# Studio pics - OMG teh DRUMZ!!!!!1 (now with mp3 content)



## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

Ok, so I was having a fuck of a time sequencing this drum beat for a cover I want to do on my album, this song in 3/4 but in a couple places sort of pauses by going to 4/4, and Sonar and Fruity Loops weren't playing nicely for some reason. Friday at work it hit me that since the part was pretty sparse anyway, I could probably play it myself easier than I could sequence it. So, I shot an email to my roommate,got the go-ahead, and when I got home carried his kit over into my room.

You haven't lived until you've been in a bedroom just big enough to hold a bed, a dresser, a computer, and a drumkit, that actually has a drumkit. \m/ 

Because on the internet it never happened unless you have pictures, I've attached two. 












The tune's an old traditional Celtic song called "Fhear A Bhata (the boatman)" if anyone knows/cares. One of my mom's favorite songs, and another one of those perfect melodies that you just can't change a note. I'd post it up, but I'm not too happy with the solo on it right now - it's the sort of thing where it's more effective if you don't overplay, and, well, I overplay. 

Also, unrelated tangent, Chris can confirm that I'm way better at recording acoustic guitars than I am at recording, like, anything else.


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## Seedawakener (Mar 4, 2007)

Dude, wow. So youre sitting at the computer and just decide to spin around and blast some Nile? am I correct? Id like to have that setup in my room.


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## DSS3 (Mar 4, 2007)

Hahaha it looks like you don't even have enough room to properly space out the OH's.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

I wish. :/ it's my roommate's kit - his room'a a bit bigger than mine, so he's got space for a kit. I just moved it over to my room for the evening to record a track.



DSS3 said:


> Hahaha it looks like you don't even have enough room to properly space out the OH's.



 As it was, it was a fuckin tight squeeze to get in and out of the room.  They're farther apart than they look, but it's not ideal.


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## Ryan (Mar 4, 2007)

I _still_ dont believe it happened...


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## Ken (Mar 4, 2007)

This is great news.


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## Chris (Mar 4, 2007)

Ryan said:


> I _still_ dont believe it happened...



I heard it.


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## Mykie (Mar 4, 2007)

Damn, I remember I had to sell my electric kit becayse it didn't fit in my room, but I got another 7 from what I made off of it, so that turned out nice.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

Chris said:


> I heard it.



...and I just took your suggestion and re-recorded the lead with my Strat. The tone still isn't perfect, but when I do record this I think the Fender's going to get the nod (unless Leon sells me his new Strat VII )

Anyway, in case anyone's curious:

[media]http://www.drewpeterson.org/music/fhear a bhata.mp3[/media]

Very much a work in progress (I'm still overplaying here and there and I'm not really "finding" the chords consistantly, melodically speaking), but whatever, we're all friends here. 

My fingers aren't really used to 11's anymore, and are now absolutely brutalized.


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## Ken (Mar 4, 2007)

You are the man when it comes to acoustics, that's fo'shizzle.

Thanks for the update. It's a great work in progress.


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## Nik (Mar 4, 2007)

I like it a lot  And the lead tone sounds great--I dunno why you'd want to re-do it.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

Nik said:


> I like it a lot  And the lead tone sounds great--I dunno why you'd want to re-do it.



Easy - I fuck up a couple spots, and I know I can do better.  Bsides, the drums have to go. I'd never release it like this.


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## Desecrated (Mar 4, 2007)

It sounds alot like "maggot brain" i think it is a parlament song, but the drums sounded good.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

Desecrated said:


> It sounds alot like "maggot brain" i think it is a parlament song, but the drums sounded good.



 This is a cover of a like 300 year old folk tune, I think if anyone's ripping anyone off it's the other way around.


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## Shawn (Mar 4, 2007)

Beautiful song, Drew and cool pics too. Nice work! 

Your tone.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 4, 2007)

Sounds fantastic Drew!  Dig the glass of wine on top of the monitors!  Good stuff man, look forward to hearing the more "refined" version of the song bro!


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## D-EJ915 (Mar 4, 2007)

one time when I met up with some guys for a jam in one dude's apartment we stuck the drums in teh bathroom. we had to take off the ride every time he wanted to get out 






also from teh jam session:






hehe


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## HighGain510 (Mar 4, 2007)

What if someone had to drop a deuce? Talk about a shitty drumkit.... 

*cue rimshot and a ton of booing....


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## Ryan (Mar 4, 2007)

Drop it behind the couch like Jeff there...


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## Chris (Mar 4, 2007)

Drew said:


> ...and I just took your suggestion and re-recorded the lead with my Strat. The tone still isn't perfect, but when I do record this I think the Fender's going to get the nod (unless Leon sells me his new Strat VII )
> 
> Anyway, in case anyone's curious:
> 
> ...



God damn man, like I said last night, that is some absolutely beautiful acoustic tone. The strat really makes it sing, and as usually you fuckin' NAIL your lead tone.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

HighGain510 said:


> Sounds fantastic Drew!  Dig the glass of wine on top of the monitors!  Good stuff man, look forward to hearing the more "refined" version of the song bro!



Dude, you should have heard the difference between the "dead sober" drum takes, and "half a bottle in" takes. I don't know if I, erm, "warmed up" or "loosened up," but especially the last half of the take here,I actually was beginning to sound like I knew what I was doing, ish. 

Chris, I'm not 100% happy with the lead tone here, though... I mean, the dynamic response is there (strat through an amp with the gain in the 3-4 range, when you dig in it just sings), but the actual recording... I gotta keep fucking with mic positioning. 

I also need a large diaphram condensor, I think - a little more variety between the two acoustic tracks would help here. I was A/B'ing this with the guitar tone on DotN's "Die Born," and I'm not there yet.


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## Chris (Mar 4, 2007)

The bottom line is that you just sound totally dominant when you play with your tone, and when I try and do it I sound like a 13 year old kid playing Smoke on the Water in Guitar Center. 

Die Born = Best acoustic tone ever. That song is so beautiful.


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## Drew (Mar 4, 2007)

The obverse is true too, though. 

Yeah, the vocal kicks ass too. I fuckin' love that tune.


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## Alpo (Mar 5, 2007)

Great acoustic tone and amazing lead tone! One day I will have a custom made 7-string strat.


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## nitelightboy (Mar 5, 2007)

Damn Drew. Your tone is always friggin amazing!!


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## HighGain510 (Mar 5, 2007)

Damn Drew, maybe I need to start drinking a bit more.... I always think I'm playing better when I have tossed down a few, but then again that's probably just the drinks affecting my judgement!  Excellent stuff, as everyone has said "the force is strong in this one..."! You have tone in those fingers man, good stuff!  

Btw, that video of you and Chris had me cracking up for about 15 minutes straight this morning! If I can ever get up to Boston I think it would be funny as hell to hang out with the two of you! I'll start training my liver now...


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## Drew (Mar 5, 2007)

The lead was cut sober. Well, sober-ish, it was cut the morning after the bender depicted in the videos so I'm sure I still had some residual booze in the ol' bloodstream. It was the drums (and actually the acoustic guitar, come to think of it) I recorded while boozing.


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## Shaman (Apr 9, 2007)

Damn, I love the guitar tones. Perfect for this kind of music!

That acoustic sounds divine, what brand/model?


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## The Dark Wolf (Apr 9, 2007)

Digging it, D. Liking the Strat tone, and the acoustics sound terrific.

Being the resident Drew Peterson fan around here, I know you can do better, so I feel what you're saying. Since you've stated this is a work-in-progress, I feel fine saying that. But it shows terrific promise, and I like your ideas on this alot. Nice work!

Cool setup, too, BTW.


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## HighGain510 (Apr 9, 2007)

I found the link to some of Drew's music on that thread Vince made a whiiiiiile ago and didn't realize why everyone talks about Drew needing to get that cd out! Now I do, and I have to join in on it.... get that cd together bro!!!  I'd love to hear/buy it!


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## Drew (Apr 9, 2007)

This is why I shouldn't post clips, they always turn into discussions on my CD. 

Shaman, the guitar is a Martin MC-16GTE. It's sort of a mid-level "player's" Martin, built like their more expensive D or DC (in this case) models, but without some of the finishing refinements - inlays, soundhole binding, etc. That's fine by me, as I think a lot of that stuff is a little overdone. Tonally, it's pretty close to a top-level Martin; close enough for a guy who plays his acoustic like it's an electric, anyhow. 

Part of the tone is the strings, though - I use Elixir Phosphor Bronze's. PB strings have a very distinctive tone to them, and are usually something you'd hear in a bluegrass context. It's tough to explain, but since I have one last set of Elixir 80/20 Bronze sitting around maybe I'll throw those on next time I restring, record a clip, then immediately take them off and throw some PB's on and record another clip. You hate to do it at like $16 a set, but it might be enlightening. Either way, 80/20 is a bit bassier and a little more "lush" whereas PB is more present and sparkly, and tighter in the low end. Horriblew generalization, and the tone's tough to describe, but I like it. It was mic'd up with a single AKG C1000s, panned to one side, and then a second track was recorded with a capo at the 7th, I believe, playing an octave up, and panned to the other side. Doubling acoustic and not having it sound like shit is tough, but on a slow, sparse tune like this it's doable.


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## Shaman (Apr 9, 2007)

Thanx man!

I am working on a project with A LOT of acoustic stuff, so I have to get myself a pack of PB's and try them out, since "sparkly" is pretty much what I am after.

Any compression etc.?


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## Drew (Apr 9, 2007)

I don't remember, but I'll check the project tonight.  I know I put some light EQ on it, and a bit of 'verb, but really getting a good acoustic tone comes down to having a good source sound and capturing it as transparently as possible. A good small diaphram condensor, like I was using here, will do the job, but I really need to grab a decent large diaphram condensor for acoustics, too, I think. 

For what it's worth, the mic was positioned vertically, with the capsule level with and slightly above the 15th fret, and a couple inches (maybe 3-4" - I forget) away, and slightly above the top of the fretboard (top being the bass string side). It seems to be sort of a "magic" spot for this guitar, and I've gotten great results with either a single mic or two mics in an X-Y array positioned there.

Edit - worth reading.


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## YYZ2112 (Apr 9, 2007)

:Sounds great! The acoustic tone is awesome and the lead tone is great as usual  Nice stuff.....

Now how about that CD????


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