In our final installment of “Building A Drum Sound” I’m replacing the mono overhead with a stereo spaced pair.
This isn’t your typical spaced pair however. I approach my overheads a little different than the norm. Actually I adapted this from a setup that I saw George Massneburg use. It’s not the same, but definitely inspired his setup for sure.
This is something that is easier to explain in a video so I’m not going to try and explain it here. You will notice however that the overall drum sound will definitely open up now. We’ll actually have a real stereo image!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this mini series on Building A Drum Sound and I always love hearing from you. Especially about your recording endeavors.
Happy recording everyone!
Charlie
p.s. I’ll be conducting a drum recording master class this coming Saturday at 12pm pacific time. It will live stream from the Ultimate Studios, Inc YouTube channel.
A new kids web series from Hooplakidz, “The Adventures of Annie & Ben“, is an instant hit. Just 10 days after release the first 3 episodes have garnered 200,000 views!
Written by Dennys McCoy & Pamela Hickey and Produced by Anu Javeri, “THE ADVENTURES OF ANNIE AND BEN” is a funny, happy, friendly show about three really great, loyal friends. They like adventure, travel, making new friends, and music. All four subjects meld together perfectly with our trio of globe-trotters.
The Voice Over cast is absolutely amazing. Annie is read by Anu Javeri, Ben is read by John Biondolillo, and Mango and most of the other characters are read by Gerard Marzilli
The Voices were recorded by Engineer Charlie Waymire at Ultimate Studios, Inc and YouTube studios.
There is no doubt that having killer looking and sounding video is an absolute must in today’s music business. We’re not talking iPhone video. We’re talking fantastic looking video that grabs peoples attention and gets you the recognition that you deserve.
How many videos have you seen that are literally inaudible? LOTS! We’re here to end that. At Ultimate Studios, Inc we take great pride in recording the best sounding drums in LA and that’s just what we’ll do for you. Producer/Engineer Charlie Waymire is one of the best in LA when it comes to drum sounds and, being a drummer himself, takes great pride in helping drummers achieve the sounds they have always dreamed of.
To help you promote yourself we have put together a killer 4 hour studio package that will give you exactly what you need to build your drumming portfolio and show prospective employers your skills. If this sounds like what you need then it’s time you contacted us!
Call us at: (818) 308-4553 or
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for details and to set up your Drum Cover Killer Video Package session today!
At Ultimate Studios, Inc we believe in giving bands and artists everything they need to build a long and lasting career. We are uniquely setup as a recording studio that is geared towards the modern music business by offering not only the best in audio recordings but HD video as well.
Go behind the scenes of the Drum Recording Ninja Workshops. This video is from a live Periscope broadcast and was shot just prior to our latest Drum Recording Ninja Workshop. For this workshop Charlie was joined by his FullOnDrums.com cohort Scott Francisco and drummer extraordinaire Jeff Bowders.
The Drum Recording Ninja Workshops are for ANYONE that is interested in recording drums. Topics that are covered include tuning tips, mic types and choosing the right mics, overhead techniques, room micing techniques, minimal micing techniques, and much, much more. Our goal is to show you techniques that you can use on your very next session!
For those of you who haven’t attended a workshop yet we would like to give you a little behind the scenes look at the setup. We have fun at these workshops and so does everyone that attends. Below are a few photos plus the input list for the workshop.
Enjoy and we hope to see you at the next workshop!
Somedays in the studio are pretty straight forward. Maybe it’s a drum session (which are never really straight forward!), maybe it’s a vocal session, or a guitar session, or even a full band tracking live all day. While every session is fun (even if it’s a lot of work) somedays are more unique than others.
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of working with Country artist Kalynne Michelle and producer Max Pfisterer on Kalynne’s debut EP. The sessions have been well organized by Max and for the most part everything has gone smoothly.
The drum, vocal, and guitar sessions were all pretty straight forward in that we were only focussing on one at a time. Then, we had one of those sessions where we were jam packed the entire day recording pedal steel, banjo, keys, organ, fiddle, mandolin, and vocals! It was crazy but very fun!
Here’s how that day went!
Enjoy
Charlie
7:30: Wake Up!
My trusty dog Oscar wakes me up every morning to take him out and this day was no different. We did a full day of guitars the days before and I got home a little late so needless to say I was a bit tired.
9:30: Coffee Time!
Now my day can officially start! Lizzy and I hit one of our favorite coffee shops in Santa Monica, 18th St. Coffee. Quad Americano. That’s how I roll. (I had several pots of coffee later at the studio too…)
10:00: Drive To Studio
Not too eventful. Most of my drives to the studio are in silence or spent listening to sports radio for news on my Chiefs. Usually they are in silence though. Something about driving in silence that just prepares me for the day.
10:30: Fire Up the Console
I like having a few minutes to myself before sessions to get everything ready to go. Fire up the console, get the ac kicking, and just to have a few minutes in the studio alone. It’s like meditation for me. All I need is a few minutes and I’m ready for anything!
11:00: Pedal Steel w/Federico
We started our day with Federico, who is also my assistant, playing pedal steel on a few parts. He’s a talented dude and the song needed it. We still had our guitar rig setup from the day before so we used it for the pedal steel. It sounded great!
12:15: Fiddle w/Jesse Olema
We were in for a treat here. Jesse Olema came in and just wowed us all. It was my first time working with him and he was fantastic. Something amazing about fiddle.
2:00: Banjo w/Gus
Next up was banjo with Augustus Mccloskey. Gus was pulling double duty on this session starting with banjo. He played some really nice parts that worked well with the guitars we did the day before.
3:30 Keys w/Paul
Our day contented with Paul Myint latin’ down keys. Keys really fill things out and Paul played great. I think at this point I was on my second pot of coffee.
5:30: Lunch
In-N-Out. Not sure why Federico and I didn’t go to Chipotle.
6:30: Organ w/Paul
Got to fire up the Hammond M3 and lay down some real organ parts with Paul. Nothing beats a real organ. It’s so freakin’ cool!
7:30: Mandolin w/Gus
Gus was back up with mandolin this time. The mandolin adds such a neat color. It’s kind of dreamy actually. Gus totally nailed it too.
8:30: Vocals w/Kalynne
Ahh yes. Final to the reason this EP is being recorded. Vocals. Kalynne has a wonderful voice and after recording guitars the day before and spending most of this day recording all the extra elements it was nice to hear the vocals go down. It was nice having the vocals be the last thing we recorded for the day. For the two days actually. It was just a really nice way to end a couple great days of tracking.
10:15: That’s A Wrap!
Done for the day. Federico and I didn’t even bother tearing everything down. We cleaned up a bit and called it a night. I love being in the studio. I love hearing songs go from skeletons to finished pieces. On this day we had people in and out of the studio all day long. And at the end of the day that’s what makes music so damn special…the people. The people that put their heart and soul into making music.
Producer Adam Moseley was in the studio working with the band Beck Black. Adam is an amazing producer with a long history of working with some of the biggest artists in the music business dating back to the hay day at Trident Studios in London.
During this session we chronicled Adam while he talks about his recording philosophies and why he likes the new Trident 88 console. He brought a fantastic band, Beck Black, and recorded them live.
The band consists of Beck Black (vocals/keys), Adam Alt (drums), and Mo (guitars).
There was a LOT of video recorded for this session that will be released in the near future by Trident Audio Developments that will feature reviews with Adam as well has recording techniques and a performance by the band. We’ll keep you posted about the release of the video.
In the meantime enjoy some photos and a quick behind the scenes video from Charlie.
We’re happy to announce the next Drum Recording Ninja Workshops is May 16, 2015 from 12pm-3pm! Sponsored by Audio-Technica, Remo Drumheads, Gretsch Drums, and FullOnDrums.com!
FullOnDrums.com has launched a new video series called “Session Report”.
In this new series Charlie will document actual sessions at Ultimate Studios, Inc. He’ll talk about choosing microphones to fit the artists sound, micing techniques and concepts, gear, and most importantly why he chooses to use a particular mic or setup.
Session Reports are all about context. Some setups will be fairly straight forward and some may be more unorthodox. The goal is to show what went in to capturing a sound for a specific artist.
The debut Session Report episode features drummer Jeff Bowders (Paul Gilbert/Puddle of Mudd). Jeff performs a track of his album “The Pilgrimage of Thingamuhjig”. Check out the video below and be sure to visit FullOnDrums.com for a complete breakdown of the session including photos, mic list, outboard gear list, and detailed session notes.
Enjoy!
There is a secret to getting great drum sounds that surpasses almost anything else. It’s more important than having good mics, killer drums, or even an amazing room. What I’m about to tell you might shock you…..but it’s a secret that will always set you up for great drum recordings. Are you ready?
Ultimate Studios, Inc. was recently invaded by Chad Smith and Kevin Chown who were recording for international superstar Tarja Turunen.
Tarja’s music is extremely dynamic with very orchestral arrangements. To match the demands of the music we set Chad up with a late 60’s Rogers Holiday kit with 10″, 12″, 13″ rack toms, 14″ & 16″ floor toms and a 24″ kick. This kit was massive and sounded even more massive!
Working together in Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats, Chad and Kevin have formed one of the most formidable rhythm sections in music. To make this session even better we tracked them together! The way a great rhythm section should be tracked!
“When you have a rhythm section as good as Chad and Kevin they absolutely have to play together. There is simply no other way to do it. Watching them interact with each other in the room and hearing the energy and groove they were creating was simply fantastic. This is exactly why I built Ultimate Studios, Inc!” says engineer Charlie Waymire.
