HOW TO RECORD A DRUM KIT

There aren’t many forms of modern music in which the drum kit isn’t the core component. From MOR to abstract DnB, drums supply the rhythmic backbone and the visceral feel of most contemporary genres. OK, a lot of dance music uses synths and samples, but even in those cases a wise producer will employ a range of tricks to keep the human feel of a groove, replacing the sounds of a live performance or extracting the feel of the rhythm as MIDI information to run the machines, rather than using a perfect but soulless metronomic time-base.

Whatever kind of music you’re using drums for, if you get the feel of the groove and the sound of the kit right, you’re more than halfway towards a decent record. Once your beats are in the bag, you have the freedom to add your other parts, knowing that the foundations will be solid enough to support them.

Recording drums from the ground up is a skill that takes years to master. As big studios have died out, taking with them the spaces required to record drums properly and the passing on of knowledge from engineer to assistant, so the quality of drum recording has diminished. On the positive side, though, increased access to recording and processing technology and the need to adapt to unsuitable recording spaces have meant a huge diversification in the range of drum sounds available.

The main task is to make sure the drum kit is up to the job you want it to do. With a mind on the style and sound you’re after, the kit itself has to be correctly set up so that it and the drummer make the right noises. Undoubtedly, compromises will have to be made along the way – if, for example, you’re after a big, cavernous drum sound but are recording in a bedroom, obviously you’re going to have to use reverb after