Drummer Cafe Community Forum

I thought I would start a journal /pictorial of how I make tunes.  This is for the final song of my cd which I started around last Christmas.  It's been fun and I've learned alot.  Hopefully you guys can impart some wisdom and comments as well.  Feel free to join in if you so feel the urge.  If you have any questions I will try to answer them.  There will be plenty of pics and audio files along the way for your enjoyment (hopefully).

Well, it all starts here.  Here's my 74 yamaha upright.  I pick thru the melodies and chord progressions.  Usually it takes me about a month to write a tune.  I used a couple of drum clips to suspend the sennheiser 441's.  This is a new departure for me, since I usually use mic stands.  But the clips take less space.  I like the 441's because they have a smaller pickup pattern than a 421 or condenser mic.  I live on a noisy street so I have to cut tracks early in the morning.

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/yamaha.jpg)

I have a "junk" adat laying around that I do my "remote" recording with.  I used to use a fancy pre amp and converter rig with it, but now I'm just going to use the preamps on the muckie (mackie) board.  I can monitor the three channels while I am recording them.  You want to use a "half click" in the older mackie boards to bypass the eq and get the cleanest sound.  Pushing mackie preamps too hard impart a grainy sound on your recordings  :-\

Adat is an old recording format ( for those that don't really know) and was the shiznet back in the early 90's.  Lot's of records were done on these things.  They are heavy, loud and prone to breaking- but this one is alright for now.  I just cleaned it a couple of months ago.  They record on VHS tape.  I am recording 20 bit 48Khz (highest resolution this machine can muster).

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/muckie.jpg)

Well I finally got a keeper and here is a boring/blurry pic of me doing a digital dump into my 24 bit machine.  I'm doing the dump via "lightpipe" adat optical cable.  The 4 bits are dithered automatically in the 24 bit machine so there is no problem as long as the sample rate is the same (48 khz).  The rest of the recording will be done at 24 bit in the latest version of ADAT HD24XR.  So three tracks, stereo piano and a click.

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/transfer.jpg)

And now the fun begins for engineers and drummers alike.  Here is the Noble & Cooley Horizon shell pack that I have had set up but not in a playable state for the past couple of months.  It needs tuned, cymbals added and mics placed.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.  I might use a few more mics this time around than I have previously.  It's kinda daunting having this beautiful canvas laid before me- ironically in a white drumset.

So far I'm going to stick with the pinstripes on top (sorta fresh) and video gloss white aquarian classic clears on the resos (fresh).  Evan's eq3 system with pillow on kick (fresh).  I'll get them sounding as good as I can in the meantime.

I have a couple of heavy rock tunes to do after this mellow one I just wrote so making the transition between the songs tonally will be kinda tricky.

I have not picked out a snare drum yet.   :D  Maybe you guys can help me with that?  ;)

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/nobleone.jpg)

Cool Felix! Thanks for taking the time to write and to post the pix! I know I'm going to enjoy this thread!  :)

Cool Felix!  Thanks for sharing.  As for snares, what do you have to choose from? 

This is gonna be cool.  Thanks Felix! 

Do you have a take on the Presonus FirePod Preamps? 

Wow - I used an ADAT recorder in grad school in the early 90s. Worked great for what it was.

Geez, those NC drums, the piano, your recording set-up - I'd never leave the house.

thanks guys.

Well, I started tuning them up today.  I had a buzz in the 10 just where I liked the drum.  It's like the thing sympathetically vibrated on the rims mount- rubbers.  Weird, could have been the pinstripe too.  I don't know.  Lowered the pitch and the buzz disappeared.  I'm thinking of trying to get close to intervals this time.  Don't know yet.

I used a drum dial to get close then did the Bob Gatzen tapping thing around the heads until I got a clear tone.  These drums are throaty but not as throaty as my other maple drums.  I think the mahogany smooths them out.

Presonus preamps are transparent and liquidy sounding. My friend does remote recording with them.  He would let me borrow them too if I wished... He's got 16 channels of them.  I wouldn't mind.  I forget what they are called but they have a big orange button that powers them up.  I'm familiar with them, but not intimately.  From what I have heard they are comparable to my focusrites without all the bells and whistles.    I really think it boils down to talent for the most part though.

Here are some more pics if you guys are interested.

This is an overhead shot of the kit.  Gosh, they sound great.  I'm going to start out with the Sonor siggy snare cause it is just such a well mannered drum.  No buzz to speak of and good sensitivity still.  Doesn't sound too bad either  ;D

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/overhead.jpg)

I'm going with the 441's on the 10 and 12 and my friend is letting me borrow his 421's for the 14 and 16.

Here's a shot of how I'm going to position the overheads... I usually move them around some to get the best balance.  This is just the initial placement.  I might go back to a "space" technique as opposed to "x-y".

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/xy.jpg)

Then I start plugging everything into my snake.  I run headphones thru this also.  Unfortunately one of the returns is dead, but the three others work.   ::)

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/rapco.jpg)

I'll be getting the rest of my mics wed from my bro.  See you then.

Nice looking room! (and kit btw)
Just the kind of space I'm looking for.

Thanks for your putting your stamp on my thread Chrisso.  yeah, special drums for sure.

Yeah, unfortunately I didn't really play much when I took the year or so to build the room- but I like it and all my friends do also.

My parents came up yesterday and had not seen it in a long time, they really couldn't believe how far it's come in the past 7 years (I started it in 99)

Thank you for sharing Felix, Nice room and nice Kit.  Looks and sounds like you put a bunch of work into it?
                                  Nutty

Yes more work than one could imagine.  Thanks for dropping by Nutty.  Speaking of work I'm off to try and practice a little on this thing. 

Skills....and lots of them....felix.  Sound-proofing, acoustic sound room design, rough and finish carpentry, sound recording, playing piano, playing drums....and on and on.   

Will enjoy following the story.

Trying to recall, do you have a family felix?

Thanks.  I've played the piano off and on for along time and have always been recording- but didn't get really into it until the 80's.

Yeah I do.  No crumb snatchers though.  I'm just way too into my thing to deal with kids.  I made enough sacrifices- fresh out of them  ;D

My buddy Dennis and my dad helped me with the finish carpentry- they actually taught me all that I know  :D.  And one of my best friends is a killer electrician/guitarist (can never get him out of here when he comes over) :-\  ;D he did alot of the electrical (actually fixed most of it after the morons came in and pulled all the wire).

Cool thread felix! Nice room too. Where is this in your house--basement? I don't know beans about recording so if you wouldn't mind "translating" a bit for noobs like me? That'd be great.

robyn

Thanks for stopping by Robyn.  I built this room above my garage.

Just ask about anything you want to know more about.  It's cool... I don't have all the answers myself.  But there are about as many ways to record as their are to play drums with respect to the basics. A studio is a personal thing and everyone's is different  :)

Nice room felix, looking forward to those sound clips, BTW how are you likeing the rosetta?

Ha! You asked for it! ;D Now I'll pepper you w/ questions, like:
 Why is the ceiling rounded? An acoustical thing? How does it affect the sound as opposed to a flat ceiling?

What cymbals are you using w/ that (fine looking) kit?

And...how is it that you've managed to acquire six kits from people dropping them off?! How's that work?  ???

robyn

Hi Robyn...  but the rounded ceilings I'm told is nice to reduce flutter echo- but it is just a byproduct of the pole barn architecture... which is all it is- a pole barn / 2 car garage and I built the studio on the second floor.  :) It's allright, not like sony or anything.

 They cymbals are paiste sound formula's, signatures and a 2002 novo china... I like paistes.  They work for me.

Just lucky I guess.  I own 5 kits and my buddy is storing the N&C kit over at my studio.  I'm giving a kit away soon so it will be nice to get rid of another.  I would like to get rid of about 3 of them... one sonor, one yammy and one ludwig.


Hi Drumlooney.  Good to see you again.

I like the Rosetta very much, it extends the highs and lows of the program material and acts as a mini router for me in the studio as well.   I bought it to bypass the Alesis converters in the masterlink and to give me a good conversion out of the midas board when I'm mixing analog style.  

Do I hear a big difference?  Not really, but a little bit.  Alesis converters are great for the money I think but the Apogee stuff opens it up a bit more.  It's a new piece and something I can use for a long time.  I'm really looking forward to doing a 24/96 conversion from the midas into wavelab for my mastering purposes.  It should be a better final product than what the masterlink gives me.  But the Masterlink (Alesis again) is very fast and easy to use for demos.

Hey felix, I like your set up and I really dig your room.

Are you compressing drums at all to tape?  If so, what settings are you using?
That's where I struggle when recording, getting nice sounding compression.

Also, I can't really tell from your photo, but are you using an 18" ride?

The paiste sound formula is a "full ride" 20"  I really like it.

I do not compress to the XR (as you call tape) but sometimes I engage the "soft limit" on the 428.  When I mix down I might insert a compressor but usually I just try to play measured and I just limit the dynamics overall.

I usually compress piano and vocals- sometimes guitar when mixing.  Then I limit or multiband compress when I'm "mastering".

Sweet digs there catman.

 ;D

I bet the kit sounds phenomenal in that room.

Rock on...

Nice, it looks very crashable.


By tape I mean whatever medium you're recording to, sorry, old habit.

I've yet to try limiting to tape, I'm going to have to experiment when I get home.  Thanks for answering my questions.

Sweet man thanks for the response, I was using the crappy Digi converters so I noticed a huge difference when I got my DA Converter but that's just me.  I'm glad things are working out for you with the studio, how's the Midas?

Oh, bugger - you added the cymbals already.  I was hoping you'd give a Peter Gabriel treatment to at least one of the tunes.  ;)


Aw, that's easy:  drum solo.

Seriously - stuff the transitions.  Subtlety (much like romance) is dead - just scare the hell out of everyone by following the mellow tune with some quads, or maybe some Swiss army triplets around the toms.  ;)


If you do get stuck picking out a snare for a tune, do a few rough tracks with the snares you're considering, and post 'em here.  Should be helpful, at least if you find getting a half-dozen conflicting opinions helpful.  ;)

I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting one of your snare drums to fit the bill, but if you really get stuck, I'll have to lend you one of my Tempus snares, or the copper Yammy.  ;D

Sweet indeed Felix. As usual, great taste in cymbals. That Novo china is one pie with authority, good to see it get recognition.

Hi my friend James Walker and thank you for putting your stamp on my thread.  Yes I added cymbals but I did work out a 16th note heavy funk/rock groove where I am just playing the hats.  I recorded that already but I have to go back and listen to it- it's been awhile.

I really really like the sonor signature snare drum.  It is very dry and records wonderfully with "a signature" oddly enough.  I was listening to another tune I have worked on today and I concentrated on the snare sound... it's totally everything I like in a snare drum... (at this time  ;D).  You never get any symp. buzz either.

I'll post a Mp3 tomorrow for you guys, oh can't till I get my computer back, soon though... tonight I'm making chili and playing some keys.  ;D

Oh, and to answer Jose's question:

I like the Midas.  It is very easy to get a good mix but always requires an increase in gain on the master/printing side of things since it is a live board.  One also has to be careful with the outboard effects as they can add noise very quickly (at least mine do  :-\).  I work in a minimalist sort of way so it's ok for me.  It  is nice intermediate board until I get a Neve or API if I can ever justify such an expendature.  But for what I do- it's pretty cool.  I can always mix in the computer with Cubase and use the automation and memory, etc... but I'm trying to stay away from that as much as possible.  It has a transparent sound, kinda warm sound with a very nice eq.  Mixed down it has an old school vibe to the sound.

Hi D.T.  Thank you for joining our thread.
Yes, I like the Novo.  Very clean china.  I sometimes put tape on it if I want to shorten the decay.  I also like to play it with a crash.  I have a cool coda I wrote with some nice drumming and china crashes I should post one of these day.  There James will find a nice wad of quads, sixes and in particular, a couple of 1/8 note flam tap fills that I am incredibly proud of.   :)

We did a session a couple of nights ago- bass tracks.

I put an EV RE20 on my ampeg (these are nice for kick drums too):

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/re20.jpg)

Then I just plugged it into my snake then into a focusrite 428 channel:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/428.jpg)

I filtered out a little of the low end and I also engaged the soft limit.

His bass is not a high quality instrument but we managed to find a quiet pickup in the thing.  I also used the low impedance setting on the 428 impedance selector- it has the lowest noise floor.  I added some low mid tone with midas eq on playback.

We only had to do a few punches with the Alesis HD24.  Such a breeze and oh so fast to set up with this machine:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/punch.jpg)

After I set up the preroll point I just tap in with my foot (like my shoes?)  8) :

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/pedal.jpg)

Here's my homey bro Jim.  Killer akron boy and my studio mentor- he's worked on all the best boards and gear, old school trumpet and bassman- very musical:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/jimbo.jpg)

Had an issue with the noble and cooleys- they aren't going to work for me and I'll leave it at that.  Will set up the hybrid sonor kit and go from there next entry.

Hey there Felix, this is a cool thread! :)

You "Had an issue with the noble and cooleys..." That's pretty enigmatic! Care to add any detail, or shall we just use our imagination?

No prob. byron thanks for asking

My friend who owns them has a new gig and he's probably going to be using them more often.  He beats the crap out of drums and when he takes them out the tuning is always changed and the set up is always hacked on the rack.

So he called me a couple of nights ago (after I had them all set up beautifully) to tell me he's taking them out for some B.S. bar gig the 13th.  I'm like "cool" actually thinking *your stupid, take your yamahas* but no biggie the heads are spent on the batters anyways and too heavy for my taste.  I just tore them down and cased them up today.  Once I get a kit dialed in I have to be "in the zone" for when I cut tracks.  Not trying to be an elitist, but when I start getting close I don't like to have disruptions.  I don't have the time or the talent.

So I guess I'm going to have to deal with my crap sonors.  At least with that rig I can keep them where I like them.

Good call Felix! Better to dial-in your Sonors to 95% and stay there, rather than to spend half of your time fooling with the N&C's to try to get that last 5% happening.

I swear, if you took a single sample note from a single tom from each of 100 drummers, from Buddy Rich to Bonzo... Ringo, Garibaldi, Gadd, Portnoy, Vinnie... Cobham, Weckl, Chambers, or Whitten on his new custom N&C's, or Mr. A on his hand-built micro-kit... you'd get 100 VERY different sounds, and all would sound cool in their own way! I'm a firm believer in the idea that the drummer makes the drum sound good, not vice-versa.

That's what scares me  ;D

So I have no excuses now.  I got my computer back from the shop and rearing to go.  I guess it's time I put up or shut up pretty soon  ;D *how about shut up*

Very nice room. I love the slotted wood ceiling. Great idea. Also beautiful. I would love to stain something like that. I wish I had an upright myself. I so miss playing real pianos. Why do you still use an ADAT, instead of using your PC? I'm just curious. Alanis' first record was done in a home studio on ADAT. They can definately get some good sounds. I was considering ADATs for a while, but I can't break away from my unlimited tracks and infinate plugins in the box. We even have an old 8ch reel to reel here that I want to use, but it doesn't offer me the control my PC has. Presonus does make some good stuff. I got the TubePre for free with a mic purchase and it is a very nice little pre. I think it worked best as a DI for bass and I've been using it for my kick mic.

I'd love to see what everyone is working with in their home studios. I would also like to hear other people's method's of composing. Felix have you checked out the TapeOp croud?

Thanks for popping in sleepy.

I use Adats because they sound great and are easy to move around.  The new Adats are awesome.  The old ones stink but you can still get some good sounds on them.  You also don't have a screen to distract you and a million plug ins.  I rarely use more the 16 tracks anyways- it's just how I like to work.

I always had and still have trouble with PC based recording systems.  In fact I just got my pc upgraded for what was some mastering/printing chores and shot a whole morning to heck trying to get it to record and play back properly.  Just a drag.  I don't like working with a pc to record at all anything although I know that's the way it's going.

One forum is enough for me.  8)

Hey Felix,

I'm curious what sort of trouble you've had with trying to get a good sound from your Sonors. I assume you're setting them up well, with good heads, tuning, and dampening if needed. What do you think is the problem, or what aren't they giving you that you're trying to get?

  So after I took the Delite toms out of the cases and set them up I was pretty bummed.  I played a rock gig on single ply heads which were at least a half of year old... and after I set them up this weekend I realized quickly that they were spent.  I went to sam ash and I picked up some Evans G2 clears for a change.

After the head change it took some time finding and fixing some buzzes in the hardware and setting all the mics back up.

They sound pretty good and the 10 sounds phenomenal.  I'm still getting used to tuning them with the new heads.  It seems they (and inparticular me) like a 1, 3, 5/Major relationship between the shell, top head and bottom... although sometimes the relationship is inverted in that the reso might be lower than the batter or vice versa.  They are much deeper with a softer feel than the noble and cooley shells.  Can't say much for the sound- different.  I should be able to get them to at least sound as good in some sense.

Here's my bro soundchecking them last night:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/johndelite1.jpg)

Oh, the kick is birch, the toms maple and the snare is beech.  I just love that snare drum- he commented and said "there's no buzz with this thing"... he he he. 8)

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/johndelite2.jpg)

He's got some big guns for arms doesn't he?

I did not take a pic but I have a large diaphragm condenser in front of the kick reso also (aquarian sk1 and regulator combo- still running the D6/in the kick angled towards the shell)- sounds good man!

I'm getting alot of bleed as well (always have).  I have been thinking about chopping out all the bleeded signal from the tracks (laborious process) digitally and doing some mixes with bleed and without (highly edited tracks).  With the bleed my mixes sound very retro if not dated.  Some people like this.  I would like to perhaps see if I chop out all the bleed perhaps I might get some added definition in the mixes and thus a more modern sound.

My, that's a terrific control room.  And, the lighting is incredible.  I always like seeing photos of your studio.

No real questions yet; I'm sure I'll have some later.  Just wanted to register my thoughts.

Thanks a bunch Joe and thanks for popping in on my thread. 

It was hard finding a dimmer switch that wasn't noisy and I also had to dump a whole set of track lights because the transformer was WAY too loud.  I'll have to ask my other buddy whom helped me with the lighting (I helped him actually  :D) what kinda dimmer I ended up getting that was silent.

OH and the computer is starting to get the debugged.  I guess I'll have to post some audio files pretty soon huh?

Nice digs ya got there, Felix!  I'm jealous.  I'll bet its a nice place to get away to.

Hi there Felix,

I'm still curious what you don't (or didn't) like about your Sonors. Being an engineer, producer, as well as a drummer, you have far more experience with recording drums than I do, and I'd be interested to hear what you find troublesome in recording drums. I'd also like to hear what makes you ;D when you're recording drums.

Do you have a video camera that you could give us a virtual tour of your studio? I love all the pics. Such a cozy looking space. I'm still blown away by the arch ceiling.

It's really not a big deal- just a small garage, barn combo really.

No I don't have a video camera.

And Byron I have a love hate relationship with all drums.  Overtones and nasty ringing are what I have problems with and getting the optimum sound out of each drum while finding balance within the kit as a whole.  I go for a clean, singing sound with even decay (minimum beats in the ocillation) and a pleasing interval between the two heads and the shell.  I like a nice slap for the attack if I can get it without too many high or gassy sounding overtones there and  I don't like the decay be too flubby or to ringy sounding.

  I mean it's not Capitol Records and I'm not Bob Clearmountain.  My stuff is what it is. 

Why is it that with all the nice photos that you've not made it in any of them?  I want to know what the Felix looks like.  I've got this picture of a guy wearing a giant furry cat costume sitting behind a set of Sonors in the cool private studio in my head and I've got to know man.

He he he.  I need to maintain my privacy- no pics.  It's tough to be famous in your own mind :D

I see how it goes...expose all the friends and relatives while your remain behind the curtain.

It's tough being famous.

felix, have you been experimenting with any mic'ing techniques?  Will you share what you've come up with?

i.e. bass direct as well as a room mic for the cabinet, etc.

One thing I've always liked is how well you describe drum sounds. I can always "hear" what those sounds are, even online. A+ for nice use of adjectives, felix!  ;D

robyn

Hey Felix,

I also have a love/hate with recording. I haven't recorded much, and the $$$ budgets didn't allow time for nit-picking the drum sound, so I just lived with it and focused on my playing. I imagine that since you have time to really work on the drum sound, it must be frustrating trying to capture the ideal you have in mind, especially since you were just getting the N&Cs dialled-in when your pal pulled them out. Bummer! :(

Since you mentioned him, I visited Bob Clearmountain's web site: www.mixthis.com

I knew his name in passing from all the albums he's worked on. It was interesting to see his place and his set-ups. (His backyard patio/pool area is my favorite part! :)

Along with the nuts and bolts engineering/producing stuff at his site, he has a "Fun Quotes" page with a bunch of great quotes he's collected from clients and others; here are just a few I thought you might appreciate:

"It sounds a lot more like it does now than it did ten minutes ago." – unknown A&R guy

"Could you put that up an octave just a little?" – unknown producer

"I just want the vibe of the strings to be on the tape." – unknown producer after telling the engineer to erase the string tracks he just spent the entire day recording

"It's a band, not a f!@#ing' metronome." —Mick Jagger

Gotta love Jagger and Watts! :)

Thanks Robyn- you really say the nicest things.  I hope to meet you some day.


I experiment more with the overheads and kick drum.  When I recorded at Suma (big studio with a wall of gold and platinum records) the engineer set up 441's on toms how I have mine and I just copied him.

For toms I work with the tuning and dampening first.  Then I just get the levels even (then back to more tuning  :-\ :D)  I've been working this set up now since last winter and I'm pretty happy for the most part.  The new heads threw me for a loop, but I get them dialed in alright this weekend.

Kick drum I learned from just playing in bands and watching different engineers work.  I don't have a big subwoofer in my monitor rig so I really don't get the kick's full range of tone until after the fact.  But I'm trying to get my ears used to lower volume mixing - usually it's ok.  I have a tendency to put too much in and I'm working on that.

I like using a low impedance setting on my preamps... to me it slows down the transients and mellows them out- for tracking this good I think and gives a mellower/rounder/more 3D type of tone.  There is also a lower noise floor- it's just what I like. 

I prefer micing the bass cab as opposed to D/I.  Just sounds smoother to me that's all.

I mic the guitar cabs but let the guitar players usually get happy with their tone... so they make the adjustments to their amps and guitars.  I have a guitar session coming up in a few weeks- that will be cool.  He cranks this killer wizard amp/cab combo up and I swear you can hear it half a block away- sounds awesome!

But really, it's just a product studio where I like to work on my demos. 

B.C. link byron, thanks.

Good tip from Bob C. did any of you catch that?  Get the vocals happening first then mix under that. 
He's totally da man.

Ooooo those quotes are funny!! I liked these:

Joe Pine (60's talk show host who sported a wooden leg) –"So, with your long hair, I guess that makes you a woman."
Frank Zappa's response - "So with your wooden leg, I guess that makes you a table."

"What do I care about lyrics... I'm a bass player!" —John Pierce

"Why the hell would I make up a name like 'Froom'?" —Mitchell Froom, upon
being asked if 'Froom' was his real name

Q Magazine to Brian Wilson: "Did you ever meet Charles Manson?"
Brian Wilson: "Yes I did. He seemed like an OK guy, but he went and murdered some people, which was pretty bad."

Good stuff! Felix, you really need to put in a pool/waterslide too. And one of them big outdoor kitchens!

robyn

ps--I'm really enjoying this thread, even tho I don't understand most of it. (there's my clearmountain "quote" for the evening ;D)

Thanks, Robyn.  The laugh felt good!   ;D

I miss Frank Zappa.

Ok Jamez, ask and ye shall receive (I don't always play this many notes). This is the birch snare with a 5 mic set up (one overhead).  It's an older clip but I'm in the mastering stage (such a presumptuous term- it's pretty much mixed ok?) with it.  My computer is sorta working now.  I was going to take some pics of the plugs ins (these are programs that run within a program such as reverb, dynamics (compression and limiting), etc.)  There are like millions of plug ins one can buy for their computer audio.  I just used a tiny bit of compression, a few db of low and high end shelf eq.  I had used reverb and delay already on the mixing portion of the song.  And compression on some tracks too.  For those of you who don't know about compression it lowers the dynamic peaks (db's) of a certain track and makes the tunes sound smoother.  That's a whole other topic though.

You can really hear the maple in these toms:

http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/onebetclip.mp3 (http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/onebetclip.mp3)

I'll be glad when I'm done with all this.  My stuff seems to have a 70's vibe in the sound and I just gotta live with that for awhile.  Subsequently, I'm going to take some time off of recording and just practice my piano and drumming.

Clip sounds cool Felix... really lush sound! Drums mixed-in nicely also, with good definition and tone. Are you doing double bass in those triplety-fills?

If it's not a lot of trouble, yes, I'd like to see pix of the computer rig.

I'm glad someone thinks so byron, thanks.

Yeah the fills are just quads, 3+3 sextuplets then 1/8ths

I'll be back up there today and post a few shots, but really it's just an upgraded computer with a 10 year old spdif in and out card.

So your drumming is live -- no overdubs? Nice goin' cat-man! :)

I have the luxury of getting a good take and punching in drums usually sounds pretty bad.  It's no big deal- I let a few mistakes go, gives the tune some soul. The editing I do do is chopping out bleed or mic stand noise, people moving around, lip smacking- just noise.

Now I made a BIG mistake with last clip in the processing.  I listened to it a few times and I'm like "what the heck is going on with the dynamics?"  Well, the release on the limiter was set way too long... it was set for over 1 second and I only wanted a fraction of a second.  My ears were pretty shot by the end of the day saturday.  I got some more pics though.  I will have to post them when I can.

Well I should be practicing right now but here is the clip with a faster release on the limiter.  It doesn't sound so weird now:

Sorry had to fix the url:

http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/onebetclip2.mp3 (http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/onebetclip2.mp3)


I will post some pics later of my computer and board and other stuff (yes I know you are all thrilled to death) so bear with me.  This will give people a better idea of how my project studio works.

Peace.

Are you guys with dial up hating me yet? ;D

Here are some more pics.  I'm not sure if they are going to be in any particular order so you will have to use your imagination at times:

I think byron wanted to see my computer.  Alright.

I just had it upgraded to 2.5 Ghz with a gig of ram.  It's running good for the most part.  I wanted 3.5 but my computer guy said for the money I should be happy with this. 

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/computer.jpg)

The yammy burner is nice.

Here's my monitor and yammy powered monitor speakers.  I've had both a long time but they still do the trick:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/monitor.jpg)

Here's a spdif (sony phillips digital interface format) cable... this is how
I manage the digital transfers.  It looks like an RCA end:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/spdif.jpg)

I mix on this little midas venus series.  I take digital photos of it in case I want to go back to a mix and tweak it:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/midas.jpg)

Ummm.  Ok here is my dynamic section (compressor/limiters) which I insert into channels which need to be squished:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/compressors.jpg)

I mix onto this, the alesis masterlink- handy little box, everyone whom likes to record should have one :):

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/masterstink.jpg)

And then it goes from there to my computer if need be where I add addtional processing.  I run wavelab 3.0... it really does the trick.  My finger is pointing to the compressor and the point or "knee" where the threshold begins.  You can barely see it since I'm hardly using any!  But if you really crank on the compression and threshold (db level where you want compression to start working) you will see a very large bend in the graphic display- and of course you will hear it.

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/dynamic.jpg)

Ok thanks for letting me post some pics.  There are some other gadgets I use, but not a whole lot more.  That's pretty much it except for a couple of old digital reverbs and delays.  One is from the 80's he he he.

Oh yeah, and the front end as it's called (pre amps and recorder)... I'll show you guys those later if you want- not too big of a deal. :)

Front end pics, front end pics!!!  LOL,

Hey man good work I'm enjoying this thread as well.

Yep!

I'm not a big fan of studio perfectionists, like doing 40 takes, then slicing-together bar 63 from take 19 and bars 18-20 from take 33....  Imo it ends-up sounding just too perfect.

I like music to sound like music played by musicians and singers, rather than computer-processed.

Felix, is your monitor on top of a mini fridge??

If yes, then you are a man after my own heart in more ways than I already thought.

Wonderful thread, by the way. My band is about to embark on a large-scale home recording project, perhaps I should make a similar (yet much much much lower-tech) thread. You know, for us little guys that don't have a HOME STUDIO.

I have also always wanted to know what The Felix looks like. I know there's a Show Us Your Drums thread; maybe there should be a show us your face thread.

yeah, that's a fridge.  I'm going to take it out cause it's kinda noisy (not even plugged in now) plus I don't like a bunch of liquids up there.  A little water and a glass of wine now and then is usually the norm.

The technology today is incredible.  Anyone can get great radio quality sounds from a minimum of gear.  A studio is a personal thing.  This is my third? I think and sometimes it does hit me what it has come from and where it is now.  These things take time.  The funds will come and your preferences to how you like to work come also.  Some guys golf or build fast cars- whatever.  I have been swapping, buying and keeping gear since the 80's, so it may seem like a huge amount of stuff, but over 20 years I think it was a natural progression for me.  Many of my pieces were around 100 bucks, some free and of course some not.  Remember, you don't need super expensive gear to sound great.  Yes, I would like an SSL or a bunch of Neve modules to mix down on, but I like to justify my purchases.  There are ways to get great sounds out of a mackie.  There have been great records made on consumer equipment.

It does take dedication to get the best sounds from your gear and some gear you just have to let go (ie SOFTWARE)but truly the most important ingredient is talent and the tune.  If you have that, it's all downhill. :)

heidi heido ho again.

well, after two weeks of after school, weekend warrior endeavors I think I got a decent drum track for this tune- close enough for rock n roll anyways.

It's just piano and drums- we start layering now and I have to come up with some lyrics  :D :-\ get some "cookie monster" vocals happening... he he he

Here's a clip if you feel like listening to what I have so far.  It's not cranked to mastering levels, so you might have to crank up your puter's speakers.  Don't expect much for fills either.  If there is one thing I've learned at DC it's to play measured and even (at least attempt to). ;D

http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/whodunnitclip.mp3 (http://www.woolyinc.com/sounds/whodunnitclip.mp3)

I'm really happy how my cymbals are turning out.  I'm running them thru the bottom tube pre (see my front end of mic preamps)  It's the black and green digitech one.  I replaced the 12ax7 tubes in them (they were russian) with some phillips NOS tubes.  Boy they seem to be doing the trick.  Then the kick and snare go into the Neumann VT476 pre's (middle stereo pair) and the toms and another kick mic (EV RE20) go into the top focusrite.  All these pre's plug into the focusrite 428 digital converter card (analog to digital 4+4) total) and then I go digital into the adat:

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/frontend.jpg)

I then mix my headphone level on my board (after it comes out of the adat- sorry forgot to mention that):

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/midasmon.jpg)

Then I route them into another stereo buss which I run back into my drum room via this headphone amp.  I usually just leave the overheads on to monitor with while I'm tracking.  I like a little verb in the mix too.

(http://www.woolyinc.com/images/headphoneamp.jpg)

Ok, thanks for dropping by  :)

Nice Felix! The drums and your playing sounds just right for the piece! The piano/drums creates a good, solid bed to start layering-on other instruments and vocal tracks.

If there's one thing I'd say about what little recording I've done, it's that I've never regretted playing too little; I've only regretted when I've played too much! I think you've played really good drums parts here.

Interesting description of the signal path also! Thanks for that.

Sounding good felix!  Nice and punchy

Nice going catman.  Your techie threads are always a treat.

Oh, and if you're really curious about what the esteemed Mr. Felix looks like, then search for his Christmas card thread from a year or two ago.  There's of pic of he and the Mrs.  Nice looking couple! 

Oh, thanks a bunch guys.  I try.

I will be taking a couple of weeks off so I had to turn everything off and cover it up yesterday  :'(

I will miss my drummin' and recording stuff (even though it drives me crazy half the time).

One of my customers from NYC is coming out at the end of october to tweak my room.  He's some hot shot studio designer and speaker builder (he's building me a sub).  So that will be alot of fun and kinda interesting too I would think- at least for me  ;D.