Sessions/Tour

Song First, Drums Last

Everything begins and ends with the drummer. Whether you’re planning a world tour or recording the next top-ten album you need someone who is solid and reliable. Someone who knows how to leave the BS at the door and show up prepared. Someone who knows how to put their ego aside and do what is best for the band. It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself a pro, hobbyist, or somewhere in-between. You put your heart and soul into your music.  What’s most important to me is digging in deep to make it sound incredible. Anyone can play the drums. Hire someone who will play the song.

Remote Recording –
How Does It Work?

These days, artists recording their tracks remotely is standard practice. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the same town as me or halfway across the planet – the process and results are the same. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1, You send me files/links to your songs
2, I compose the part and track them at a pro-studio
3, You receive finished stem (.wav) files back and mix down your next top-ten hit!

It’s really that simple

F.A.Q.

Why Me?
We both know there’s no shortage of drummers for you to choose from. My approach, and the reason I’ve stayed in the game so long is because I learned the song is always more important than the drums. Anyone you hire will be able to play the notes just fine. Can they play the song, your song, though?

What do I need to provide to get things rolling?
An MP3 or links to the final arrangement of the song. It’s ok if this is just you with your guitar singing into a cheap mic. The important thing is that I can chart out the correct song arrangement. If the demo has drums on it, it would be great to get a copy without drums as well.

How about the part itself?
Any info you can give me about what you’re looking to hear is useful, e.g. it has a real 60’s vibe, for choruses play 1/8 notes on the ride, put a big fill here, hit this accent each time through.

Do you record to a click?
Yes, please let me know the exact tempo when you send the demo files over. (Pro-tip: put the tempo in the file name – hitsong_120bpm_v1)

What will I receive back?
You will receive multi-tracked stem (.wav) files exported from Pro-Tools. A typical set-up would includes each drum close mic’d, a pair of overheads for the cymbals, and a room mic. The exact set-up varies for each project.

Will the tracks I receive be mixed down?
What you receive back are the raw files. If you require additional audio services that can be facilitated with the studio upon request.

What do your rates include?
The quoted rate is all-inclusive for a drumset recording: time to learn the material, studio time, engineer, file transfer, etc…

What sort of payment do you accept?
Payment is up-front, in full via PayPal

Why do you need to be paid in advance?
The bulk of the time/work is spent learning and composing the part. A deposit is also required to hold the studio time.

What about percussion?
Simple/standard percussion (e.g. shakers, tambourine) can be recorded for a small, additional charge. If you have something bigger in mind we’ll talk it through to determine the best course of action.

My song is mixed down and finished. Can you just record over what’s there?
Attempting to record drums on top of an existing, finished recording is difficult at best. More often than not it creates more problems than it solves. The best option is to always start with the drums and layer up from there. It is strongly advised to not go this route.