Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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The SoundGirls Podcast

The SoundGirls Podcast – Resonating Beyond Sound. We speak to audio professionals from all walks of life, to learn how we can better support one another toward a more diversified industry. We also talk to our soundgirls.org profile people and dive a little deeper with them.

 

 

 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7kV5auzl9t5pINDHdp0g09?si=RseooAcHRQOn7j20SGPRUg

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Ask the Experts – All About Mastering

What is a Mastering Engineer

Mastering audio is the final step in the creative process of recording and is the first step in the distribution side of music. People often wonder what exactly a Mastering Engineer does. There is a lot that goes into mastering audio including the use of digital and analog tools, applying and adjusting EQ, Compression, Limiting, Stereo Enhancement, and more. Mastering also allows for the chance for the project to have fresh ears. Mastering Engineers work closely with the artists, producers, and other engineers to reach the desired sound.

Here is your chance to ask the questions you have about Mastering.

Join us on January 9 at 11 am PST

Register here and Post Your Questions

Moderated by 

Ainjel Emme is a musician, songwriter, and producer. She has spent the past 20 years immersed in the study and practice of record production, shadowing world-class audio engineers, working in professional studios, and making records via her Los Angeles-based production house, Block of Joy.


 

Mastering Engineers


Jett Galindo – Mastering Engineer at The Bakery

Jett began her engineering career in the world-renowned Avatar Studios in New York as the recording engineer for producer Jerry Barnes. As Barnes’ engineer, Jett engineered for veteran artists such as legendary singer-songwriter Roberta Flack, Nile Rodgers and Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian rock band Jota Quest.

In 2013, Jett joined The Mastering Lab family as the sole right-hand man to pioneer mastering engineer and Grammy Technical Achievement awardee Doug Sax. Under the steady mentorship of the late Sax, Jett burgeoned to become the newest mastering engineer in The Mastering Lab roster. In 2014, Jett’s work with Brazilian rock band Jota Quest garnered the group a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album.

With engineering credits spanning different genres and legendary artists (Bette Midler, Randy Travis, Nile Rodgers, Roberta Flack, and Gustavo Santaolalla, to name a few), Jett Galindo carries on the legacy left behind by her late mentor, mastering legend Doug Sax (The Mastering Lab). She now works as a mastering engineer alongside Eric Boulanger at The Bakery, located at the Sony Pictures Lot in Culver City, Los Angeles.


Anna Frick Mastering Engineer at Airshow Mastering

Anna is a mastering engineer and the restoration center manager at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado. Her work encompasses studio albums, live recordings, reissues, and compilations across an array of formats, old and new, and a wide variety of genres and styles, from bluegrass and folk-influenced acts to rock and New Age projects. Legends like Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson, exciting contemporaries such as Billy Strings and GRAMMY-nominated Wood & Wire, and important blues and jazz archival recordings have all benefited from her uncanny ear and deft touch. She balances her strong instincts and intuition with her technical experience and each client’s goals to finesse every project she tackles. “[A band has] been working on their album for quite a while by the time I hear it, and it’s their vision – their baby – that they are putting out into the world. I don’t want to impede that vision. Ultimately, I want the music to move you.”

For Airshow’s restoration center she oversees all archival digitization projects. She mastered Third Man Records’ GRAMMY-winning box set, The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records, as well as having mastered thousands of hours’ worth of historical recordings from university archives and collections across the country. Each project is unique, with a singular story and special considerations: “[It] involves everything from understanding the recording medium, the equipment, and the transfer process to having the tools and the knowledge to tackle all sorts of bizarre problems. Understanding digital audio files and how to maintain file integrity over time.”

Anna holds a degree in Music Industry Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is a graduate of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Leadership Bluegrass program, an AES member, board governor and Producers & Engineers Committee Co-Chair of the Recording Academy – San Francisco Chapter, and chapter head for Colorado’s branch of SoundGirls.org.


Piper Payne Mastering Engineer at Infrasonic

Piper is a mastering engineer based in Nashville and Oakland, CA. She recently merged her studio Neato Mastering with Infrasonic. Piper holds a BFA in Audio from The University of Michigan and continued her graduate education in audio at the University of Stavanger in Norway. She has apprenticed under some of the best-known Mastering and audio mentors in the world, including Bob Katz in Orlando and Micael Romanowski in San Francisco.

Piper is a Trustee of the Recording Academy and she serves on the P&E Wing Steering Committee and the Advisory Council. She is a Governor of the Audio Engineering Society and she is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the AES’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee as well as an active member of Women’s Audio Mission and serves on the Board of SoundGirls.

Holiday Zoom Party

Join us on December 28th at 1 PM PST for a SoundGirls Holiday Zoom Party. We hope everyone has a great holiday.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82252457440?pwd=NXlKcWNpenFubkhYY1BIeU0rSngwdz09

Meeting ID: 822 5245 7440
Passcode: 215526
One tap mobile
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+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
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+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
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+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 822 5245 7440
Passcode: 215526
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k3m6Ekgwh

 

Women in Audio Podcasts

 

The SoundGirls Podcast

The SoundGirls Podcast – Resonating Beyond Sound. We speak to audio professionals from all walks of life, to learn how we can better support one another towards a more diversified industry. We also talk to our soundgirls.org profile people and dive a little deeper with them.

The SoundGirls Podcast

The SoundGirls Podcast New Episodes Every Tuesday


The Women in Vinyl podcast

Jenn and Robyn discuss and share interviews with record labels, pressing plants, cutting engineers, and more for an inside look behind the scenes with those working in the vinyl industry. They’ll also delve into everything from tech topics to questions about vinyl you may not know but are too afraid to ask. All with the goal in mind to support overall knowledge base, career development, and to share resources through collaboration, and diversity within the vinyl community. Subscribe and share to help grow and educate the community, create a nonprofit and share the love for vinyl with the masses.

It can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and more but here is the Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/3emFPRp39mcD0MV4myb2eZ?si=Qdna4C9lSSOgNbk7IH1x-g

On the website:  https://womeninvinyl.com/podcast/

Patreon for WiV + podcast is here: https://www.patreon.com/womeninvinyl


Yorkshire Sound Women’s Network New Podcast Audio Club

Featuring interviews with women and minority gender audio professionals on a range of music tech topics.


The She Rocks Podcast

Presents conversations with extraordinary women from all walks of the music industry, from top-tier performers to behind-the-scenes heroes. Sharing insights, tips, gear rundowns and so much more, the She Rocks Podcast gets in-depth and personal about all the issues that matter.

The show is hosted by Laura B. Whitmore, founder of the Women’s International Music Network and the She Rocks Awards, journalist for Parade.com
and music industry marketer. A champion for women in music, Whitmore has interviewed hundreds of musicians from every spectrum of the industry.

 Roadie Free Radio

One and Dunn Podcast

Tape OP Podcast

Working Class Audio Podcast

Signal to Noise Podcast

KEXP Sound & Vision

Location Sound Podcast

Produced by a Girl

Let’s Talk Audio

Let’s Talk…Audio Podcast. This is a home for minorities in the industry to talk audio and share their stories! The host Tangela has been a live sound engineer in Texas for some ten years, and she loves connecting with interesting people and getting their two cents. They release episodes bi-weekly or so.

Sound Women Podcast

A monthly podcast, featuring news and reports about the UK radio industry, plus interviews with some of the finest Sound Women (and Men) in the land. Each episode will focus on different key topics and be presented by prominent and inspiring figures in UK radio. The Sound Women network is committed to raising the profile of the women who work in the radio and audio industry and celebrating their achievements

Behind the Beat is a Gender Amplified original podcast highlighting the work of female and non-binary music producers.

Sisters of Sound Podcast

Storyophonic 

Backstage Chats

A podcast amplifying the voices and careers of women in music. Hosted by Thea Wood, the show is part of the Backstage Chats Foundation, a nonprofit organization offering grants and scholarships to women in music. Women are underrepresented on stage, on-air, and behind the scenes in the music biz, so it’s our mission to create gender harmony by sharing the voices and stories of female music makers. Backstage Chats with Women In Music connects music fans with female artists and industry insiders who remind us to be dreamers, to be rule breakers, and that we are all rock stars!

PSNEurope podcast Women in Audio

Pensado’s Place

Gear Club Podcast

TONEBENDERS PODCAST

The Tonebenders podcast is a resource for anyone involved in post sound, with insights on everything from field recording to editing, designing and mixing in the studio.

The Right Scuff Podcast

Shure Signal Path Podcast

Other Podcasts

Krysten Dean – Changing the Narrative for the Next Generation

 

Krysten Dean is a touring Sound System Engineer and Crew Chief working for Eighth Day Sound Systems, but if you said Krysten on the road, most people would not know who you were talking about because everyone calls her “KD.” She has been working in professional audio for the last 17 years after quitting her corporate engineering job. She has toured with JayZ, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Earth, Wind and Fire, Drake, and Madonna to name a few. She is also an entrepreneur working to introduce more women and people of color to the technical side of the touring industry, through what she likes to call S.T.E.M.M. – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Music.

An Early Love for Music and Audio

KD grew up in a musically inclined family, with her mom and grandfather being singers, and she and her siblings all learned to play a musical instrument. She also was a member of choirs. Her love for audio started in her youth when she volunteered on the media team at her church. There she learned the basics of audio. KD says she enjoyed it all.

But when it came time to decide on college and a career path, KD was discouraged by educators from pursuing a career in the music industry. So instead, she went to college for mechanical engineering. After graduating with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Science in Mechanical Engineering, she went on to work in the auto industry for eight years, where she found that she was pretty unhappy. She decided to quit her job and go back to school to become an audio engineer.

She says, “I knew I had to take a chance and bet on myself so that I could be happy. I secured an 85% scholarship and attended Full Sail.” She graduated from Full Sail with an Associate of Science in Show Production and Touring.

The Importance of Giving People a Chance and Mentors

After graduation from Full Sail, she would hone her skills as the technical director for her church. At the same time, she applied to Eighth Day Sound, where they took a chance on her. KD says of Eighth Day, “My boss really took a chance on me. I sent in my resume with no touring experience and little audio experience and he took a chance on me. He told me that someone smart enough to have a successful engineering career (with a master’s in engineering to boot) could learn how to do audio. Especially if they were passionate about it.”

She also had a co-worker who took her under his wing and introduced her to the touring world, which helped her navigate the touring culture. After a brief 6-month internship where she learned company culture and basic tour packages, she was sent out on tour. She says, “It was fast-paced and exhilarating for me and a welcome change from corporate America.”

Her corporate background did prove beneficial as working in the corporate world provided KD with a strong work ethic, and she says, “I am not afraid of the long hours, the grueling pace at times and the commitment required for touring.”

Before COVID hit, KD spent a good portion of her year on tour. Her long-term goals include establishing an organization to encourage minority women to become involved in the entertainment industry’s technical side. She says, “I am passionate about seeing people that look like me, doing what I am doing. By that, I not only mean women but people of color. There is something to be said about representation and achievement. I want to give back and make a difference.” Recently KD started an organization called KMissionD (pronounced ka-miss-ion-ed) to encourage more women and people of color to pursue STEMM.

Career Now

What is a typical day like?

Hectic, fast-paced. Arrive at the venue early (before most of the crew is even awake) to measure the room and plan the PA points and location with the rigger. Help the team to set it all up and get it working and sounding proper. This is usually when any problems are noticed with the system, but not always. Time-align and tune the system, line check, and sound check. Setup and handle the opening acts, do a show, tear it all down, pack it back into the trucks and do it all over again the next day. And somewhere in there, I manage to eat at least one meal for the day.

How do you stay organized and focused?

I usually have a game plan on what needs to be accomplished for the day. Although most would say we do the same thing every day, we are in a new location every day, which presents its own challenges. Thankfully I have been doing this for a while now, so I have been to many venues multiple times and know what to expect, but each tour is different.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Touring becomes your extended family. I can literally go anywhere in the world and reach out to someone I have toured with, met while on tour, or have a mutual friend.

What do you like best about touring?

I love to travel. I have been all over the world in this career. I also love when my crew and I can overcome the daily challenges we face in getting the job done effectively and efficiently.

What do you like least?

Being away from my family and my dog, Layla, for extended periods of time year-round.

What is your favorite day off activity?

SLEEP, no really, that is important, but I also like to take in the sights of whatever city I am in, especially if I have never been there. I also like to try some of the favorite local cuisines.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

Touring is still very much a male-dominated industry. As a result, you sometimes get treated as inferior or even invisible. I have had some difficult engineers and difficult situations, but at the end of the day, if I can say that I approached them with integrity, that is important to me.

I am a firm believer in having a strong character; my reputation is important, especially in this industry.

Advice you have for other women and young women who wish to enter the field?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and when unsure, ask for clarification. We aren’t meant to go through life alone, and SoundGirls is an excellent resource. Also, learn as much as you can. But not only that PRACTICE what you learn so that you do not forget it.

Must have skills?

One thing that has saved me time and time again when issues occur is that one thing your teachers always say is important, but you are like, yeah…ok – it’s signal flow. Tracing a problem from beginning to end usually shows your right where the issue is, and you can quickly move towards a solution. In touring, this skill can save your career.

Favorite gear?

I am blessed to be able to use a little bit of everything. My company stays ahead of the curve with gear and is able to provide what the engineers like and request. That is one aspect that I like about my job. I get to use a lot of new and exciting gear regularly.

Closing Thoughts

Although I still love audio, I am looking to add a new dimension to my career and focus on giving back and helping others. I am discouraged by the lack of women and people of color doing what I do, and I am passionate about changing the narrative. I have started speaking to women’s groups and technical societies to introduce them to what I do, and encourage others that it is possible to do it, do it well, and be successful. I also coach and mentor other women who want help navigating it all.

I have a YouTube channel coming soon, highlighting people behind the scenes in the live touring industry. I want to amplify others’ voices, allow them to share their stories, and inspire others that they can do it too. The channel will be called KMissionD.

KMissionD to amplify your voice…check it out!

More on Krysten Dean

STEMM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Music, with Krysten Dean

 

Impostor Syndrome Webinar – Dec. 13

 

 

 

Join us for a webinar on Impostor Syndrome on

Dec. 13 at 11 am PDT

Register Here

“Imposter Syndrome”, is a common mental process whereby someone has an unwarranted feeling of insecurity about their worth or their abilities, despite the evidence showing otherwise. Often thoughts occur that cause the person to believe they are fraudulent in their efforts or talents, and sooner or later will be found out to be “fake” or inadequate.

Kirsten Hunneyball a Certified Life Coach and Addictions and Eating Disorder Recovery Specialist will cover the basic concept, as well as share some examples, signs of the syndrome, and methods for overcoming the thinking pattern. It’s important to note that this syndrome is very common, and the more we are open about it, the easier it will become to manage.


Kirsten Hunneyball Certified Life Coach and Addictions and Eating Disorder Recovery Specialist Coach.

My name is Kirsten Hunneyball. I currently live in Johannesburg, South Africa. Music has always been a huge part of my life, or rather it’s always been a huge part of me. I play the trumpet, piano and sing. When I was at school, the Jazz and Concert Bands were where I spent most of my time, and music was the thing that carried me through many hardships. I have performed as a lead singer in bands at Music festivals such as Outland and Splashy Fen, and sang in a jazz duo in Durban for 3 years before moving to Ballito. I have played trumpet as a session musician on albums and performed at the Zakifo and French Music Festivals with Red Robyn. I have also written and recorded some of my own original music. About a year ago I took a great interest in what it meant to be the person behind the scenes, and hoped to learn how to produce my own music, and therefore I and am currently studying a music production diploma at Abbey Road Institute in Johannesburg.

I took a keen interest in Sound Girls a few months ago as I recognised the dire need for mental and emotional support in the creative industry. I am honoured to be a part of this fantastic cause.

 

Mixing Music Live Scholarship and Free Master Class

Mixing Music Live is offering a FREE Master Class and Scholarship

Mixing Music Live has been created by SoundGirls Co-Founder Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato. Recently she has updated the course LISTEN! Master the EQ Techniques of the Pros to Create Brilliant Mixes and is offering a scholarship to SoundGirls members.  You can apply for the scholarship here.  The deadline for applications is December 3rd and the winner will be announced on December 7th. This is an online course so available worldwide.

Apply for Scholarship

In addition, Michelle is offering a free course ‘The 3 Step Process for Mixing your Music like a Pro’, which begins 11/30/20 and is available only until 12/6/20.   Sign Up Here:   https://www.mixingmusiclive.com/mix-like-a-pro

This Master Class is only available for a short time so don’t miss it. Spots are limited and registration is on a first-come-first-served basis.

Beginner’s Guide To Recording Drums

 

Recording drums is widely regarded as one of the trickiest skills to learn for a studio engineer. This is because there is a lot of equipment to set up, specific techniques to grasp, and a lot of tuning involved!

The drum set is the most time-consuming instrument to record, so it’s important to take a thought out and structured approach. It requires patience and a clear vision of what you want to achieve from the recording session.

I have written this guide to show you that by following basic principles you can obtain great drum sounds without having to rent a world-class recording studio.

Why Go to The Effort of Recording Drums?

  • Quality drum sounds are at the core of each great-sounding mix. If the drums aren’t sounding good then rest assured the whole mix falls flat.
  • The drums lay down the foundation of every song and it’s crucial they are balanced, clear, and punchy.

It’s understandable to feel that recording drums to a professional standard is both a challenging and expensive endeavor.

But with modern audio interfaces and DAWs (digital audio workstations) such as Logic and Pro Tools, it is easier than ever before to obtain high-quality drum sounds from your own home.

No matter what style of music you intend on playing, you are able to record drums with less equipment than you might expect; and the recording session can be executed on a budget without compromising on quality.

Equipment Used For Recording Drums

To start off this guide, let’s talk about the recording equipment you’ll need to capture quality drum sounds. Right before we go into the drum set up and tuning let’s talk about gear.

In addition to a drum set, you’re going to need a computer, microphones, stands, XLR cables, and an audio interface with enough microphone inputs.

Computer

Recording drums with Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase (or similar DAW) on a computer removes the necessity for an enormous multi-million-pound recording studio. If you don’t know where to start with a digital audio workstation (DAW), check out this helpful guide that details all the best DAWs available currently.

You have the ability to record, edit, and mix all the channels directly on your laptop. A DAW removes the need for expensive studio equipment such as microphone preamps and analog equipment such as EQs and compressors to process the signal with.

Expensive analog equipment will certainly enhance the sound of the drums from a recording session, but for a beginner, they are not essential and are therefore a luxury.

You are able to use any computer that is compatible with a DAW such as Logic or Pro Tools and has the connectivity for an audio interface that can accommodate the number of microphones you wish to use. Most modern interfaces utilize USB connectivity.

Microphones

recording drums

To record the best sound drums possible, you will need a complete set of optimized drum microphones. Each microphone is tuned for different parts of the drum set. A full drum mic kit will be comprised of close mics and overhead mics.

I would recommend the Audix DP7 Drum Pack as the best drum mic kit that delivers premium quality sounds whilst still being pretty affordable in long run.

The set contains 7 excellent drum mics that pick up accurate and clear sounds for each respective part of the drum set they are designed for.

  • Kick microphone – Audix D6
  • Snare microphone – Audio i5
  • Rack Tom microphone – Audix D2
  • Floor Tom microphone – D4
  • Overhead microphone left – ADX51
  • Overhead microphone right – ADX51

When buying microphones I generally recommend buying new; because they will be covered by a manufacturer’s warranty. You can guarantee they are free from damage, and you will avoid the risk of counterfeit microphones.

Drum microphones utilize polar pickup patterns that make them ideal for recording drums. All of the microphones featured here have cardioid pick up patterns, besides the D2 and D4 microphones that have a  hypercardioid pickup pattern for a tighter response and optimal feedback rejection.

This is a technical term that means that the microphone rejects sound from the back and sides, but it successfully picks up sound from the front.

Audio Interface for Recording Drums

audio interfaceTo record drums you will need an audio interface that can accommodate as many microphones as you intend to use.

For recording drums in a home studio – to record with a full set of drum microphones you will need an interface that features 8 microphone inputs or more.

Modern audio interfaces offer high sample rates; have multiple outputs and feature USB connectivity for your computer.

XLR Cables

Straightforwardly enough, you will need enough XLR cables for the number of microphones you plan on using for your recording session.

I would recommend buying quality, gold plated XLR cables that are at least 15 feet in length to ensure they are long enough between the microphone and audio interface.

The Drum Set

drum set in studio

Of course, you will need your drum set and the best cymbals you can get your hands on for recording drums! An important piece of advice I learned a long time ago is that the quality of the recorded input will always translate into the end result.

This applies to both the quality of the drummer’s performance and also how the drums themselves sound. If you play a high-end drum set with brand new drum heads and spend the time tuning the drums up great then the drum sounds will be killer!

Combine this with a strong performance marked by clear and tight playing – and you will have great sounding raw stems to work with even before mixing the audio.

For the recording session, it’s best practice to buy brand new drumheads because they provide brighter and focused sounds as opposed to old, worn-in drumheads. New drumheads will noticeably enhance the sound of the drums for the recording.

Drums are required to be tuned and dampened in order to achieve your desired sound, and the drumheads contribute up to 70% of the entire drum sound.

Cymbals on the other hand cannot be tuned and their sounds cannot be altered.

Cymbals maintain their inherent sound from the day of purchase and poor quality cymbals will protrude a mix. No microphone technique or equipment can prevent bad cymbals from sounding awful. And the same applies to poorly tuned drums.

Tuning Drums

Correct drum tuning is essential for achieving a good drum tone. It’s even better when paired with a selection of brand new drumheads for your drum set.

It can take a long time to develop an ear for fine-tuning a drum. Luckily there are useful tools called precision drum tuners – which help aid fast and accurate drum tuning.

These devices measure either the pitch or tympanic pressure of a drum to determine tuning inconsistencies around the lugs and therefore allow you to make precise corrections to get your drums evenly tuned.

With or without a precision drum tuner, it’s vital to use your own ears when tuning drums to achieve a clean drum tone, with even pitches around the lugs of the drum.

how to tune a drum

  • When tuning drums, an important rule is to tune in opposites. This means your drum has equal tension in pairs across the skin.
  • Tune-up the drumhead slowly counterclockwise up from a loose tension (finger tight tension rods around the drum) with a quarter of a turn of a drum key until you have reached your rough desired pitch and the tension rods are all equally tensioned around the drum.
  • Your next step is fine-tuning. This involves you gently tapping the edge of the drum by each lug to match each individual lug to the correct pitch. Move around the drum between each tension rod until they produce an identical pitch, loosening or tightening each rod precisely until they do.

There is no ‘correct’ pitch to tune to, and drummers will like to have their drums tuned differently. Some professional drummers love their snare drum to be cranked up as high as it can go. And others might love a vintage sounding ‘thud’ – essentially as low tuned and muffled as a snare drum can be.

The Room

The recording space itself will have a huge influence on the sound captured in the recording. Ideally, you will want the room to offer strong sounds already, but you can adjust the acoustic properties of the room fairly easily.

If you are in a room with lots of carpet, thick curtains, and other objects inside the room to absorb noise, the room will sound dead as a result. The sound will be muffled and closed in.

You can introduce some reflective surfaces to make the room sound livelier and have more natural reverberation. Large sheets of plywood work great for this. And if possible, remove any dense and overstuffed furniture or rugs that will be contributing to the dead sound.

If you are recording in an overly live room with lots of reflective surfaces, such as a garage or office space then everything will be too bright.

It is easy to treat an overly live room by introducing carpets, blankets, duvets, and pillows to the surrounding area to absorb the excess sound.

Setting Up For Recording Drums 

recording session

Before you start, remember to keep everything organised and tidy. The last thing you want is a rat’s nest of cables when you’re troubleshooting!

When setting up the drums and microphones make sure you don’t have any stands touching each other. It’ll cause unwanted noise going into the microphone and become a nuisance in the mix.

Plug in your drum mics into the audio interface in the following order and then creating the respective channels in Logic for the microphones in the very same order.

  • KICK
  • SNARE TOP
  • RACK TOM 1
  • RACK TOM 2
  • FLOOR TOM
  • OVERHEAD LEFT (OHL)
  • OVERHEAD RIGHT (OHR)

How to Mic Drums

Kick drum 

Before getting ready to mic up your kick drum, ensure you have a porthole cut out in the resonant skin. Having a porthole allows you to record the kick drum with more attack and greater definition.

The best size for a porthole is 4 or 5 inches, and cut out the porthole at the 5 o’clock position on the drumhead. Either take the drum to a professional shop or buy a specifically designed porthole cutter if you want to do it yourself.

Placing the microphone closer to the batter head will provide more attack and beater definition. Whereas the further back the microphone is placed, the increased low end the microphone will pick up.

Snare Top 

When setting up your drum set try and leave a space for the snare microphone and stand between the hi-hat and rack tom.

If you want to receive more attack from the snare, aim the microphone at the center. And for more ring, point it towards the edge.

A popular snare drum microphone position is to have the microphone hanging just over the edge and pointing at the center of the drumhead.

If you have too much ring, raise the microphone up and away from the edge but still pointing at the center of the drum. For more ring, take the microphone up and angle it more to the edge of the drum closest to the microphone and away from the center.

Try and keep the hi hat and rack tom in the rejection zone of the microphone pick up pattern. This is my friend Adam Pedder’s drum set up for a recent recording – my ideal microphone configurations, all facing the center of the drumhead.

drum recording setup

Rack Tom and Floor Toms

The placement of each of the tom microphones follows the same approach as the snare microphone. Placing the microphone closer to the edge provides additional ring, and the center provides additional attack.

Drum microphone clips remove the necessity for additional stands and they allow for convenient mic placement on the toms. They are efficient and practical accessories for recording drums.

Overhead Microphones

There are a few different microphone placements you can use here. The important thing to remember is no matter what technique you use, the two overhead microphones have to be the same distance away from the snare drum to make sure the snare drum is in phase with the overheads and in center of your drum mix.

The technique to try first is a Spaced Stereo Pair or A/B.  Place the microphones over the left (above the hit and crash) and right-hand side of the drum kit (over the ride and second crash).

The higher you place the overhead microphones results in more room sound, and the closer they are to the drums results in a more direct drum sound.

Phase

Phase is an issue that occurs when the signal from two separate microphones pick up the same sound source and are out-of-sync with one another.

Phase is essentially a technical word for time, and each microphone around the drum set will pick up every sound at a unique time. Phase issues occur when the waveforms captured by separate microphones cancel each other out.

The goal is to get all of the microphones working together constructively when recording a full drum set. Successful phase interaction is essential for achieving cohesive drum sounds.

You will be able to see any signs of phase within the waveforms on your DAW, if the peaks of one track align with the troughs of the other. The audible sign of phase problems will be a thin, diminished sounding signal with no audible bass.

The easiest way to avoid phase problems is to ensure the overheads are an equal distance from both the center of the snare drum, and from where the kick drum beater hits the skin.

An easy way to do this is by using a long piece of string to measure the distance between the center of the snare drum skin and each of the overhead microphones.

Ready To Record Drums

drum recording

With all of the microphones set up, plugged in and the channels loaded into your recording software, run a test take and listen carefully for any rattles, buzzes or other source of unwanted noise.

Each microphone should be delivering a clear signal into each respective channel in the DAW. Don’t record things too hot! Get levels from playing the drums and try and keep everything in the green. This avoids your signals from clipping and distorting.

At this point, once everything is set up to how you like and you are completely happy, it is very important to not move anything! To succeed with consistent results you must not tamper with any microphone positions.

Recording Drums Tips

  • Moongel and tape are lifesavers when recording drums. They allow you to control the level of dampening to achieve your desired sound from the drums. When a drum might have too much ring, you can dampen the drum to get a more focused sound.
  • Play with consistency and even dynamics within parts of a song. You don’t want lots of fluctuations on the record. Smooth playing and controlled dynamics will result in a great sounding drum recording.
  • Playing to a click track is highly recommended. In today’s world, people are so used to hearing perfect drums. People demand tight and consistent drumming because it’s what the music needs. The drummer plays a supporting role and the beat drives a song.
  • Hit the middle of the drum skins throughout the performance. It is easily audible when there are inconsistencies of when the drumsticks hit the drum skin. It is crucial the drums are balanced, clear, and punchy.
  • Practice, practice, practice! All of the effort going into obtaining great sounding drums will be wasted if your playing is sloppy and not up to scratch. Make sure you are well prepared and confident in your abilities to play at your very best for the session.
  • Ensure you have tightened all the stands and cymbal wingnuts so there is nothing loose or becomes undone during recording.
  • Relax and enjoy playing the drums! It’s in the state of relaxed concentration that we perform at our best. And trying too hard can create physical tension whilst playing – having a detrimental effect.
  • Trust in your own abilities. Instinctive, innermost confidence exists without you needing to search for it. You will be able to play at your peak performance without overthinking.

Mixing The Drums

Mixing music

Now that you have recorded your best drum tracks, it’s time to process and mix the audio to really bring the drums to life. By mixing the raw drum stems you can focus and balance each individual part of the drum set.

There is a wide range of valuable production tools and effects that are used to enhance sound recordings. I will provide an overview and instructions on some of the most important tools used in sound recording.

When mixing audio you will need to use a high-quality pair of headphones or a pair of studio reference monitors.

This is by no means a list of ALL of the sound recording tools available, but these are the most essential tools to enable the drums to sit well in a mix, whilst adding clarity and punch. The following will all be available as plugins within your digital audio workstation.

Panning

Panning is a tool that spreads a signal in a multi-channel sound field. It’s crucial for making up a complete stereo image and creates the impression of space within a mix.

Panning is important for mixing drums because it mimics the realistic effect of a drum set stage sound. Using panning creates a wide sounding drum set that can be heard from all sides.

The best way to pan drums is to pan the separate parts of the drum set how they appear before you as if you are playing the drums. This is called “Drummers Perspective”.

  • Set the kick drum and snare drum panned dead center.
  • Pan the overheads fully left and right respectively.
  • Don’t pan the toms as extreme as the overheads. I pan the high tom to the left, middle tom slightly right and floor tom to the right.

EQ

EQ is a corrective and creative tool used within sound recording and reproduction to correct frequency responses using linear filters. EQ is used to strengthen or weaken frequency bands to alter a signal’s sound.

What this means is that EQ allows you to adjust the frequencies of a signal to improve how it sounds.

EQ is your best friend in recording. It is incredibly important for balancing sounds to create a mix that allows a listener to hear all the individual parts of a drum set with clarity.

Use your ears when using EQ for your drums – they are the most valuable tools at your disposal. To get your drum sounds in the right ballpark, here are some engineer-approved tips for drums:

  • Kick EQ – Adding a bump at 60Hz will give you some thick low-end. Add 3-5kHz for some ‘knock’ and some 10kHz for some click. Try cutting around 400-500Hz, this will stop your bass drum from sounding like a cardboard box.
  • Snare EQ – If you want your snare to hit you in the chest, add a bump at 150-200Hz. For more body to your snare add the frequencies around 500Hz. And for more attack, add 5kHz.
  • Toms EQ – For toms you want to reduce boxiness and increase thump and attack. Add 100Hz for some thump and 3-5kHz for clarity. Cut the mid frequencies for toms to remove the boxy sound, but be sure to leave some left so the toms don’t sound hollow.
  • Overheads EQ – With the overheads your aim is to increase presence in the upper mids and high frequencies whilst reducing overall boxiness in some of the lower frequencies. If the close-mics are all sounding great you can use a high-pass filter to cut out everything below 500Hz.

Compression

Compression is the process of lessening the dynamic range between the loudest and quietest parts of an audio signal.

The goal of compression is to even out unwanted level variations of a signal. For drums, this means turning down louder hits to match softer hits in order to make the drum sounds more balanced overall.

Compression is a fairly complex tool, and there is no ‘one-size fits all’ compression setting. But proper use of compression will help smoothen out the shape of the drums and keep dynamics under control.

  • Threshold – When compressing drums, we generally want the entire drum signal to be compressed. You’ll want to set your threshold low enough that any drum signal can trigger it.
  • Attack – Nearly all the drum’s punch is found in the initial milliseconds of the drum sound. This is the “attack”. A good starting point is to set an attack of 30ms and to adjust from there.
  • Release – The release determines how soon the compressor stops working after its initial activation. You ideally want to set the release to be fast enough so the compression switches off before the next hit. A good starting point is around 200ms.
  • Ratio – The ratio determines how much the output signal increases based on the input signal. Lower ratios will provide more punch, and I would try a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 to start with.

Reverb

Reverb is another essential tool in modern recording. Reverb exists all around us, and within music production, the aim is to emulate a natural acoustic environment for your sounds.

Digital reverb plugins mimic the way a real acoustic space works. They are designed to simulate reflections, and echoes, and the decay of high versus low frequencies.

Reverb is important for bringing life to drums and to make them sound punchy, lifelike, and full within a mix.

Use your ears to achieve an optimal balance for reverb. Even if you want explosive drum sounds, don’t go overboard. The choice of reverb will need to fit with the emotional quality of a song and its mix.

There are five main categories of reverb. Use your ears and experiment with the different types of reverb and see what works best with your drum sounds.

  • Room
  • Hall
  • Chamber
  • Spring
  • Plate

Alternative Configurations For Recording Drums

Recording drums with 2 mics is possible, and in fact, it is a great way to achieve good sounds with minimal equipment and setup. Recording drums with 2 mics will sacrifice lots of the close mics, meaning there will not be as much clarity and depth to each drum.

However, recording drums with just a couple of microphones is more convenient and inexpensive when compared to using a complete set of drum microphones.

Recording drums with 2 mics will require using a kick drum mic, which will be paired with one overhead microphone. The aim is to capture a balanced, full sounding drum set from this microphone pairing.

Ilan Rubin – the drummer of Nine Inch Nails demonstrates the capabilities of a dual microphone pairing for recording in this video. The drums sound amazing considering it’s recorded with only 2 microphones.

Final Thoughts on How to Record Drums

Whether you are learning to record drums from home or renting out a recording studio to capture drum sounds; I hope you can draw some valuable information from this guide.

I have recorded drums in professional studios and from home with the very same set up listed in this guide. Following these steps and taking a careful approach will reward you with great sounds!

You will learn and discover new things by making some mistakes along the way. But don’t be put off or get frustrated because this is somewhat inevitable! If you feel stuck there are online communities and forums with engineers and drummers who, from my experience, are keen to help.

Patience truly is key when it comes to recording drums. There are lots of steps and techniques involved, but recording drums from your own home is both a valuable and rewarding skill. And it’s never been easier to record and mix quality drums with a computer, interface, microphones, and a drum set.

It’s fun, creative, and rewarding – so get practicing and set up your drums and microphones to record amazing drum sounds from home.

Happy recording!


 

When We Lose Momentum 

 

When we lose momentum many of us feel stuck. Trapped. Feeling as if one cannot progress to their next destination in life. Many of us felt this way throughout this year. I had my first tour gig in January 2020, only eight weeks later I was handed a blank schedule due to COVID. During that time, many audio engineers, techs, and entertainment industry workers became angry. Some of us still are.

Many like myself began thinking of career path changes, going back to school, and other steps to progress and cope with the given circumstances. I started working in an office job as an assistant. I am grateful I have work, but I am healthy-dissatisfied with my work because I know it is not my passion. David Neagle’s The Successful Mind Podcast defines healthy-dissatisfaction as, “Dissatisfaction with the status quo drives innovation in two ways. It helps find new ways to do things, spurring creativity. And, dissatisfaction with the status quo provides the will to persevere. Restlessness is an invaluable human change driver. So, next time you feel dissatisfied with the way things are, embrace that feeling. It might be the most important motivator to change with purpose.” We have to embrace those feelings of dissatisfaction in order to progress and continue moving in life without losing momentum.

This is all easier said than done, to continue my momentum, I started back to basics. Eat. Sleep. Exercise. When we take care of ourselves and attend to self-care, we are able to think clearly, focus on our life purpose/goals, and put first things first. When you feel as if you lost momentum, reflect and ask yourself these questions:

“What do I desire in my life?”

“What is my dream job/career goal?” “What are the necessary steps I need to take to accomplish my goal?”

“What does success for me look like?”

Many creatives like ourselves experience self-doubt, fear, and anxiety. Holding on to these feelings will only put you into a darker hole. By continuing to move forward, keeping momentum, staying positive, getting back to basics (eat, sleep, and exercise) one can accomplish each and anything we put our minds to. We have to remind ourselves, never to lose sight of our goals, passion, and desires. Whether it is a small bump in the road or a major detour to our destinations, we must learn to enjoy the journey

 

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