when recording on someone elses jam

Great question. Thanks for asking. For me it's all about sounding natural and having a live energetic drum sound come across on the recording. I download a song I like to GarageBand. I jam with it and record. I listen back to hear how it sounds etc. when u am happy I start recording in earnest.(sometimes the 1st recording just works and I'm done). If a song is tricky and has unique timing changes I may break it down into sections to make it easier. After all this its on to the mix. Which usually takes longer.

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It's interesting the way different musicians process, learn and apply themselves to different songs .. I'm pretty much the same as what you describe Raymond. I'm super NEW to recording with an interface though, just a few weeks. Yep, break it down into sections and try to keep it flowing with some natural feeling when you hit the red button, ie. jamming as opposed to studying it for days and getting it absolutely perfection. Which is fine if you had that kinda time. This entire site is described as jamming after all. :) I got to give kudos to all the drummers who submit here, that can't be easy setting it all up with several mics and what not. Jam on!!

Ernie

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Pudsy. No mics for me. I have a Yamaha DTX-540 electronic drum set. I plug it into my MacBook via a midi cable. I use the midi drum sets on garage band. There are about 12 different kits, and you can customize as well. I play to tracks live on my drums. I have an adjustable click track that I use to stay on time. When I am done I can copy my tracks and layer them. Sometimes I later 2 or 3 different drum set types to get a good sound. And of course all the effects. GarageBand is great and like all Apple products can be manipulated one way or another. Finally I always try and complete a song in 1 take and not chop it up. It always sounds better that way, but sometimes things get tricky.

Cheers.

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So that's how you do it rp3 .. interesting! I wonder what the ratio of regular drums VS the electronic type is here .. well that's another thread I guess! :D

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Of the many tunes I've listened to, the active drummers I know of recording acoustic kits are myself, DaFunkyDrummer, Lenny Cowler, CountryBoy, Wiseshanks and Shumdrummer.

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Interesting M ... I'm definitely going to be listening more carefully now to see if I can spot the differences .. mic'ing drums ... no doubt it's a science .. haha B)

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Pudsy,

You can defiantly tell the difference. And thanks to Martin for pointing out who plays acoustic. If I had a choice I would rather play on an acoustic kit, micked in a studio. Some of the feel and subtleties of drums is lost with the rubber padded electronics. But sadly I can't do that. For me, the advantages of the Edrums outweigh the disadvantages. I can play in a small space with the headphones on and not get any complaints (a blessing for a life long drummer who was tossed out of every jam space), recording is much easier and affordable, and the ability to interface with GarageBand Midi is amazing. Like I said nothing beats (haha) playing on a real kit. But at this point in my life practicality wins out.

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And you sound awesome, Raymond.

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Thanks Danny, and back at you!

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Hey Gold :)
For me, it's a delicate process of things. Meaning, I have to hear something right from the start, or I most likely won't jump on it. It has to have that 'something' in there that I need to be inspired. Once that happens, it's an immediate thing that happens for me. I will download it and I have to play it over and over as I start writing lyrics for the song. Sometimes I'll even hear a structure I want, in my head and actually record useless words to it, but I will have the structure I want there. Then, I will make sure the lyrics are flowing good and with the idea that I have, there is a certain meaning and passion behind them. If something doesn't have passion, I am not interested in it. That may sound kind of harsh, I suppose, but for me, it has to have that, or it's just pointless to me. Anyway, once that part is done and all the lyrics are complete, I will then record my vocals to the music. I will listen afterwards and see if I'm happy with it, or If I need to make changes to it. Maybe I want to add some background vocals, or double the vocals,etc..depending on the style of the song. Then, it's just a matter of mixing and blending the track/s and adding whatever effects I feel that would enhance it or let it sit in the mix well. After all that, I will let it sit for a few, then come back to it and listen to it again and see how the levels are and overall feel of it. Then, upload it to wikiloops and hope the person and/or people, that recorded the music, likes what I did. Sorry for the novel I just wrote, but I love talking about music and everything involved. Thought I would just share my process. Hope this helps.

-James

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I love Novels, Nice to meet you! The short version, I tend to over play..lol

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