LOL! I live in a town called "Naperville," so I've just got to switch around a few letters and I'll be there!

https://www.facebook.com/MarkManzo88
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

Nice kit Mark! I miss my Ludwig kit and playing drums in general.

JakeDobner wrote:

That is sad... People just won't do anything other than play sessions?

It would be too long of a discussion and a thread hi-jack to explain the dynamics of Nashville's music scene.
I'm probably not the best person to describe it as I'm most likely a little jaded and there are two sides to every story.
Suffice it to say that most people here are playing for a living so if there's no pay - forget it.
Is the music at all sloppy and reckless? Forget it.
Are you in with the "right" people/crowd? No? Forget it.
The last statement is true in many, many other places, I'm aware of that.
A ton of talent here, pretty unbelievable at times but having a local band for fun can be tough.

Sorry for the hi-jack.
Back to Surf drumming!
I got some cool percussion stuff for Christmas!
Claves
Guiro
A practice pad
New Shakers
and Bongos!
Yeah!

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

Thanks Corey and Eddie, much appreciated!!

https://www.facebook.com/MarkManzo88
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

I'd love to get a critique of my playing and the drum sound on our new EP from you guys and gals (links in my signature below). Let me give you the lowdown on how it came to be.

First thing, the kit. It's a mid-60's Gretsch round badge - 20, 13, 16 with a modern solid steel Gretsch snare. You'll find a pic of the kit on the page. There's a long story behind the heads on the kit but the only heads that will fit the toms are the Aquarian American Vintage line which are oversized for to fit the oversized shells commonly found on these old kits, especially Gretsch. Aquarian is amazing and offered to make me some custom heads in some of their other lines but after two attempts they never fit both over the shell and under the hoops. So yeah, it is what it is.
As for the recording, it's totally home-brewed. I use a MOTU 8M and 8 mics. The mic setup was as follows:

1 Kick (reso): Audix D6
2 Kick (batter): Shure SM57
3 Snare (batter): Shure SM57
4 Rack Tom (batter): Sennheiser e604
5 Floor Tom (batter): Sennheiser e604
6 Ride Cymbal (under): Shure SM81
7 Overhead (left): Shure C314
8 Overhead (right): Shure C314

So not totally ideal but you use what you have. The overheads were about 4 feet above and measured out to be exactly the same distance from the snare and pointing at it. The snare and tom mics were pretty standard placement, the ride was from underneath pointed at the bell primarily (as recommended on here by The Nebulas drummer heh), and the 57 on the batter side of the kick was offset to the right of the kick pedal sort of John Bonham style I suppose and the D6 on the reso side was centered and I would say about 2 feet from the head which I was trying to have it be about the same distance from the snare as the overheads.

It was recorded to Reaper DAW which was acting really just as the "tape machine" and then everything gets sent to the MOTU 8M mixer. Valhalla reverb plugins were used, primarily on the snare.

I mixed and mastered the thing.

So as a first stab at home-brewing this recording, I certainly have my opinions good and bad about how the drums sound in the context of the rest of the music but would really like to hear what others think and am certainly interested in any tips or other feedback so we can improve on the next go at it. We're constantly recording so the mics are still up and I can take some more detailed photos and post them of the mic placement if people are interested.

Thanks in advance!

Skins for The Delstroyers

Last edited: Feb 26, 2016 11:49:31

If i may make a few suggestions, Drums are an acoustic instrument so the room is very important. Unfortunately you can't always find the ideal space. With that said, I think it's best to use as few mics as possible with as much distance as you can get away with. Distance makes depth. Plus, you don't normally listen to drums with your ear right next to the skin. Sometimes you need more attack though, so you have to find the sweet spot to get a good balance of the two. For me usually 4 mics suffice for a drum kit. Two overheads, either large diaphragm condensors or Ribbons. It's important that they be equidistant to the kick drum where the beater hits. This will avoid phase cancellations that would other wise make the kick 'disappear' when you mix in the kick mic. Speaking of which, the old AKG D12 is hard to beat for the kick. A little compression helps sometimes. And of course the old sm57 is ideal for snares. I'll sometimes mic the toms, but only if necessary -- usually it isn't. Using 4 mics and 4 tracks for the drums makes mixing a breeze, it also makes it easy to get a very balanced sound

https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com

Hey CreepBeat!

First off, I really dig your band! LOVE the name (very clever), the cover artwork, fonts, song titles, audio samples at the beginning of some the songs, etc. Everything adds up to a very cool package and approach.

I also like your music a lot. Great stuff! As you probably know, preferences regarding recording techniques/levels/mic placement, etc. are very subjective. What pleases one person's ear may not jive with another's. That being said, I'm listening through earbuds on my laptop, and to me, I would've never known these recordings are "home brewed."

I think my personal fav mix is "Reaper Madness." Everything sounds nice and full on that track. Also, the production aesthetic isn't too "modern" to me, which is really cool. I like when a modern act can record and get a 60's mono kind of sound. When things are "too" clean, crisp, polished and produced, it takes away a bit of the feel/vibe for me with this music, but all of your songs have that vintage vibe to me without being too raw. Nice!

My only two comments are I'd love to hear your tom work bumped up a bit in the mix on all the songs (they got lost a little in my tiny earbuds) and perhaps taking down the hi-hat levels a bit in "Wrong Planet." Like I said, it's all subjective, but just my two cents.

Oh, and last but certainly not least -- Great drumming!!!! I just liked you guys on Facebook. I'm in Chicago, but if I were in Seattle, I'd be at your shows in a heartbeat. Congrats and best of luck with your band!

Best,
Mark

https://www.facebook.com/MarkManzo88
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

Last edited: Feb 26, 2016 16:57:17

Satan's Pilgrims is no doubt my favorite surf band but they have one of the worst drummers for this style of music. I absolutely hate his snare tone and the fact that he plays fills whenever it's possible regardless of the necessity considering the style of the whole song. When the other members of the band are grooving he is rocking like Bonzo. Totally not cool.

I played in a garage/punk band before switching to surf and in about 12 years of playing drums I have never used hi-hats. I put a tambourine above the clutch of the hi-hat stand and use it to keep time. But mainly I use an 18' crash-ride.

Jungle beats are fun to play. I use them in Apache (probably some other songs too but can't remember now, since I havn't played in a while. But if I do songs like Sing Sing Sing then jungle beats will be a must). And I like to switch between my crash-ride and floor tom to create dynamic.

I always play the kick drum along with the emphasis of the melody, particularly since the surf band I was in had no bass player. So in this sense, yes, you do need to be a "musician" to play the drums.

DannySnyder wrote:

Hi LBC, while you are entitled to have your opinion, you'll find yourself in the minority. I can confidently say the vast majority of surf fans love Ted's drumming.

I'm certainly one of them! I think Ted's drumming is one of the signature sounds of the band. Listening in a mix, I can almost identify it as him before I even know what the song is. Such great energy and snap in his sound!

• Jamie
  SSS Agent #181
  Cartoons drenched in reverb!
  The Mystery Men?
  El Capitan & The Reluctant Sadists

Ding! Ted makes us dance. July 30 here we come.

IvanP wrote:

MadScientist wrote:

DannySnyder wrote:

Hi LBC, while you are entitled to have your opinion, you'll find yourself in the minority. I can confidently say the vast majority of surf fans love Ted's drumming.

I'm certainly one of them! I think Ted's drumming is one of the signature sounds of the band. Listening in a mix, I can almost identify it as him before I even know what the song is. Such great energy and snap in his sound!

Here, here! Well put, Jamie - strongly .

(BTW, LongboardChery, Ted is a member on SG101 and posts quite often - just FYI.)

Rick