- 154 Pages
- Published by Hal Leonard
- Softcover with DVD
Product Description
Recording acoustic drums is one of the toughest challenges faced by every audio engineer. In The Drum Recording Handbook, mega-selling pro audio author Bobby Owsinski and in-demand recording engineer Dennis Moody reveal amazing secrets to getting outstanding drum track recordings every time, from every session. You’ll learn: * How to tune drums for the studio the right way, every time * Microphone techniques for every kind of recording session, large or small * The … More >>
The Drum Recording Handbook: Music Pro Guides
Tags: acoustic drums, audio engineer, bobby owsinski, challenges, Drum, drum recording, Guides, Handbook, how to tune drums, microphone techniques, Music, Recording, recording engineer, recording session, track recordings
#1 by J. C. Ground on April 18, 2010 - 10:52 pm
Recording drums is often the most challenging aspect of music recording for beginners, and Owsinski’s book offers a great overview, including tuning the kit and a number of different mic setups and techniques. I disagree with the other review that says only one method is discussed. For example, the Glyn Johns method (how John Bonham’s drums were recorded during Led Zeppelin sessions) is mentioned, though only briefly. That method only requires a few mics, and proper placement is really the key.
Overall, I think the book does a great job of explaining the basics, offering examples from multiple working pros, and also outlining ways people in a project studio can get good drum sounds on a budget (without a dozen expensive mics and pres). I wish a book like this had been available when I was in school learning about audio and recording engineering.
That said, if you only want to buy one book, I recommend The Recording Engineer’s Handbook, also by Owsinski. An updated second edition of that book was recently released, and it provides a lot of similar advice on drum recording, though not as much detail as this book does.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by E. Jonatan on April 18, 2010 - 11:56 pm
This is a good book if you don’t know much about studio work and you want to get a good drum sound.
It is however geared towards only one setup, the way that the author likes to mic drums, mostly for TV theme music or background music (all examples are from music to “family guy” and other TV shows). There is not much explanations on why things are done a certain way, it’s mostly: “Do this, and it will sound good”. There is very little about different distant mic techniques, such as Decca Tree or other famous classics. There is not much about variations, and how you can experiment to get different drum sounds for different music.
The text is very big and you get the feeling that the whole book is written for a child, not a professional person who wants to know all the ins and outs about a subject.
If you want to know how to get John Bonhams drum sound, or some other characteristic drum sound, then look elsewhere.
If you want a quick reference to how to get a decent drum sound that works in most situations, than this is a pretty good place to start.
Rating: 3 / 5