Drums?

They come out of a plugin these days don’t they?

Surprisingly even some of the most processed acts find a greater connection with their audiences with real drummers; even playing samples.

The visual impact is awesome and the microsecond timing fluctuation of any human is rather like sugar to many people’s ears. Even the Olymipcs featured drumming to great effect.

I’ve been a drummer since I was 14, I’ve worked the pub circuit in the Greater Manchester area for several original and party covers bands. I went on to study the drums under Darryn Farrugia at Drum Tech in London, am an Associate of the Trinity College London and most recently played for an all girl Mötley Crüe tribute band, Mötley Künst.

I got my first recording experience when my high school drum teacher took a group of us into a studio in an industrial unit with a walk through live room, control room to the rest and a relaxation area in the upper floor of the unit. Happily, I’ve since lost the tape of my shy face worrying about the camera lens and the shock of getting to play a pro drum kit.

Since then I’ve done sessions for several indie bands and through Mötley Künst with Felix at her studio in London. (Künst is of course German for “Art”)

So, here’s a run down of what I consider to be studio vitals to prep for tracking drums to get the very best in the shortest time. Everyone knows that drums are the easiest instrument to play so that part is fairly trivial. Provided the drummer can be confident and relaxed, the performance is simple.

The following are thing that can be planned ahead of time to make sure the drummer *IS* confident and relaxed.

• Sit at the drums and wiggle some things. Don’t play; just move cymbals and pedals and the seat and toms and listen for any noises. Squeaks and wiggles here will all be audible on your tracks. Oil your pedals and seat components so they’re smooth and quiet.
• Make sure you have decent felts and tube sleeves for your cymbals and that the stands are all solid. Why risk ruining a great take for a cymbal that’s twisting out of position? We’re aiming to get rid of all the distractions.
• Tune the drums for the style of music, and consider how you might control overtones in the studio. The drums will react to the room vibrations and may resonate differently in different spaces.
• I love moongel  and left some with Felix when I recorded with her.
• This stuff will stick to cymbals and toms almost anywhere. Move it around, add and subtract bits till everything sounds sweet.
• Get the drums into the studio as early as possible to give them time to adjust and settle so a quick last tune will be stable and won’t shift during the day. The only other thing is make sure that you know your parts!

Caitlin can be found messing about with video and music  here on YouTube

click here see why  Caitlin advises you  “not to bait drummers !”
p.s. thanks for the moongel Cat -look forward to getting you down to record soon and check this great list of 100 female drummers – who is missing ? comments below please