamic range. While I much prefer hardware, software can get you there too. Rather than functioning as a technical manual on how to use a compressor, this article will touch upon some desired approaches regarding drum track compression. Let me first mention that there are four different types of compressors: Vari-mu (Delta-Mu), VCA (voltage controlled amplifier), FET (field effect transformer) and Electro-Optical (opto). For drums tracks I’d recommend sticking with FET’s or VCA based designs, although you can get anything to work if you try hard enough. Let’s talk about color. By altering a compressor’s attack and release buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) controls, one can alter how much sustain, attack and punch a track will exhibit. For example, by compressing a kick drum track, you can control how much articulation or “click” you hear versus how much “body” and thump is heard. If you want more “snap” out of a kick, simply slow down your attack to allow more of the initial transient through. Want more “shell” or “bloom” in the kick drum track? Crank up the attack and slow down the release. Here the initial click is caught and tamed while the tone of the shell is boosted. This is a way to EQ the signal without resorting to an actual EQ. You are essentially manipulating the attack and sustain of the drum tracks in order to produce more bite and punch, or conversely, to round off transients for a more mellow, round sound. Stylistically speaking, Modern Rock drum tracks seem to beg for massive amounts of compression, whereas Jazz and Folk tracks prefer to be untouched. Ratio and threshold are also definitely important to drum tracks, but to me the key to proper compression is entirely in the manipulation of attack and release. If you’re using an LA2A, forget what I just wrote and carry on. The other reason compression is employed is to simply reduce a signal’s dynamic range. For instance, perhaps you have a snare drum track that has varying intensities in amplitude (meaning the session drummer hit some notes harder than others). If you want a more consistent level or placement in the track, you may want to slap a compressor on it to keep the output consistent. You could also place a limiter on the snare drum track. Here a limiter would keep the snare from spiking into the red (overloading) while preserving most of the original dynamics. Compressing or limiting overhead mics is a common practice and you may find that just a touch of compression here and there can help reign in especially loud hits. If you’re looking to present a more honest and natural drum track, then slight hints of compression at low thresholds and low ratios will be the prescription of choice. Also, if you do decide to strap a compressor across the drum bus, I prefer to keep the compressor in dual Mono, as opposed to linking the compressor in Stereo. Listen for yourself and do what gets your sound, but dual Mono seems more exciting and natural. It allowins the drum tracks to "leap out" of the speaker during fills and crashes. Remember, experimentation is key with compression of drum tracks. Have fun and be sure to read my other articles in this series which address gating, parallel compression, equalization, and other concepts. | 11/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 7 | CleanVideoDrum Track Processing, Part 1: Gating | In this series of brief tutorials, I (eDrumSessions recording engineer Thai Long Ly) will outline several processing concepts. Bear in mind that if you ask 100 Engineers how to mix a drum track, you’ll definitely receive 100 differing opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. The bottom line is that if it sounds good, it is good. Whatever you have to do to convey the emotion of a performance is the right thing to do with your drum tracks. I will also assume most of you will be using a DAW (Pro Tools, Logic, DP, Reaper, etc…) of some sort. Now that you’ve received your raw drum tracks as WAV files from a session drummer, how should you proceed when it’s time to mix? In this series of tutorials, I will outline several processing concepts. Gating is very subjective. One can “clean up” the sound of drum tracks, as gating is essentially silencing sections of audio that have no pertinent information so as to present a more cleanly defined track. In other words, it reduces "bleed". Some find gating to be a very useful tool, and even an artistic one. Others think that gating totally kills the vibe of a drum performance. I think that it is an artistic decision that works sometimes and sometimes not. Having said that, here are some tips on gating drum tracks. Gating is essentially silencing sections of audio that have no pertinent information (aka bleed) so as to present a more cleanly defined track. For example, you may want to gate the tom tracks so that they are heard only when they are hit, as opposed to howling sympathetically whenever the snare is hit. If this annoys you, simply gate the toms. By silencing audio on the track when the toms aren’t being struck, you’ll produce a cleaner and tighter drum track overall. You can do this by using a noise gate as an insert (hardware or software plug-in) or by drawing down the volume via automation in a DAW or even muting whole sections in between actual hits. All of these techniques produce a different effect on the overall sound, so you should experiment with your drum tracks and see what works for you. Some will gate all of the drum tracks except the overheads, hi-hats and room mics. This can be great for R&B, Funk and Progressive Rock. Experimentation is key. Conversely, some engineers feel that drums should ring freely and by gating you run the risk of killing the “vibe” of a drum kit being played by a real drummer in a real room. I won’t argue against this point as it’s a valid one. The decision to gate drum tracks depends entirely on the type of material being performed and what you’re going for aesthetically. Again, I wouldn’t gate anything for a traditional Jazz number or anything requiring a Bonham-esque vibe. buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) Here, the ringing and overtones produced by having all the microphones wide open contribute to the overall presence of the kit and the air that surrounds each element can make for a huge sounding drum track. No approach is ideal for all circumstances, but certainly this is the most “natural” sounding approach. Think of gating as tight and dry while not gating is big and airy. Experiment and have fun. Look for more of my drum track processing tutorials on this site. These tutorials will cover the subjects of compression, parallel compression, ambiance, and equalization. | 11/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 8 | CleanVideoFree Drum Tracks: Don’t Make the Mistake of Forcing Them On To Your Music | If you are reading this article then you must be in need of drum tracks for your music. You may have noticed by now that you can get "free drum tracks" or "free drum loops" from many session drummers on their online drum track websites.The main purpose for online session drummers offering these free drum tracks is promotion. They want to get you - -the songwriter in need of drum tracks-- to visit their websites, and there is nothing wrong with that of course.The free drum tracks can be useful to you as well, in ONE WAY: to compare the drum sounds being achieved by each session drummer on their respective drum track sites. In that respect, the free drum tracks are great for helping you decide where to get custom drum tracks buy viagra online in (http://ed-viagra.com/buy-viagra-online-in.php) recorded for your song.That's fine, but you shouldn't think for one second that there are any benefits to forcing free drum tracks on your music. I say forcing free drum tracks on to your music because that is exactly what you would be doing.Your music deserves drum tracks that are custom-recorded. Even if a free drum track is a beat that sounds okay for some of your song, there will be moments when variation will be needed. Sometimes the variation would need to be subtle, sometimes drastic. Either way, having generic "free" drum tracks with no variation and possibly a wrong vibe will damage your music. Considering this unacceptable sacrifice, these free drum tracks are not "free" at all, as your music will pay the price.People can hear a lifeless drum track whether they realize it or not. Its a subliminal thing. Free drum tracks were not made with your song in mind. Even if the listener is not conscious of why your song doesn't feel quite right, the lack of energy coming from the free drum track will be felt by the listener. So even if the drum sounds are good, forcing free drum tracks on to your music is not the way to go.Of course, the session drummer websites that offer free drum tracks know that you will eventually reach the conclusion that custom drum tracks are necessary to really give your music life! This article is just a bit of friendly advice to save you some time and get you ahead of the curve.Free drum tracks are not the way to go, your music deserves custom drum tracks.Good luck with your research into drum tracks from an online session drummer. | 1/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 8 Episodes |
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