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Recording Drums

When it came to recording drums for the EP I struggled at first as I was yet to record drums alone to a professional standard. However after conducting research and seeking assistance from both the drummer playing on the EP and one of my teachers I successfully learnt how to record drums to the standard I desired. "The most natural sound can be obtained with a high-quality condenser mic positioned overhead and either in-front or behind the kit" (Hugh Robjohns 2003).  When it came to recording drums I started off by setting two over heads on the left and right side of the kit although the article I read only recommended using one of the back or front through experimenting I found that my technique was more effective. I was also taught the year pervious to this one during a music tech course to record drums like this. I also placed individual mic's on the Kick, Snare and a SM57 to the hi-hat. By placing microphones to these features of the drum kit it really allowed me to gain a clearer sound from the main/key aspects of a drum kit. I also experimented with techniques such as placing a hoodie/t-shirt over the snare to get a damper sound or placing clothing or some sort of fabric inside of the kick drum too soften the kick. The drummer i'm using (Nathaniel Ruben) also showed me how different types of drum sticks (Standard -wooden and nylon tipped-, brushes, brooms and swizzles) can all affect the sound of the drum kit and can suit different genres. For example upon re-watching the Nirvana Unplugged album videos I can see that Dave Grohl commonly uses brushes to get a less harsh acoustic sound as appose to standard sticks.

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