A lot of common questions are addressed here, but please don't hesitate to contact me with others.
How exactly does this work?
How much does it cost?
How long will it take?
What should my guide track be like?
How will I be sure your drums will line up with my tracks?
How should I communicate how I want the drums to sound?
How will I be able to 'produce' the tracks?
What file format do you use?
How will you deliver the tracks?
How many tracks do you normally record?
What will the tracks sound like?
What kinds of drums do you use?
What's your room like?
What's up with all that artwork?
What DAW do you use?
What kinds of mics do you use?
What kinds of preamps do you use?
Do you do percussion as well?
Why send tracks to you rather than go into a traditional studio?
Can't I just get great-sounding drums with sample sets and groove libraries?
Why should I use Boom Crash Drum Tracks?
How exactly does this work?
It's SUPER EASY! Send me your song, recorded to a click, and I record drums to it. Then I send you the files and you import them into your DAW session. It really is that simple.
How much does it cost?
Simple - $200 per song. Sometimes more if the song falls out of the range of a "normal" pop song. If you'd like a mixed stereo file that you can use in your final mix, that's an extra $50. But no charges for multiple takes or revisions, and percussion is included as well.
How long will it take?
It depends on how booked I am when you contact me, but I can usually deliver drum tracks within a few days of receiving your guide track.
What should my guide track be like?
It can be fully produced or hardly produced at all. I just need a sense of the overall vibe and a clear outline of the form. You can send just a voice and acoustic guitar or piano and give me some kind of indication of what will eventually end up on the track (electric guitars, strings, synths, etc.). So it can be an MP3, WAV file, AIFF, multiple stems, whatever is easiest for you. The only requirement is for everything to be lined up to a click (more on this below).
How will I be sure your drums will line up with my tracks?
I'm very careful to make sure everything will sync up easily on your end. If you work in Pro Tools like I do, just send me a Pro Tools session file and I'll send you one back with the drums included. If you're using another DAW, make sure your guide track is lined up to start exactly at the beginning of your session, or at the beginning of a measure (one or two bars before the start of the tune always works) and I'll make sure my drum tracks start at exactly the same point, so you'll just drop them in to your session, line them up, and you'll be good to go!
How should I communicate how I want the drums to sound?
If you have programmed drums on your music, I'd ask you to send a version of your guide track with them included, so I can hear the direction you're going in. It's also extremely helpful to reference any songs that have drum sounds and/or grooves similar to what you want.
How will I be able to 'produce' the tracks?
I encourage as much production input as possible! Once I have a clear indication of what you want the drums to sound like, along with some programmed drums or examples of grooves and feels from other songs, I just go for it. Then I send you an mp3 of my drums along with the guide track, and you tell me if it's right or completely wrong or what you want changed. Then I do another take and send that mp3, and the process continues until the take is exactly how you want it. If you'd rather be involved in real time during production, we can Skype or video chat.
What file format do you use?
I normally use WAV files at 24bit, 48k, but I'm happy to do whatever you'd prefer.
How will you deliver the tracks?
I normally just zip them all up and send via Dropbox. But if you prefer I use some other method like WeTransfer or whatever, I'm happy to do that!
How many tracks do you normally record?
I like to give LOTS of mixing options, so I usually do inside and outside kick mics, top and bottom snare, close mics on every tom (2 or 3 toms, depending on the music), close hi-hat mic, stereo overheads (spaced pair is the setup I normally use), a mono overhead, stereo rooms, stereo FAR rooms, and a "crotch" mic above the bass drum, pointed towards the snare. But here again, I can do whatever you prefer. I'm a fan of the Glyn Johns miking technique too, if you're into that. Or just one overhead and kick if you want things super simple. These are your tracks, so just let me know!
What will the tracks sound like?
This depends completely on what you're going for. Here are some things for you to consider: Kick drum: big and boomy or tight and controlled? Snare drum: dead and punchy or ringy and piercing? Toms: wide open and resonant or more muffled or Ringo-ish with tea towels? Cymbals: bright, modern sound or warm and washy?
What kinds of drums do you use?
Check out the Gear page for a full listing, but I have a few setups that I do seem to use a lot: a dark vintage sound with my 1965 Ludwig Classic kit, toms usually muffled quite a bit; a more "open" vintage sound with my 1970 Ludwig Standard kit, toms muffled less; a more modern sound with my Tamburo Opera birch shells, and a jazz setup with my Tamburo Unika poplar shells. I do change up bass drums regularly, and snare drums and cymbals vary wildly.
What's your room like?
This is one thing that sets me apart for most other online session drummers. I'm in a great-sounding 750-square-foot space with 15 foot ceilings. I've intentionally placed the instruments, mics, sound diffussion, sound absorption and bass trap panels to fully maximize the already-great sound of the room. I have an absorption cloud above the drums that can raise and lower and movable absorption panels to adjust the acoustic size of the room. I can quickly and effectively go from a great wide-open sound to a closed and tight sound, and anywhere in between.
What's up with all that artwork?
They're all pieces by Steve Keene out of Brooklyn, NY. He's been dubbed the "assembly-line Picasso" by Time Magazine. In addition to being fun and inspiring to look at, they're all on wood boards that act as sound diffusion panels.
What DAW do you use?
Pro Tools. But I regularly send files to be used in other DAWs with no issues whatsoever, so there's no need for us to be using the same DAW.
What kinds of mics do you use?
You can go to the Gear page for a list of mics, but what I normally have up is an Alien8 on the inside kick, my Advanced Audio CM48fet (Neumann fet47 clone with extra polar patterns) on the outside kick, an SM57 on the snare top, a Audio Technica 4033 on the snare bottom, Heil PR40s on the toms (but sometimes a D112 on the floor tom), Coles 4038s as stereo overheads, a vintage AKG D19 as mono overhead, an SM81 on the hi-hat, Cascade VIN-JETs for stereo rooms, EIKON RM8 ribbon mics for far-away rooms, and an SM7 for the "crotch mic."
What kinds of preamps do you use?
Usually, kick in, snare top, and stereo overheads are all going into a D.W. Fearn VT-24 (4-channel mic pre). Stereo rooms, mono overhead, and crotch mic go though Hazelrigg Industries VLC preamps. Hazelrigg Industries is a subsidiary of D.W. Fearn and are basically Doug Fearn's awesome tube pre design with EQ built in. For everything else, I use a great little Yamaha m512e board that has 12 preamps. These boards were made in the late '70s and include what are basically '70s API preamps clones. For any setup that requires just a few mics, I usually default to the D.W. Fearn or VLC preamps.
Do you do percussion as well?
I do! And, unlike many other online session drummers, I don't charge extra for percussion tracks. I usually just throw on whatever I'm hearing, but if you have specific requests, let me know. Percussion is something that tends to get lost in drum-tracking sessions at commercial studios. Usually left to the end of the session, you either run out of time and skip it entirely or just quickly record a few tambourines or shakers for good measure. After a long day of recording, those performances are never that great, and you're left to do a lot of editing to get it all sounding good with the drums. Here at Boom Crash Drum Tracks, I take the time to get great sounds on all the percussion and deliver inspired performances that will really help your music sound great. You'd be surprised what the right tambourine sound and performance can do for a song!
Why send tracks to you rather than go into a traditional studio?
There are so many reasons!
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COST: As previously mentioned, it's much cheaper to pay for only my time, as opposed to renting a studio, paying an engineer, AND paying the drummer.
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TIME: Trying to schedule a studio, an engineer, a drummer, and finding time in your own schedule can be difficult. Here, all you do is send an email and the work begins. You can "be here" for tracking if you'd like, but essentially you just send me your stuff and I do all the work, and in a day or two, drum tracks are delivered to your computer!
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SOUND: I've got great-sounding gear and a great-sounding room. And drum-wise, I have literally my entire drum, cymbal, and percussion collection here, so the sound possibilities are much greater than they'd be in a traditional studio.
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ATTENTION TO DETAIL: In a commercial studio environment, time is literally money, and I often find that a lot left is undone when the drum tracking is complete. You go home with lots of different takes and likely lots of comping and editing to do. I can provide you with multiple takes if you'd like, but I normally just deliver one pristine take, usually comp'ed from the best moments of multiple takes. This saves you the hassle of doing it yourself, and lets you rest assured that I've paid close attention to making the edits clean.
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MOST IMPORTANT - GETTING A GREAT TAKE: While I love working in commercial recording studios, too, the process can sometimes be taxing. Getting to the studio, setting up the drums, waiting for the mics to be set up, getting the sounds dialed in, and THEN having to deliver inspired performances – despite bottomless cups of coffee – it's not always the most inspiring environment. Here, I've got everything ready to go and know what needs to change with the recording gear when I switch drums. So even though I'm now the engineer as well as the drummer, the whole process is much more relaxed and I can focus more intently on being creative and delivering some killer drum tracks. And that's absolutely the most important thing of all, getting a creative and inspired performance.
Can't I just get great-sounding drums with sample sets and groove libraries?
NO! HOW DARE YOU! I realize that the technology with sampled drums and groove packs, etc, is getting increasingly more advanced. But you simply CANNOT substitute a real human being playing real instruments specifically for YOUR song. I think the subtle inconsistencies in the playing of any instrument contribute to a song's character. I know that some drum programming software boast algorithms that claim to mimic a human's inconsistencies, but come on...you can't replace a human being making music with a computer program. That said, I will promise to attempt the level of sonic perfection you get with a well-recorded sample library. And I will deliver that near-sonic perfection with a whole lot of musicianship and finesse to provide you with a genuinely satisfying drum track experience.
Why should I use Boom Crash Drum Tracks?
I know there are other options out there, but I believe there are many qualities that set Boom Crash Drum Tracks above the rest:
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Most importantly, I can guarantee you'll be happy with the performance itself. Take your time and listen to all the audio examples of my playing here on the site. I promise to deliver a unique and inspired performance on every song. Boom Crash Drum Tracks isn't a factory, churning out bland, emotionless drum tracks. I spend time with each project to create something genuine, and I like to think that you can really hear the difference.
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Sonically, you'll get drum tracks that sound every bit as good as what you'll hear from the world's best recording studios. I'm not recording in my bedroom or basement. This is a dedicated studio set up specifically for recording drums, and you can definitely hear the difference.
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My prices are very competitive, and I don't nickel and dime you with add-on charges for extra revisions or percussion tracks or extra editing. My prices are all-inclusive, so you pay me once, and I'll deliver everything you need.
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Lastly, because it can be a bit strange to be here in my studio, by myself, recording drums for people thousands of miles away, I make every effort to keep you involved and collaborate as much as possible. This is YOUR music we're working on, and I never dismiss that fact.