Drummer Cafe Community Forum

We recently did a recording of our practice and I was horrorfied,(happy halloween), with my dynamics.  A lot of my fills were way too loud, as well as some cymbal strikes, and strokes where I stop or stab.  NOT fluid.  I've put a lot of focus on steady time and that has improved.  But my fills will start loud and the volume descends and things sound choppy, even though my timing has become better. 

Strangely enough, I've recently started working on volume dynamics with my instructor with some success.  Part of the problem may have been I was a little amped because we were recording, but at the same time, I don't think I've put much focus on this during band practice.  Anyway, I kinda feel like I got my butt kicked after listening to myself.  I thought I sounded better than I did.

I suppose half the battle is knowing what you need to do and this recording exposed that.  If ya'll have any suggestions in the mean time it would be much appreciated.
Brett

It's a good exercise to "horrify" yourself with a recording now and again. I think you'll find even the most experienced pros around here will tell you that they're often a little less than happy with certain aspects of their recordings.

A couple of things might be happening, or a combination of factors. For starters, how are you recording yourself? Depending on the mic, mic positioning, etc., it's possible that pieces of the kit will vary in volume depending on their proximity to the mic. The technical specs of the mic (i.e. frequency response) can also effect this.

But assuming all things are equal(ised), you can start by working on maintaining an even volume as you move around the kit. The rule of thumb is that if you strike from the same distance, at the same speed you should get a similar amount of volume each time. That said, different sized drums, with different tunings can need a different amount of force to get the same volume. Learning to control that is a matter of practice. Listen to your recording for clues to what needs fixing. For example, do you always play your floor tom quieter than the rest?

To attack this, work on playing grooves and then going into fills and concentrate on ensuring that there is an evenness of volume as you move around the kit. Try to get the grooves and fills at a similar volume as well. Many times we tend to play our grooves too loud, and our fills too softly. Bring the volume of your grooves down at first.

On the technical side, pay attention to the height and speed of your strokes. Is it even with both hands? Is it even from drum to drum? If you want, work just on rolling around the kit. Do it slowly and watch your motions: are you getting your hands in a similar position for each drum, are you hitting the centre of each drum or are you playing near the rim (reducing the volume)?

And, if you can stand the horror, record all of this then go back and listen and look for improvements, or things that still need work.

My knowledge is limited about recording.  This was done on an 8 track and there were only 2 condenser mics used.   The recording was done so we could hear ourselves.  I'm fairly confident my issues were due to my playing.

Lots of great information in your reply Boomka, that I will put to use.

Good for you. Not all drummers even think about this issue.

My best advice is to probably keep on recording yourself.
It doesn't hurt to think about dynamics as you play, especially as you fill.
I still do this, but some people say it's better to not think at all and just go with the moment.
That's good too, but takes some practice and experience.
Around the kit, the parts that project the most are probably snare drum and cymbals.
The least projecting are bass drum followed by toms.
So, if you were playing loud rock music for example I'd pretty much lay into the bass drum, less so the snare and even less the hi-hat and cymbals.
When you come to a fill, and if it starts on the snare, concentrate on playing the snare the same volume as your hits during the groove. When you move to the toms you can slightly hit harder as they project less than the snare. Lay off any cymbal crash at the end of the fill.
It takes time to get used to this, and you need to keep recording so you can hear the effect of your changes and adjust if your snare has become too quiet, or the toms too loud.
I agree with Boomka though, you have to bear in mind many microphones, especially condensers, emphasise bright sounds like snare and cymbals. So the real sound of your kit may not have been as unbalanced as the recording you heard.

After talking to the bandmates it appears the recording was PART of the problem.  Indeed, the bandmate who fusses w/ the recording aspect mentioned the snare and cymbals were bright via the recording.  I still need to work on dynamics.  Parts that should have less volume, I was still hitting the hats and snare too hard.

A note from Chris's comment, "Lay off any cymbal crash at the end of the fill",  is this something I need to stop? (I know not always...necessarily)  Apparently, I most always hit a cymbal at the end of a fill.  Suffice it to say it's a habit.  Do I need to break this habit?

Sorry if I'm a little confused about this but many thanks for your responses.

No.
Sorry for confusing you. Partly a matter of me not understanding American language use I think.
When I say 'lay off' I mean don't hit so hard. So, at the end of your fills, don't absolutely hammer the crash. Try to play it so it doesn't sound twice as loud as the toms you just played.

I know for me I've found dynamic issues when it came to hitting the bigger drums (ie: 16" floor tom).  I had to play the 16" and 18" floor toms a little harder than the other drums. 

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