Yuku free message boards

1. Could you talk a little about specialties you use when recording. I just read something in Tape Op about reamping drums by laying a snare upside down on a guitar amp, then let a previously recorded snaretrack trigger the drum again and record this with a mic. So do you have any cool McGuyver techniques you want to share with us? We'll keep 'em secret, right guys? The same goes for creating loops of course...

MY ANSWERS WILL BE IN CAPS! FIRST OF ALL TAPE OP MAGAZINE IS AWESOME!!!! MY FIRST STUDIO EXPERIENCE EVER WAS WITH JOHN BAGGAGALUPI ENGINEERING. HE DOES ALL OF TAPE OP'S LAYOUTS AND MORE. I WAS RAISED IN SACTO. CA, AND THAT IS WHERE THAT MAG IS. GREAT MAG. TO SUBSCRIBE TO!

I HAVE WITNESSED THE SNARE AUDIO RESONATING THE SNARES FROM A SPEAKER LIKE YOU DESCRIBED. MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD DEMONSTRATE AT SOME POINT ON A LITTLE VIDEO? IT WAS A GREAT IDEA TO CAPTURE MORE OF THE SNARE BUZZ AND CREATE AN EVEN MORE LIVE SOUND. BILLY MIGHT HAVE AN EVEN BETTER IDEA OF THIS SNARE THICKENING METHOD? DON'T WORRY IF YOU HAVE NOT CHECKED THIS TECHNIQUE OUT, BECAUSE REMEMBER ENGINEERS HAVE THE JOB OF COMING UP WITH UNIQUE AND CRAFTY WAYS TO CAPTURE OUR INSTRUMENTS!

I HAVE A VERY MODEST BASEMENT THAT HAS BEEN DRY-WALLED AND CONVERTED TO LOOK LIKE A COMFORTABLE PRACTICE AREA/HOME STUDIO. RIGHT NOW THERE IS NOTHING ON THE WALLS EXCEPT ART. WHAT I MEAN IS THERE IS NOT ANY AURALEX PANELS OR FOAM ETC. I WILL HAVE MY BUDDY COME OVER (SOUND ENGINEER-NASHVILLE SYMPHONY) TO TUNE THE ROOM TO GET A GOOD DRY SOUND. I HAVE LEARNED THE MOST ABOUT RECORDING FROM MY YEARS IN SACRAMENTO. I HAVE THE BASIC TECHNIQUES OF MICROPHONE PLACEMENT AND PROPER LEVEL/LINE/SIGNAL LEVEL TO MY LITTLE PRO-TOOLS/MAC LE UNIT. I AM GOING TO KEEP THIS ONE SHORT, BECAUSE THIS CAN GET MASSIVE! I WILL LET YOU ALL DECIDE HOW IN DEPTH YOU WOULD LIKE TO GO. HOWEVER, LATELY I HAVE BEEN DOING A PRETTY NEAT THING BY TAKING MULTIPLE ROOM MICS AND PLACING THEM ALL OVER THE HOUSE. SO, AFTER CLOSE MIKING ALL THE DRUMS, HATS, OVERHEADS AND ONE ROOM MIC IN THE BASEMENT, I PROCEED TO PLACE OTHER MICS IN NUMEROUS FAR AWAY LOCATIONS. FOR EXAMPLE; THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, IN THE KITCHEN AROUND THE CORNER FROM THE BASEMENT, IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM... YOU NAME IT, I LIKE TO TRY IT. ALL IT COSTS IS MY EXPERIMENTATION TIME SINCE I AM THE ENGINEER IN TRAINING!!! THE FUN PART IS TO MIX THE ODDLY PLACED ROOM MICS WITH THE CLOSE MICS. I HAVE REALLY CAPTURED SOME FUN FLAM STYLE MIXES WITH THE DISTANT MICS IN THE MIX. THIS IS TOTALLY 100% NOT ANYTHING NEW, IT IS JUST A BLAST, SO GO EXPERIMENT.

EASY START FOR EVERYONE IN MY HUMBLE OPINION: GARAGE BAND USING YOUR MACS INTERNAL MICS. LOWER THE INPUT LEVEL A BUNCH TO AVOID DISTORTION THEN HAVE FUN. THEN IF THIS GETS OLD, START TO LOOK AT SMALL INTERFACES THAT WILL WORK WITH PRO-TOOLS, REASON, LIVE OR OTHER GREAT RECORDING SOFTWARE.

2. What do you think is the best way to start including loops (all kinds) in one's playing or better: making loops a real part of playing, not just some clicktrack-kind-of-thingy. I'm thinking like arrangements, songwriting, how to program the loops, how to trigger them, recommended equipment, something like that. Maybe the question is a bit general but I love creating loops and I love playing drums - now I want to put this together somehow...

RIGHT NOW WITH MY BAND BIODIESEL, I USE ABLETON LIVE WITH MY ROLAND SPD-S AS THE CONTROLLER. HOPEFULLY I CAN GET INTO MORE DETAIL ON THIS IN THE NEAR FUTURE! ABLETON LIVE IS ABSOLUTELY MY ARRANGER FOR MY PARTS THAT I CREATE IN THE PROGRAM REASON.

I STARTED BY PLAYING ALONG TO RECORDS BY PUBLIC ENEMY, JAMES BROWN AND THEN TECHNO AND HOUSE STUFF. THEN I GOT INTO DRUM AND BASS SAMPLING CDS. I BOUGHT THEM AND WOULD TRY TO RE-CREATE THEM ON MY DRUMS. NOW I WORK WITH MY SPD-S ON ITS OWN OR IN CONJUNCTION WITH ABLETON LIVE. IN MY OPINION, PLAYING TO LOOPS LETS YOUR PLAYING BREATH AND FEELS SO MUCH NICER THAN JUST A CLICK. LOOPS INSPIRE IDEAS AND FEELS FOR ME TO GROOVE ON. MORE LATER!

Great first question, Mainely. This has been on my mind lately, too. My motivation level to become a better drummer is higher now than ever, so I began to evaluate my technique, speed, form, expand my vocabulary, etc. It's all related, right? Over the years I developed a few bad habits (should have taken lessons ). One bad habit is I tend to play everything with a French grip, which is not the natural way for the wrist to bend. I'm making a concert effort to correct it. I'm curious to know how much this could be affecting my speed. I recently started to practice playing shuffles w/ my right on the HH or ride and seem to hit a wall in terms of speed. For years, the only way I knew how to play shuffles was to shuffle on the kick and quarter notes on the HH/ride.

Hey JeepnDRUMMER! HOPE ALL IS WELL. TO TRY TO GIVE YOU MY ANSWER, I WOULD SAY THAT I LIKE TO EXPLORE ALL ASPECTS OF ROTATION OF THE WRISTS. WITH THAT BEING SAID, PLEASE REALIZE IT HAS TO BE COMFORTABLE FOR YOU. I USE FRENCH QUITE A BIT FOR LOWER DYNAMIC LEVEL FINGER CONTROL. I ALMOST NEVER HAVE MY WRISTS IN A FLAT STYLE POSITION SORT OF LIKE THEY WOULD BE TYPING AN E-MAIL! ONCE AGAIN, BETWEEN THE TYPING POSITION AND FRENCH-THUMBS UP IS MY POINT OF COMFORT. I ALSO ADMIT THAT I HAVE SEEN SOME PHOTOS OF MYSELF PLAYING AND MY INDEX IS SOMETIMES CAUGHT CREEPING UP THE STICK. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, I AM GENERALLY USING MY MIDDLE FINGER AND THUMB AS THE FULCRUM. I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT RELAXED PRACTICE ON A PAD WILL ALLOW YOU TO GET YOUR SPEED AND CONTROL TOGETHER. I AM ALL ABOUT MUSIC, HOWEVER ENJOY THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF DRUMS AS WELL. AT THE END OF THE DAY, I DO MY BEST TO BE MUSICAL. SO, PRACTICE TO GET THE SPEED YOU NEED, BUT USE IT ONLY WHEN IT IS CALLED FOR.