Here are some helpful threads about recording to check out. If youve worked
with me before you KNOW what a stickler I am about drums, but theres still some
good stuff in here:

TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENTS and PRACTICE!!!!!!!!! dammit!!!!

Funny thing. Many times when a band is looking to book my studio, the first
thing they ask is ” whats the price ? ” The fact that that should be
near the LAST question they ask is for another discussion

My point is: IF you are worried about cost, then why the !@#$ mutha!@#$#
goddamn ^%&* hell, would you blow most of your time on stuff that could
have been totally avoided, saving you half the cost of making your record????

It makes me feel bad…VERY bad

Dont get me wrong, I dont mind taking your money, but I would rather be
putting it into your album than intonating your guitars on the studio clock

OK, so even tho I will be losing money from this, Im gonna put up some
URL’s that I hope will save you SERIOUS time in the studio, save you some
money, get a better sounding product, AND hopefully youll learn that you can do
most of this yourself ( not to put any techs out of business,but…)

OK first of all intonation of guitars and basses. For those who have dealt
with me before, I always warn about this ahead of time right? Well, many times
I’ll get in guitars and basses that are so far off any tracks they make will be
unuseable, until they are repaired

http://www.guitar-accessory-reviews.com/intonation-tips.html

thats a pretty good link. The gist of it is,
play your 12th fret harmonic,
tune it right to pitch,
now HOLD down the string on the 12th fret
check the tuning

if the fretted note is sharper than the harmonic, make the string longer,
by moving the string’s saddle AWAY from the neck

if the fretted note is lower than the harmonic move the saddle towards the
neck

this can get tricky on floyd roses, but its something you ought to learn to
do.

Repeat until the string is perfectly correct then repeat for the other
strings.

ANYTIME you change string sizes, adjust the action ( string height), adjust
the bow of the neck ( truss rod), and FOR SURE before you go into a studio,
check the intonation. Weather can also play havok with this. You will be amazed
just what your guitar can sound like properly set up

OK now, DRUMMERS!!!!

anyone who has worked with me knows what a drum nut I am ( tho I’m actually
a guitarist )

Drums will usually be the most expensive part of your recording session. For
the most part the drummer MUST play the whole song right all the way thru, tho
we know there are exceptions. Drums take the longest to mic and get tones for.
If your drums aren’t up to snuff, or your drumming skills aren’t up to snuff,
right then and there at the very beginning of a session, your album is already
compromised. There is precious little to do to possibly make up for bad
sounding drums or poorly played drums

ok first of all AVOID like the plague, drums that have matching dimensions.
That means, if the kick drum is 22″ diameter AND 22″ deep, there are
going to be problems. Not going to get into the accoustic theory, but matching
dimensions are usually VERY bad news! VERY VERY bad news. The waveforms
generated by such a drum tend to cancel each other out and have no ” throw
“. Even at the tuning point of maximum resonance these drums dont have
much to say. A very popular manufacturer who used to, and many times
still does, make excellent drums, is guilty of this time and time again lately.
I dont know whats going on over there, but just because it says ” [name withheld to protect the ignorant]
” on it is no guarantee of anything!

Next, THROW AWAY the factory heads. I dont care if theyre on the bottom
where they dont get hit, doesnt matter. These glorified pieces of Saran Wrap
need to GO!

Unless you REALLY got confidence in the distant mic sound of your kick
drum, make DAMN SURE theres a mic hole in it, and make sure it isnt too low to
get a mic in…your live sound guys will also thank you for this

Take a VERY careful look around the drum for cracked screws, hardware,
missing lugs, and loose anything…I kid you not, on more than one occaision
drums have come in missing lugs, with the drummer unaware….I am NOT joking

http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml

that link is great. You may agree or disagree with many of his findings and
techniques, but they DO work, so its a good start…PLEASE if you are a drummer
read that link

Ok youre in tune, and your drums got all their lugs, new heads, etc…

Take this for what its worth. I have had quite a few problems recording
bands lately that just werent ready. The worst part is, sometimes of the bands
have GREAT songs, that just cant come across for lack of skill. If you suck and
your song sucks, no big loss, but if you are a kickass writer, but cant play,
then it gets frustrating….I get all hooked on the song and really want to put
it out great, but the foundation just isnt there…ugh ugh ugh

This might sound harsh, but if you WANT to suck, go somewhere else. Yeah
its your money, but its also MY name that will look bad putting out subpar
records.

So anyway, heres a little more ranting, if you come to me, or anyone for
that matter.

First of all it would be cool if bands REALLY practiced together. Everyone
knew where they were supposed to be and when. And aware of what the other is
doing. Too many times I see bads that are somehwat tight at the beginning of a
song, but then as it goes on it is totally ambiguous where ” 1 ” is
at all times. And people are just roughly playing as if they had an idea of
what the song was, but not really anything else. A LOT of times people play WAY
faster than they are able, and it sounds like CRAP on tape. Might look good
live, but sounds like ass.

It is of CRITICAL importance that the drum part be looked at. I warn people
time and time again, but they dont always listen, till its too late. Yes, I CAN
edit your stuff till the cows come home, and usually create a decent take out
of whatever. Sometimes it is beyond even editing. And when it is played WELL,
with maybe a few tiny edits, it sounds a zillion or so times better than an
edited together take. EVERYTHING in the song depends on those drum parts being
good.

They are the reference for the tempo, the timing, when to come in, when to
go out, where the ” 1 ” is, etc… This cant be stressed enough

So here are some specifics: There are ALWAYS exceptions to these but you
get the drift

1: Hit your drums like you MEAN it. tip tapping and flim flamming on your
drums, ESPECIALLY toms, is going to make for a crappy recording. Dynamics are
one thing, poor control is something else entirely. If your hi hat is louder in
your snare mic than your snare is, we have a MAJOR problem. Slower and harder
is always better than fast and crappy. For a GOOD example of fast and hard, see
” Scott Travis ”

2: Dynamics AGAIN. Be aware of your dynamics at all times, keep it STEADY
when it is supposed to be steady, and build it up when it needs to be built up.
If you are holding the rhythm, dont go tip TAP tip tip TAP TAP tip. you are
being distracting and not helping the feel of the song at all, in fact you are
ruining it in most cases

3: GOD DAMN TOMS…toms are like artillery. They can have a MAJOR effect,
especially if they are pinpointed accurately and used sparingly. If they are
dropping down like rain, you get numb to em and just ignore them, hoping that
you dont meet the ” one that has your number”
I wince when I see a drummer bringing 5 or more toms into a session.
Sometimes they use them all, and make everything sound great. Most of the time
though, it becomes a flim flamming mess and a nightmare. Unless you are really
in control it is possible that every tom that you can to add a few hourss to
your mixing time. Toms are a BITCH. If they are hit HARD and steady, they add
killer accents to the song, and are no problem at all. If they are played
lightly and sloppy, you gotta spend the rest of your life trying to find some
electronic fix to make them work in a mix, whether it be triggering them, or
gating or some radical EQ’ing, whatever, its better to just WHACK them when
they are supposed to be hit.
Many times a band will bring a CD of a group to show what they want their
toms to sound like. You will nearly always notice, those toms were played HARD
and SLOW, giving them time to build up all their energy…AND they are in a
point in time in the song where they are not interfereing with anything else
and nothing is interfering with them. So of course I say ” no
problem”
The drummer then goes on to do some tip tap flim flam rolls using every
drum in the drumset 60 times in a 250 BPM fill in a 120 BPM song, AND the
cymbal is louder in the tom mic than the tome is! You think Im kidding…

If in doubt, Leave it out!

4: Fills. You really dont need to be playing fills at all times do you? At
LEAST let a rhythm be established SOMEWHERE in the song. Somehow Minor Threat
pulled fill after fill off AS a rhythm on the out of step album, but
still….Fills should ACCENT not take away. Its like the little boy who cried
wolf, do it too much noone pays any attention. Sticks flying looks great live,
but * Tape cant see your tattoos*

Be DAMN SURE where beat one is and make sure the timing on your fills isnt
at some godawful weird tempo that makes it impossible for the bass and guitars
to fit. AGAIn be DAMN SURE you come back in on one

AVOID AMBIGUOUS FILLS AT ALL COSTS!!!!

AVOID AMBIGUOUS FLIM FLAMMING ON THE TOMS AT ALL COSTS

there should NEVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER be a question of where another
instrument is supposed to play, EVER. Cant stress that enough. Remember you are
competing with thousands of other bands out there. Loose, sloppy timing will
get you the axe for SURE, 100 % EVERY time, make NO mistake about it.

Fills are great, they really make you look forward to hearing the next part
if done right. They can really accent a mood change in a song, or herald in a
new part. Done wrong, they will multiply your studio time and associated costs,
and no matter how much money is thrown at it, will still sound a lot worse than
it should.

Thats a lot to think about for drummers. You can see a lot applies to
guitars and bass as well, but I’ll type something up for the string stranglers later.