Recording Drums and The Power of Power

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of working with producer Paul Speer on CORE 9's Visions album. While he taught me many valuable lessons, the one that pertains here is that the volume with which you play greatly influences your timing and the way the sound of your drums translate into a recording. This even pertains to song passages that are meant to be quiet.

The recording studio is one place where no one should complain about how hard you hit. If they do, they're compromising the way the recording will sound.

By now, you're probably asking as I asked Paul, "What about ballads and soft parts?" Fair enough. What I learned was that even in soft passages the drums must be strong and that takes power. The bass player, the guitar player, the vocalist, the mixing engineer will all take care of the dynamics of the song. What they need from the drummer is an unwaivering tempo and great drum tones and that takes playing with maximum intensity.

No one that I know of has ever made even a mediocre recording with a timid disposition. Recording requires attitude and courage and, when it comes to drums, attitude requires preperation and power.

Still need proof? Listen to recordings of all of the great drummers, especially the soft passages. Neil Peart, Scott Rockenfield, Terry Bozzio, Dave Weckyl, all of the great drummers are also hard hitters. Also notice how good their timing is and how good their drums sound. None of that is "fixed in the mix". It was tuned and performed into what it is and you can do it to.