House of Drumming.com

Great playing, Gavin, and nicely composed! The drums do sound amazing...

Gavin,
One take with the "big" headphones, and the second one with the in-ear monitors.

Which one do you prefer, for your studio?

Actually I used the in ear monitors on both takes. I just put the big headphones over the top of them (unplugged) to shut out even more sound.

Gavin

Those Pro Lite drums are very interesting. I will definitely be looking into them soon.

Gavin, I remember that you mentioned that you "tune for the mics" and that your kits doesn´t sound that big in person...
Could you elaborate on that? You seem to consistently get good sounds of your drums!

Julián

I check the tuning and tone by listening through the mics. I put in my fully closed custom 'in ears' and then a pair of shooting headphones over them - giving me possibly the maximum isolation from the physical sound. That way I can hear the drums (kind of like an engineer would in a control room) - just listening through the mics. I make some adjustments - and also record it. Then I listen to the drums acoustically in the room - and they sound quite different.

I've often been in a studio sound-checking the drums for an engineer for hours on end - playing the bass drum for an hour and hundreds of hits on each drum. Then I come in to hear the recording - and I'm usually disappointed. I think it takes a very special engineer to understand what the drums sound like to a drummer. The fact is - if you know what your drums sound like and how you want them to sound - you have to take control over the whole process (from recording/eq/compression/reverb/balance/mixing/mastering). Otherwise somewhere along the way a non-drummer will try to change your sound - (and the balance of your kit) to something that they like - and probably you won't.

cheers
Gavin

Thanks Gavin! Makes sense...

New interview...

I saw this video lesson on YT and asked Gavin if he had approved it or it was an unauthorized commercial DVD clip that someone uploaded.
He quickly answered me with his genuine kind attitude:

"Thanks for the message. I didn't upload it. It was shot in my studio the day after I got back from a tour in 2008. That's why the lesson is almost exactly what I demonstrated at my 2008 PASIC clinic (so it's certainly not new)- and I'm playing my old drumset (the newer one was still in the truck coming back to the UK).
It was filmed for Rhythm UK magazine by James Cumpsty.
Cheers."

ODD GROUPINGS LESSON (5s, 7s....):


The PASIC 2008 clinic: