Can someone show me what a good drum recording sounds like?

[Bro Shark]

There shouldn't be a standard that exists in a vacuum, and what the drums sound like by themselves isn't really relevant unless the song itself contains a drums-only part. Even then: what's going on in the song at that point? What is the song trying to convey?

Some songs call for a dry, suffocating, intimate, small-room drum sound. Others may want that giant Bonzo in a Warehouse feel. Some might switch between those parts depending on the dynamics of the arrangement. It's up to you to make the drums make the song work using intuition and experience.

Going for an ideal drum sound and applying it unilaterally across a recording misses the point of the job.

At the very least, answering the question "what do they sound like in the room?" is as good a place to start as any.

^ My $0.02

[drumsound]

There shouldn't be a standard that exists in a vacuum, and what the drums sound like by themselves isn't really relevant unless the song itself contains a drums-only part. Even then: what's going on in the song at that point? What is the song trying to convey?

Some songs call for a dry, suffocating, intimate, small-room drum sound. Others may want that giant Bonzo in a Warehouse feel. Some might switch between those parts depending on the dynamics of the arrangement. It's up to you to make the drums make the song work using intuition and experience.

Going for an ideal drum sound and applying it unilaterally across a recording misses the point of the job.

At the very least, answering the question "what do they sound like in the room?" is as good a place to start as any.

^ My $0.02

This is totally true but, hearing drums from a "successful" production (meaning drums that work in context of the production not something that sold x million copies) can inform us as engineers. It's interesting to hear the stems and multitracks that float around, and hearing how then went from raw track to part of a successful mix.

[Bro Shark]

That's a good point. I don't know why I went off on that rant except maybe that I wanted to iterate that solo'd instruments can sound really crappy, until you un-solo them and voila.

[vivalastblues]

At the very least, answering the question "what do they sound like in the room?" is as good a place to start as any.

this is a good point. I guess I'm trying to reconcile what it sounds like in the room with what I'm trying to listen for. Sometimes to me it 'sounds good in the room' and then when I listen back later or am at the mixing stage I'll realise it's not as good as I thought.

[digitaldrummer]

and just about anything posted on youtube is converted to sound like shite... so I would not make too many decisions based on that.

[Nick Sevilla]

Just looking for a wave file or mp3 of solo drums that sound professional and good. I'm just after something to compare to my own drum sound, to hear where it should be at.

thanks

I'll try to post isolated drums from a recent recording don at my studio.

Cheers

[percussion boy]

That's a good point. I don't know why I went off on that rant except maybe that I wanted to iterate that solo'd instruments can sound really crappy, until you un-solo them and voila.

And sometimes the solo'd track is not so much crappy as just really boring.

I remember hearing some basic tracks to Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin On" once, -- a song that sounds great as a mix and band performance. The drum track alone just sounded like . . . drums. Clear, undramatic, playing in time. And yet that's a fantastic drum track when it's heard as part of the finished product.

Go figure . . .

[$uperpuma]

Bump to add Zappa's "Bongo Fury"
Bozzio. And a good snare sound.

[Mike's Mix Room]

Here's a link to my blog about a recording I did last year at The Springs Theatre in Tampa, FL.

http://mikemajormix.com/2013/07/recordi ... dio-files/

There's a link in the blog that allows you to download an audio file (you may want to read the explanation in the blog when you listen).

I think it turned out nicely. The drummer was very good, had a nice kit, and The Springs Theatre sounds amazing!

More explanation about the setup on this blog:

http://mikemajormix.com/2013/06/recordi ... -in-tampa/

I know what you're going through and when I was a newbie, it drove me crazy that I didn't have access to "professional tracks" so I could compare them with where I was. Hope this helps a bit? The other links that everyone posted thus far were cool too. I freaking love "Barracuda" and agree that it's one of the best rock drum tracks of all time. Nice to hear it in solo!

[Nick Sevilla]

Hi,

I am pretty much done with this track, so here are links to both the finished ( I hope) mix, and the drum tracks, isolated.

Cheers

Full mix:

https://soundcloud.com/nick-53-1/pasion-junio4

Isolated drum track:

http://soundcloud.com/nick-53-1/pasion-junio4drumsiso

[Zygomorph]

One of the only drum sounds that makes me go "damn, what is going on here?" each time. Probably something to do with total isolation and general awesomeness. I also love giant, wooden snares.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbkqE4fpvdI&feature=kp

[vvv]

Especially love that kick, Nick!

[cjogo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XcHROt ... YuOItixcqQ

[Neal]

+1 for Levee intro, but we all know that

Also, +1 that YouzTube sounds like caca but there's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14GYov0EdyQ

and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Une3h7oN71c

You really do gotta keep it in the context of the mix though

[cjogo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XcHROt ... YuOItixcqQ