Recording - January 2012 - 20

Albert Bouchard
Albert Bouchard first gained fame as a founding member with the group Blue Öyster Cult. Since BÖC he has written for Modern Drummer magazine and continues to perform and record with his current band, Blue Coupe, consisting of members of both Blue Öyster Cult and Alice Cooper. In our October 2011 issue Al and his brother Joe Bouchard shared details of their most recent recordings. His comings and goings are detailed in bluecoupeband.com and albertbouchard.net.

For snare I still find that the Shure SM57 works best for me. I like to mike both the top and bottom heads, making sure that I reverse the phase on the bottom mic and also check the phasing against each of the bass-drum mics. I’ve used all kinds of mics on the toms but my favorite is the Audix D2. In the old days I used Sennheiser MD421 almost exclusively. For hi-hat I use a Shure SM81—I have my own and I always use it on every session, for the past 30 years. Any high-quality condenser seems to work for overheads. I do not do any kind of fancy stereo thing on overheads because I like to separate the sounds in the speakers afterwards, so I will place one centrally located over the right side of the kit and one centrally located over the left side. I always include a room sound from either one or two mics depending on how many channels are available. I have used high-quality condensers like a U 87 or ribbon mics like the AEA R84. I like to squash the heck out of the room mic and so the ribbon mics are desirable because they do not emphasize the cymbals as much as condensers. If there are a lot of cymbals, the ribbon is the way to go. What about placement and the room? I do not like too big a room to record in, but on the other hand I do not like one that is too small. I do not like to record in too live a room but I don’t like one that is too dead either. The walls should have a variety of surface coverings. A little brick is always good and carpet is usually good on the floors. I like to set up in front of the studio glass so there is a bit of reflection off that as well. If the whole band is in the same room I like to have some gobos placed around the front and sides of the kit.

PHOTO COURTESY AL BOUCHARD

Please tell us about your recording kit. Chet McCracken Albert Bouchard: Drums: Drum Workshop Collector’s Chet is a former member and contributing songwriter of Series 18" x 20" bass drum, 5" x 14" brass snare drum, 8" the legendary Doobie Brothers. Currently, Chet, a recording x 10" tom tom, 11" x 14" tom tom, 13" x 16" tom tom. Cymbals: Zildjian 13" A Zildjian hi-hats, 14" K New studio owner, is a recording engineer who is also mixing and Beat hi-hats, 18" K Crash Ride, 15" A Custom Crash, 14" mastering records. His studio work can be heard on the Country Music charts in Billy A Custom Crash, 10" A Custom Pierson’s hit song “Don’t Get No Splash, 14" K Mini China, 17" K Sand in It” (Oak Records). He China, 20" Zildjian Medium Ride, reports, “I am still doing “Internet 18" Oriental Crash of Doom. Drum Tracks” for clients all over the Percussion: Rhythm Tech DS world, playing live around the So. Tambourine, Hat Trick, 8" Cowbell, Cal area, and I am “Staff Drum Pete Engelhard Ribbon Crasher, Instructor” at GC Studios here in Pete Engelhard Reco Reco, Active Woodland Hills, CA (chetmccracken Snare System, Cymbal Rattler. .com).” Sticks and hardware: ProMark Millennium II Albert Bouchard Japanese Oak sticks, Drum Workshop 5002AD Delta II Accelerator Double bass drum pedal, 5500TH hi-hat PHOTO COURTESY CHET MCCRACKEN stand, DW 9000 series hardware, dogbones, fixed hi-hat stand, cymbal extensions. Extras: Evans HD Dry Snare, EC2, EMAD, Genera resonant, Glass 500 drumheads. What mics do you use? I have used various Audix mic kits for my drums, and both the DP5 kit and the FP5 kits are great. But in the past I have used an AKG D12, D112 or Electro-Voice RE20 or even a Sennheiser MD 421 (the shaver) on kick. For the last few projects I have used a dynamic mic inside the kick drum and a condenser a foot or so away from the front head. My favorite sessions lately used a Shure Beta 52A inside the drum and a Neumann U 67 about a foot away from the front head.
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RECORDING JANUARY 2012

PHOTO COURTESY CHET MCCRACKEN

http://www.bluecoupeband.com http://www.albertbouchard.net http://www.chetmccracken.com http://www.chetmccracken.com

Recording - January 2012

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