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A drummer can make or break a session, and I have always loved getting their perspectives on the recording process as well as the variety of roles they play in the studio. After several solo records and appearances on records by Dave Holland, Brittany Howard, The Fearless Flyers, Chris Potter, Norah Jones, and Paul Simon – to name a few – drummer and composer Nate Smith certainly has perspective to offer and some great stories to tell.

Over the last 20 years Matt Chamberlain has contributed to a staggering variety of recordings including David Bowie, Tori Amos, Frank Ocean, Miranda Lambert, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Fiona Apple, and Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, to name a few. Seriously, we're just scratching the surface! I first met Matt in 2003, when we were studio neighbors in an old warehouse in Seattle's SODO district. I would show up to work, stand in the hall listening to him play, and think, "Yep, all the things they say about him are true." His space was packed with many drums, noisemakers, and recording gear. I'd seen Matt's weird kit combinations online, and was always inspired by his approaching each project with a clean slate, as well as an openness to experimentation. Recently I was working on some music with Dave Matthews, and when we needed drums it seemed like a great opportunity to give Matt a call. When I arrived at Matt's studio, Cyclops Sound in Van Nuys, California, it was a familiar sight. Loads of drums, noisemakers, pieces of metal to hit, gongs, and a ton of great recording gear. We chatted during breaks, over a couple of days of tracking, about drums and recording.

Nick Mason's recent autobiography, Inside Out, recalls his unique experiences as the drummer for Pink Floyd during for over three decades — he is the only member to have remained with Pink Floyd throughout the complete duration of the group's career. The book contains a startling degree of detail. Where Mason's candescent memory falls short, he draws upon his former band mates and colleagues to fill in the blanks. Mason's book sheds some light on many of Pink Floyd's early recordings where little has been previously documented. The band's experiences in the late sixties at Abbey Road Studios were mostly overshadowed by The Beatles, who through their mutual label EMI, afforded Pink Floyd the financial and artistic freedom they needed to experiment and ultimately realize their potential in the studio. Following the group's initial success with singles like "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne," following their Norman Smith-produced albums Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets, Pink Floyd effectively began self-producing their own records until The Wall, over a decade later. The group managed its own destiny in the studio, and needless to say, vastly expanded its creative frontiers. It is clear that the group's collective imagination and experimentation was the driving force behind their success, rather than any special kind of recording technique. However, their unique method of composition and artistic expression provided unprecedented challenges for engineers to capture these recordings even at Abbey Road, one of the most advanced studios of its time. Mason also made his own forays into production, working with artists like Robert Wyatt, The Damned and Gong. Despite Mason's immaculate rock pedigree and enormous success, he remains friendly and approachable. I spoke to him just as he began promoting Inside Out to Eastern European countries, a reminder that his many years of music with Pink Floyd has resonated and endured with fans on a truly global scale.

Gary Young was the flamboyant original drummer for Pavement. He was also the engineer for all their recordings up through the Watery, Domestic CD. He still resides in Stockton, California, and runs his Louder Than You Think (16 track 1"analog/ Pro Tools system) studio out in the walnut orchards. He's recently completed a self-released album, (Gary Young's Hospital Things We Do For You) and did some recordings with Scott Kannberg (of Pavement) that are to be released as Pavement B- sides. (Look for a complete interview with Gary in the Tape Op book, due out Fall 2000 through Feral House Books.)

ck when they were first introduced, I was skeptical of the Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizers monitor pads (Tape Op #62) that have since become something of an industry standard. Having little or no patience for what I then perceived as trendy gimmicks, it took the kindness of a fellow engineer ("Dude, just shut your stupid facehole and listen to the difference!") to convince me that my monitors would sound better with these unique speaker mounts under them. Now Primacoustic offers an affordable range of isolation contraptions - utilizing various combinations of high-density foam, ABS plastic, glass wool, MDF, and laser-cut steel - gathered under the marketing umbrella of IsoTools. They sent us a sample of their IsoTools, including: KickStand, a decoupling base for use with mic booms; CrashGuard, a cymbal-spill reduction shield for mics; and TriPad, isolation feet for tripod stands. All of these products seem well-built and durable, and blah blah blah - do these gizmos really make a difference?!?!? Do I need them? Well, turns out, I do. The first tests we did were in a drum session at my studio. I used the KickStand with the front, outer kick mic (Shure Beta 52). The KickStand looks like a Recoil Stabilizer, except that the 3/8'' steel platform folds upwards and back over itself, with a total rise of 4''. The footprint is just over 7'' x 9'', and it's got some heft; but it isn't unwieldy. On top and in the center is a threaded adapter (standard 5/8'' UNS to 3/8'' Euro) to which you screw in a boom arm (or just a mic clip). I had no trouble attaching an arm and positioning the mic; it was just as simple and articulate as it would be with a "traditional" bass drum boom. Similar to how a Recoil Stabilizer isolates the speaker from the surface upon which it's placed - while still maintaining a stable platform - the KickStand isolates the mic from floor vibration, while its heavy steel platform gives mass to the system to prevent energy from the floor, air blasts from the drum, or pressure from the sound waves from moving the mic and smearing its transcription. In recording, I found the kick to be much more focused in the low mids when using the KickStand compared to a standard weighted base or short tripod. I really noticed a difference immediately, and that not-so-subtle difference translated all the way through to mixing with the rest of the mic sources active. I wasn't making the radical scoops in the 400 Hz range which I might have made under normal circumstances. I enjoyed the KickStand on bass and guitar cabs as well; to my ears there was a clear benefit and coherence in the low end for these sound sources as well. The CrashGuard is a cool refinement of a trick I've seen million-dollar engineers approximate with cardboard and duct tape - the hi-hat attenuator! The size of the standard CrashGuard is perfect for an SM57 or similar-sized mic. It's shaped like an ice scoop, with an outer layer of textured ABS plastic and an inner layer of foam. You clamp it between the mic stand and the mic clip, and there's a slot through which the mic and cable can extend out of the back. The bigger CrashGuard 421 (which we didn't have for review) is more appropriate for a Sennheiser MD 421 or 441-sized mic, and it even has two mounting positions so it works with the 421's unique mic clip at straight or right angles. Both CrashGuard designs allow you to tweak the angle of the mic underneath the "scoop." I found the CrashGuard to be helpful in managing cymbal bleed, but honestly, if the drummer is the type who plays like a deaf caveman on meth, there just isn't much you can do to reduce cymbal leakage, other than creative gating. But I did like these on top-mic'ed snare and would use them again. The TriPad is a set of three foam pucks with cut-outs so you can slip them onto the feet of most any tripod-style stand. This is the simplest design of the three IsoTools we tested, but it was certainly no less effective in helping to reduce rumble and ugly floor-borne resonance. Got a singer who can't stop tapping their foot or a bass amp that's vibrating the nails out of your floor? Here's your solution. For me, hearing the difference the IsoTools made in my day-to-day recording was a bit of an "Oh shit!" moment. I don't really have an isolated staging area for amps, etc., so in any given room, different instruments are sharing the same floating floors. Although I spent a considerable amount of time (and spousal credibility) on the acoustic design of my studio, I'm always discovering irksome design flaws. Hence my joy in finding tools like these. They're like plastic surgery for flawed rooms or compromised setups. Even under ideal circumstances, I think they are solidly useful. My skepticism has been eliminated along with my standing waves - wait, that sounded kind of gross. (KickStand $75 street, CrashGuard $35, TriPad $20;)

Re-amping guitar tracks is a pretty common technique these days, but did you know you can also re-amplify drums? This process can solve problems and expand your sonic palette during mixing. I was recently hired to mix an album that was tracked live in a club. The drums weren't very well recorded and the snare track was a particularly bad example. It sounded like the classic scenario of having a [Shure] SM57 too close to the snare's drumhead, with the proximity effect adding a lot of bottom-end and a lack of shell resonance or snare snap. I decided to re-amp the snare to improve the sound. There are a few ways to do this, but I'll illustrate a method that I've been using for years. First, mult the live snare track and patch it into a gate. You can use software plug-ins; I prefer hardware so I use the Drawmer DS201. The DS201 has a sidechain Key Filter, which enables you to narrow the frequency range of the gate trigger input. Roll off the bottom-end to minimize false triggers from the kick drum, and roll off the high-end to minimize false triggering from the hi-hat. Experiment with the threshold until only the snare hits open the gate. Set the range to maximum attenuation to make the resulting sound very tight, short and crisp. This will sound quite unnatural, like a bad drum machine sample. Don't worry — you're only using this signal to generate "stick hits" on the new snare track. Patch the output of the gate into a re-amping device. Studios used to build custom units for this purpose, but these days there are a number of good choices for purchase. The Reamp© is the granddaddy of commercially available units, with a patented passive design and simple, effective controls. The Little Labs PCP Instrument Distro features re-amping plus many routing options and a DI, and their Little Labs Red Eye will also re-amp signals. Radial Engineering makes several devices for this task, such as the X-Amp and ProRMP. These units will reduce your recorded +4 line level signal down to guitar-output level as well as changing the impendence. Plug a 1/4" guitar cable into the output of your re-amping device and run the other end of the cable out into your live room or tracking area. Take a small guitar amp and lay it on it's back, with the speaker facing up towards the ceiling. The Fender Pro Junior works great for this, but because it's a tube amp I place a small object under the upper portion of the amp to elevate it slightly. This will enable the tubes to ventilate and prevent the amp from overheating. Then place a snare drum on top of the amp, over the speaker and with the bottom, snare side facing up. Plug the guitar cable into the amp and flip the re-amp device's ground switch on and off to find which position minimizes hum. Then play back your gated snare track and experiment with the amp's volume level until the hits coming through the guitar amp make the snares snap. It can sound pretty freaky when done properly, almost like there's a ghost playing the drum. Place a mic about 6 to10 inches from the snare. I like to use a small diaphragm condenser like a Neumann KM84, but a good dynamic mic like a Beyer M201 or Sennheiser MD 441 will work as well. Experiment with positioning until you also pick up some of the shell sound from the side of the drum. You can even try moving the mic around slightly while the track is recording to add some variation to the track's volume and tone. This will help simulate the natural dynamics of a live performance. Moving the mic back a few feet will give you a roomier sound that might work better for certain songs. Play back the entire song and print this signal on a new track. You may encounter some false triggering from the kick drum or tom fills. Go back and punch in those sections after adjusting the gate's threshold. If you want to get really creative, try using different snare drums on the verses and choruses. If recording digitally, you might want to nudge the re-amped snare track forward in time slightly to line it up with the live snare track. Time alignment isn't really critical in this application because a natural snare snap is a little behind the initial stick attack anyway. It depends mostly on the tempo of the song and finding the best sounding spot. Mix to taste, bringing in the re-amped snare a bit underneath the original snare. A slight adjustment will add the snap and crack that was missing. If you make it too loud, it'll sound forced and unnatural. As an added bonus, you can use this re-amped track as your reverb send — because of the tight gating, there will be no bleed from the other drums. Another cool trick you can try is re-amping a bass drum. This can be effective if you have a slow tempo acoustic song with lots of open space and you want add some low end bloom to the kick. Use the same gating technique as the snare, but adjust the key filter to open only on the low-frequency attack from the live kick drum track. Instead of using a guitar amp, use a bass amp, but leave it in the normal, upright position. Place a bass drum right in front of the bass amp and play back the track so the recorded kick drum is "exciting" the new bass drum. Our studio has an old 22" parlor drum with calfskin heads that works great — you can also use a large floor tom on its side tuned relatively loose. A large marching band bass drum would also be a good choice. Remove any internal padding in order to let the drum ring out freely. If it's too loose and boomy, lay a small towel over the top where it lightly touches the front head. You can also fill the inside with loosely crumbled newspaper to slightly damp the decay. Try to tune the drum to resonate in the key of the song. Tweak the amp's volume to find the sweet spot that resonates the drum enough to ring out into the open space after each hit, but also decays in such a way that it doesn't hang out too long. This depends on the song, tempo and instrumentation. The level is critical when mixing. If it's too loud it will smother the bass guitar. A high-pass filter set around 40 to 50 Hz will minimize the subsonic rumble that could eat up your headroom. There are all kinds of unique sonic possibilities you can achieve when re-amplifying drums. Send an entire drum kit's signal through a PA system and use a stereo mic pair to capture the room ambience. Run a playback of snare, conga or percussion track into a tiled bathroom or hallway. Natural acoustic sounds can often yield a more convincing sense of depth and realism than digital effects and replacement samples. Send those drum tracks back out into the room and move some air.

The adage "garbage in garbage out" takes on added meaning when it comes to recording drums. An out of tune drum can ruin any recording session. Unfortunately, very few people know the basics of drum tuning — including drummers! Many studio sessions involve drum heads that are covered with muffles and drenched in reverb, resulting in a sound evocative of cardboard boxes being hit with spoons. Although I've been playing drums for a long time, it was only in the past several years that I've gotten a proficient handle on tuning. The following provides a primer aimed at anyone who wants to capture better drum sounds without taking years of trial and error. Since the topic of drum tuning can quickly expand to materials, construction designs, and physics, I've tried to limit the scope of this discussion to a recording situation. I've listed a few resources at the end of this piece for those wishing additional detail.

Setup/Getting sounds When I first started recording I used wonder how long I was supposed to take when setting up and getting drum sounds. Sometimes it took one or two hours, and other times it took... well, a long time (with the rest of the band standing around getting impatient). I wondered if I was being "professional" enough. I just didn't know how long the "big studios" took. Now that I've made a few records where we positively had to get a good drum sound, I have a few ideas I can share on the subject. In my early sessions, if drum sounds weren't coming along after an hour or two I used to just go with whatever sound I had and then sort it out later when mixing. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Now I know if I concentrate on getting a good drum sound before I start recording I will have a better idea of what my finished product will sound like and not be so surprised when it comes time to mix. Setting aside a full day or two just to get drum sounds is not uncommon for a high-expectation recording. I like to take the first day to set-up drums and mics, record a sample and then go home. I use the second day to make final adjustments and listen to the tape from the day before. Having that time away makes problems really obvious, and the clarity of mind makes it easy to get to work tackling the things we need to fix. (I can also grab a new head or any hardware we might need on my way to or from the recording site). When everything's cool with the drums I move on to other instruments and start tracking. Before I start a new session, I always check with the band to see what condition their drums are in. It's pretty hard to get beautiful sounds out of a drumset that's trashed and has 200 year-old heads on it. Worn heads lack life and tone; new heads can give drums the sonic clarity to fit-in nicely or jump right out of the mix. Replacing heads on the bottom of drums is as important as the top, After about 8 months even a head that isn't struck can start to lose it's life just from being under tension. Tuning is another important consideration, but that is beyond the scope of this article. There are a few books and videos available at music stores or by mail order to help you master the art. I have a video, called Drum Tuning , by Bob Gatzen — it's a little corny but I definitely learned a few valuable tricks from it. Replacing Drumheads If the drums and hardware are in good condition then the heads are next to be checked. Probably the most common head combination for toms is Remo clear or coated Ambassador on the top, and clear Ambassador or Diplomat (a little thinner) on the bottom. Remo Pinstripe heads (a clear 2 layer head) are pretty cool for the top and can give you a little more of a smacky-thuddy attack sound. Try to stay away from thick or specialty heads until you get used to the aforementioned types. Snare heads wear-out pretty quickly and get a weak spot in the middle that forces you to keep tweaking the head tighter and tighter. Eventually it looses its zing or ability to respond to lighter playing. A worn snare head just can't compete with the brightness of the hi-hats — to really cut through, you need a fresh head. For head replacement a coated Ambassador is a good place to start, but experimenting with different types and thicknesses may lead you to your own favorite. For the bottom use a snare-side head (a thin type made specifically for the that purpose). The bottom head of a snare doesn't need to be replaced as often as the top, sometimes the more stretched and dull the better because it's less ringy. If I had to make up a guideline I'd say change one bottom for every three top heads. Kick drum heads can last a pretty long time, but if they've been on there more then a year and a half it's probably time for an overhaul. Almost every major head manufacturer makes a pre-dampened or "EQ'd" head to control ring and get a good "thud". With these heads you don't have to over-stuff your drum with tons of pillows and furry creatures and such. I really dig these type of heads. Check out the Evans (Genera Dry) or Aquarian brands. Getting a more defined sound When recording drums, the amount of bleed can be quite severe. The snare mic picks up so much hi-hat that you don't dare turn the snare up in your mix — If you do, the hi-hat is overpowering, and no amount of EQ can be used to fix it. The same is true for tom mics, the loud crash and ride cymbals can force you to bury the the toms, in effect, ruining the bombastic drum sound you had planned. One economical and creative way to gain a little more control of your drums is to use pieces of cardboard or other material to isolate the mics from the cymbals. For close-mic'ed snare, cut a piece of cardboard large enough to fit between the mic and the offending hi-hat then use tape to hold it in place. Tape the cardboard directly to the snare drum and/or the hi-hat stand. The idea is to block the cymbal's bright sound from entering the mic. Variations on this method of isolation include using cloth or cloth/cardboard combinations. I've even heard of someone using a plastic trashcan cut to fit around the snare. Other ways of cutting down on cymbal bleed are to adjust cymbal heights out and away from drum mics, or asking the drummer not to strike the cymbals quite so hard or just a little less often. Different playing styles can dramatically alter the way a recording sounds. To affect change, the performer can listen carefully to the tape playback and make adjustments in their playing to "give the tape what it wants to hear". For instance, hitting the snare more evenly in the center or harder might give you the sound that best fits the music you are recording. and the way the recorder is picking-up the instrument. These are just some of the ways you can prepare drums for recording. Taking your time and shooting for a sound that is nearly "finished" will make the rest of the recording that much easier. Good luck!