Recording - May 2017 - 60

Keeping the Rhythm

DIY Drums

PART 1:
Acoustic Drum Miking Tricks
By Aaron J. Trumm
It's a common problem. You've got some mics, great chops,
a decent voice, cool songs, and decent recording gear. You're
even happy with your space, now that you've referred to my
'Tune That Room!' article from November 2016's Recording.
You're ready to rock some tracks, and whether you're recording
songwriting demos or an honest-to-goodness record, you run
smack dab into a major stumbling block: drums.
It's a rare rock or pop song that gets away without percussion,
and often that's what separates the winners from the also-rans on a
record. It's easy to tell a low- or no-budget production immediately
by the sound of a stock MIDI snare, and nothing screams "lazy"
like throwing down a default loop from a synth or prepackaged
plug-in and calling it good. On the other hand, booking a
drummer and studio time is expensive, especially if you've
got a lot tracks (Figure 1). You can hire drummers with their own
studios (Recording contributor Pat Bautz of realdrumstudio.
com is only one example) to add drums to your songs for decent
rates, but even that may be out of your budget.
You can still achieve a cool percussion track, though. It just
takes creativity and work, and even if you hire a drummer and
book studio time, you still want to think creatively, or you may
yet get something generic.
There are myriad options when creating a rhythm track, but
in the most general sense, they break down to two: acoustic

percussion and programming. Which direction you need to
head is mostly a matter of genre and style, but there's nothing
wrong with a little genre bending if it's done well, and you
may be surprised how much crossover happens in any genre.
In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we'll focus on acoustic tracks.
You probably want to go in this direction if you're doing any
kind of "natural" music like singer/songwriter stuff, world music,
Americana, country or rock and roll. On the whole, the subject
of drums and percussion, and the role they play in a production,
could cover volumes, so the main thing I'd like you to take
away is inspiration. Be creative and resourceful (Figure 2).
After all, relentless pursuit is the key to great tracks, even when
resources are unlimited.

Trap kit

"Acoustic tracks" partly means actual "drums", or more
precisely, a trap kit. Recording a kit is a whole art unto itself,
but it needn't be so daunting that you can't do some things
yourself. If you're a drummer (Figure 3), hey, you're a step
ahead, but you needn't be. If you can play an instrument, you
(hopefully) have plenty of rhythm. So if you happen to have
a drum kit laying around, or can borrow one, or just have a
drum or two, this part is for you!
Obviously you're dealing with some limitations here, or you
wouldn't be reading this. But just because you don't have Dave
Grohl or Animal's direct line doesn't mean you're lost. And just
because you can't keep time with your feet doesn't mean you
can't have a kick drum! Think outside of the box and you can
do any number of things with the drums and skills that you have.

FIGURE 2: Anything can be a mic stand with a little
creativity, including a stepladder, a cymbal stand,
and yes, that's a vacuum cleaner.

FIGURE 1: Beautiful setup, huh? Not always
affordable, but don't let that discourage you!
60

RECORDING May 2017
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2017
