Laus Deo Semper.
just a quick teaser to let you guys know i'm still here ;) recorded a new series, called the Blister Series (for obvious reasons.. because i never get to practice anymore i ended up with 9 (read: NINE) blisters at the end of this series. worth it though..) and this is just a random 50sec groove session so you can get a feel for the cameras and hear what the kit was mixed like.
(i'm not completely satisfied with the mix, didn't have enough time to get it exactly like i wanted it, bassdrum doesn't have enough attack and the main snare bottom isn't loud enough, too much shell tone and not enough snare.. anyway, doesn't sound THAT bad :)
songs in this series include:
angels and airwaves - my only fear (aka call to arms)
black eyed peas - let's get it started
dave matthews band - tripping billies
red jumpsuit apparatus - face down
a thorn for every heart - things aren't so beautiful now (part II)
and i'm actually quite satisfied with how things turned out, my favorite series as of yet :) really stoked to hear what you guys think. all the tracks have been cut and the audio mastered, just the final editing needs to be finished, this will take a while, depending on how busy i am with other work. watch this space, all video's will be up in about a week..
(keep in mind, i recorded this little jam AFTER i sat down for an hour to record the whole series, so this is me BEAT and extremely tired, with hands FULL of blisters.. like i said, i never get to practice anymore so a straight hour of playing really kicked my ass)
Drums by Cobus Potgieter | jaapvlooi@gmail.com
*TECHNICAL INFO*
Drumkit:
Tama Superstar Custom; in the Blue Metallic Fade
Heads:
Toms TOP: Remo Powerstroke 3, Clear.
Toms BOTTOM: stock heads.
Snare TOP: Remo Emperor, Coated.
Snare BOTTOM: stock head.
Bassdrum BATTER: Remo Powerstroke 4, Clear.
Cymbals:
Paiste PST 5 UNIVERSAL setup:
14" Hats
16" Crash
20" Ride
Secondary Crash: Sabian XS20 Medium-Thin 16" Crash
(please note the toms are tuned and equalized for RECORDING purposes, live they need to be tuned a lot more "open" to sound as good as in the recording. and yes, the kit DOES sound that good live :) i had almost NO equalising on the drums themselves, and ONLY removed some low frequencies from the overheads. basically i only levelled the mix and applied compression.)
*RECORDING*
I miced each individual drum (snare top AND bottom were miced), plus two overheads, ran this through a mixer, got a decent mix and recorded with ONLY *ONE* stereo channel.. no multitrack recorder(s) :) I compressed the final mix to HELL.. to get a more aggressive sound, to make it sit better in with the original song (and hopefully overpower the original drums), detailed compression settings: 20:1 with a threshold of -20db and a compensation gain of 15db, with both separate channels (LEFT and RIGHT, from the mixer) sent to a stereo sub-group, and the compression settings applied to THIS group, it gave a nice compact and aggressive result.. further mastering was needed to equalize the final mix and control peak levels and such, to have it fit in with the original music track.