"I may be biased since I worked on the book... but I've also read this book cover to cover five times! It's an excellent drum recording guide and a must for everyone working in hard-rock and metal, from drummers to producers, in basements and project studios. There's something for everyone with solid advice and techniques that can be followed even on the smallest budget and in less-than-ideal spaces."
"I loved it!!! Really great material all the way through."
"Well-written and easy-to-read guide to assist in the endless search for the perfect drum sound. Comprehensive enough for dummies, detailed enough for pros. Even if there wouldn't be any real guidelines in engineering, Santeri Salmi sets you on the right track so you don't have to try absolutely everything just to find out it doesn't work that way."
Ville Sorvali, producer & journalist. Vocalist/bass player (Moonsorrow), Finland.
"I've always been somewhat afraid of looking into the subject of recording drums as I figured it would take hours and hours of studying and years of experience to make the results even near listenable. Santeri has done good job in writing every aspect and detail in a way that even a dummy like myself (afterall I just hit things) can understand what's on the paper. Informative pictures and a good sense of humour is well appreciated here and makes the reading very easy. Highly recommended for every drummer and anyone who's interested in recording drums and getting the best results out of drummers performance."
"Read it in a hurry yesterday as I was tracking drums in the PM. Really interesting approach on overheads as for everything else. I ended up with minimal phase cancellation and with snare dead center first try, WOW! Thanks again for sharing your experience through this eBook. It's definitely a great tool to have!"
Recording powerful and punchy drums is something I have been after since I started my audio engineering journey. I have read countless articles and books about drum recording, but most of them have failed to give me the results I am after. Most of the time, the biggest limiting factor of aggressive drum sound is the tempo. If you want the faster parts not to sound like a complete mess, you need to have total control over the sound.
I'm a drummer. I used to play drums in a death metal band called Dauntless (1993-2008) and in various other projects before focusing into recording and mixing. I have played drums for 20 years and have 10 years of professional recording experience. I run my little studio called Drop Hammer Studios and I have also worked in many other studios. I have had the honour of recording many different drummers, and many of them have been a lot better than me.
Today's drum sound is not very acoustic. Most records have some sample replacement or augmenting going on to make the sound more powerful and consistent. I want to create a great drum sound right from the start and try to keep it acoustic in the mix. Get it right in the beginning and the mixing engineer will get 100 % out of your tracks. Even if he is going to use sample replacement.
I will go through every detail of drum recording from my own point of view. The approach is based on my experience on how to get a sound where the power, separation and definition is taken to it's maximum level. After you have gone through the first part, you can find one chapter dedicated to "raw" drums. It features examples of what I do differently when the end result calls for more traditional, "organic" drum sound.