[baretta]

Resuming my experiences of recording techniques: -
Fist of all thanks for coming back. I hope you didn’t find the first instalment too boring?
This time I will try to focus on the recording of Rollover Beethoven and the way I have built up the tracks. I know there are some well seasoned players, studio technicians and purists out there, therefore I know before I start that some will disagree with my tips. But, everything is based purely on my own experiences to overcome the problems we all encounter.
I usually find that the first track is always the hardest to get down. Depending on if you are going to use MIDI or not your decisions on which track to do first will differ. If I am not going to use MIDI then I will always do a vocal and guitar ghost track to a metronome click. For beginners who don’t know what a ghost track is, its’ a guide track that can be discarded once the song has been built up and you know where you are within it. Then, if I decide not to use live drums I know I will be OK for timing. The reason for the decision about the drums is quite simple. I am not a proficient drummer and sometimes a particular roll is just beyond me so I revert to programming. However, a couple of years ago I purchased a Roland V drum kit making the task much easier. With these you can MIDI them as well as record the live WAV. Then if I get to do a good live take but with one or two mistakes I can go into the MIDI file and clean it up beat by beat. This keeps the live feel of the drums because I can edit without being bang on the beat all the time and it never sounds mechanical.
Techniques for getting a good drum sound are immense. Any gigging drummer who mikes up his kit will tell you that every room ambience is different and the drums will always take up most of the sound check time. Again the Roland drums come into their own. Plug them in, select your kit and play – easy. They are one of the best investments I have made! You might want to add a touch of reverb to the snare or keep the ride cymbals separated so you can give them even more reverb. This is where some forward planning comes in. I do a bit of cheating here sometimes. I say sometimes because there is also another alternative but much more complicated. First I play the bass drum on it’s own on a separate track. Then the snare on it’s own including all the rolls on a separate track. Then the cymbals on a separate track Mix and effect each one separately to stereo. Hey presto I’m as good as Cosey Powell. This way too I can get the bass drum and eventually the bass guitar to blend perfectly making it so it sounds like the bass drum is playing the bass notes. The other more complicated way is I use the LM4 mark II drum software in Cubase. This involves sending the triggers from the drum pads to separate channels in the LM4 and assigning them to separate tracks. Very time consuming to make the drum trigger maps but it does work. Having explained all that, too be honest if I practise long enough I can usually get the drums right and do a live take sending just the snare and cymbals to separate channels if needed. I just thought I would explain how I used to get round it before I could play the drums well enough. In Rollover Beethoven they are played in one take and panned to stereo. Afterwards adding some hand claps and more ride cymbal to the MIDI that was created in the process. There’s another reason for creating a MIDI drum track as well as a live one, you never know what you are going to add.
As far as mixing the drums goes I only have two or three things I like to get right. The first I’ve already mentioned and that is to get a good solid mix with the bass drum and bass guitar. Second I like to EQ the cymbals particularly the hi-hat so you can just hear the stick hitting them. I try not to over EQ any of the drum samples as they are as near to perfect before you start. Lastly be prepared to change it all again for the final mix as everything changes once all the instruments come into the mix.
To reiterate these are not hard and fast rules, they are not right or wrong, they are just what works for me to get round the hardships of getting a good drum track down. It’s the end result that counts however you get there. Remember to let your ears guide you and don’t rely on the software.
Tomorrow I will cover the bass guitar. Again a must to get right for a solid foundation.