The 11,426 mile recording session - Day 37ish

This week has all been about the drums for the guide-track. The pre-programmed patterns in my BR600 desk, of which there were 300+ to choose from were rubbish. I don't think I've ever heard a drummer play like that.

It has been a little challenging as neither me or Ed are drummers but Ed came up with the patterns and I embellished (?) them.

Working with a track map has been essential to do this quickly.  Here's how we did it:

1. Found the tempo. Sounds simple but one track I did was the same speed as Ed's original track but because the drum pattern (P134 V1 on the BR600) was dull it made it sound ploddy.

2. Wrote a basic pattern that worked under the whole track.

3. Listened to some hits to hear what real drummers do. The reference tracks were There She Goes (The La's) and Not Nineteen Forever (The Courteeners).

4. Wrote different variations for verses and chorus.  Drummers don't just play a beat for 3 minutes. If yours does, have a word!!

5. Wrote variations on the verses and chorus patterns to punctuate the ends of vocal lines etc.

And watch out for volumes. If it's all programmed loud it doesn't sound human. Listen to any death metal band.

Programming the 2-bar patterns was the fun bit. Programming them into an arrangement for the song was really hard until I used this....



Each section of the song has a column showing how many bars it is, and the number of the first and last bars in that section. It makes navigating on screen really easy.  The drums aren't finished but they are moving in the right direction.

When I've put the real timing against the song chart, Ed and I have been able to see how quickly vocals come in, when the first chorus is, and how long the outro lasts etc.

Being on different continents, this means that we can talk about the song structure really clearly. If we were in the same room we'd be able to busk it out but Skype is good but not that good. It's much more like a producer's way of thinking, and has really made me think about how I write.

If I'm honest, I pretty much go with whatever presents itself - I don't really review and edit myself. I will be doing so in future.

So this week we've got two guide-tracks done with drums, guitars and vocal.... here's the latest.

Have a listen....