Well, dear friends, a monthly post hasn’t panned out. Babies are way time-consuming. Who knew? In any case, way back in December 2020, I recorded drums for Wear A Mask.
Wear A Mask drums: rig run down
- Dell 3100 Chromebook
- BandLab Link Digital audio interface
- Pig Hog 10ft XLR cable
- MXL V67G microphone
- Beyerdynamic DT-240 Pro headphones
- Vic Firth American Classic Extreme 5BN drumsticks
- BandLab free, online, in-browser DAW and companion app
Location, location, location
While in all my previous posts about recording drums, I went to Astoria Soundworks, on this occasion, it wasn’t an option. They were only accepting block bookings of six hours or something. I guess it was an effort to make up revenue after pandemic-induced closure.
Although I get the need to recoup such losses, this silly two-minute-ish song does not require a six-hour session. When I emailed asking if I could just book room eight for an hour, like I’d always done, I didn’t get a reply.
Disappointing, but Google found me Empire Rehearsal Studios. It took seconds to book online, and it was only $15!
I booked the Long Island City location. Now, when I got there it was an odd setup. Firstly, I couldn’t find the entrance – there was no signage of any kind. Secondly, when I called for help, I got directed to what seemed the reception/security desk for a multi-story parking lot. Thirdly, I had to be led to the room I’d booked, and it took me through what seemed like storage lockers.
The room itself looked like a wall was built where the large shutter on a storage locker would be.
Ultimately though, none of that mattered. I just needed a room and a drum kit, and that’s what I got.
Recording Wear A Mask drums
The actual setup and recording of the drums for Wear A Mask were pretty standard.
- Firstly, I followed step one, and set up my hardware
- Connected the Link Digital into the Chromebook
- Plugged the V67G into the Link Digital
- Plugged the D-240 Pros into the Link Digital
- Secondly, I needed to do some admin
- Opened the scratch track in BandLab
- Exported a mix down to my computer
- Created a new project
- Imported the mixed down scratch track, and called the new project ‘drums’
- Thirdly, I took a level, and then I was ready to go!
I had fun!
Conclusion
Even though I was recording in a new spot, everything else about this session was easy, regular and normal. While my drumming was a little patchy in spots, it was nothing that wasn’t resolved by some light editing.
In conclusion, here is the drum track for ¿Dónde Está El Baño?
So that’s that. Next time, we’ll look at recording bass.
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