Drum Sound and Drum Tuning: Bridging Science and Creativity

Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• 1 Introduction
• 1.1 Values of Great Drum Sound
• 1.2 Why Bother with Drum Tuning?
• 1.3 About this Book
• 1.3.1 Educational Approach
• 1.3.2 Online Resources
• 1.3.3 Interviews with Esteemed Professionals
• 1.3.4 Companion Software and Examples
• 1.4 Don't Forget to Listen!
• 2 Drumhead Vibration and the Science of Sound
• 2.1 Sound Sources, Acoustic Transmission and Sound Reception
• 2.2 Evaluating Frequencies
• 2.3 The Single Most Valuable Musical Acoustics Theory!
• 2.4 Measuring and Analysing Drum Modes
• 3 Tuning the Pitch of a Cylindrical Drum
• 3.1 Exploring the Pitch Range of a Cylindrical Drum
• 3.2 Musical Frequencies
• 3.3 Coupled Drumheads
• 4 Lug Tuning and Clearing the Drumhead
• 4.1 Evaluating the First Overtone of a Drum
• 4.2 Beat Frequencies
• 4.3 The Sound of a Uniformly Tuned Drumhead
• 4.4 Lug Tuning with Assistance
• 5 Tuning the Resonant Drumhead - What, Why and How?
• 5.1 Harmonics and In-Harmonic Overtones
• 5.2 Musical Intervals
• 5.3 Controlling Overtones and Intervals with the Resonant Drumhead
• 6 A Holistic Approach to Drum Tuning
• 6.1 Simplicity Wins
• 6.2 Setting the Fundamental Pitch
• 6.3 Implementing Lug Tuning and Resonant Head Tuning
• 6.4 Damping and Decay Times
• 7 The Wonderful World of Drumheads
• 7.1 Guitar Strings on Steroids!
• 7.2 The Drumhead Equation
• 7.3 Drumhead Types and Features
• 7.4 Resonant Drumhead Selection
• 7.5 Experience Drumheads!
• 8 Timbre: The Truth about Drum Shell Vibration
• 8.1 Introducing Timbre
• 8.2 Tuning Fork Example with Mass Loading
• 8.3 Drum Shell Vibration
• 8.4 Loading the Drum Shell
• 8.5 Bearing Edges and Precision Manufacturing
• 8.6 Considering the Drum Shell Vibration Frequency when Tuning
• 9 Tuning for Different Musical Styles and Genres
• 9.1 Creative Objectives
• 9.2 Drum Sizes for Different Music Genres
• 9.3 Pitches and Intervals on the Kit
• 9.4 Tuning Suggestions for Different Genres
• 9.5 Drumheads for Different Music Genres
• 10 Snare Drum Tuning
• 10.1 Key Aspects of Snare Tuning
• 10.2 Holistic Approach to Snare Tuning
• 10.3 Manipulating Snare Drum Timbre
• 10.4 Comparing Snare Timbre Example
• 11 Kick Drum Tuning
• 11.1 Kick Drum Tone and Dynamics
• 11.2 Drumheads for the Kick Drum
• 11.3 Kick Drum Tuning Range
• 11.4 Controlling the Kick Drum Timbre
• 12 Production and Preparation for Drum Recording
• 12.1 Production and Pre-Production
• 12.2 Setting Standards and Getting Results
• 12.3 Choosing and Evaluating the Recording Space
• 12.3.1 Room Size and Dimensions
• 12.3.2 Room Materials and Reverberation Characteristics
• 12.3.3 Sound Isolation and Background Noise Levels
• 12.3.4 Suitability for a Room's Use in a Recording Project
• 12.3.5 Positioning Drums within a Room
• 12.4 Tuning and Performance for Recording
• 13 Fundamental Technologies for Drum Recording
• 13.1 Microphones and Transducers
• 13.1.1 Dynamic Microphones
• 13.1.2 Condenser Microphones
• 13.1.3 Ribbon Microphones
• 13.1.4 Other Audio Transducers
• 13.2 Microphone Characteristics
• 13.2.1 Microphone Polar Patterns
• 13.2.2 Other Microphone Characteristics
• 13.3 The Complete Recording Signal Chain
• 13.3.1 Audio Convertors
• 13.3.2 Mixing Desk
• 13.3.3 Microphone Preamplifiers
• 13.3.4 Recording with FX
• 13.4 Monitoring and Foldback
• 13.4.1 Control Room Monitoring
• 13.4.2 Headphone Foldback
• 14 We Need to Talk About Phase!
• 14.1 What Exactly is Phase?
• 14.2 Time Delay and Comb Filtering
• 14.3 Mono Compatibility
• 14.4 Signal Polarity
• 15 Microphone Techniques for Recording Drums
• 15.1 Microphone Placement Approaches
• 15.2 Stereo Recording for Drums
• 15.2.1 Defining The Stereo Field
• 15.2.2 Spaced Pair Technique
• 15.2.3 X-Y Technique
• 15.2.4 Blumlein Pair Technique
• 15.2.5 ORTF Technique
• 15.2.6 Mid-Side Technique
• 15.2.7 Baffled Omnidirectional Pair Technique
• 15.2.8 Decca Tree Technique
• 15.2.9 Left-Right-Center Technique
• 15.3 Using Spot Microphone Techniques
• 15.3.1 Kick Drum Microphone Technique
• 15.3.2 Snare Drum Microphone Technique
• 15.3.3 Tom Drum Microphone Technique
• 15.3.4 Close Cymbal Microphone Technique
• 15.4 Room Microphones
• 15.5 Microphone Choices for Recording Drums
• 15.6 Developing a Personal Approach
• 16 Mixing Drums: Balance and Dynamics
• 16.1 Balance, Panning and Bussing
• 16.2 Dynamics Processing
• 16.2.1 Compression and Limiting
• 16.2.2 Gates and Expanders
• 16.2.3 Envelope Shaping
• 16.3 Hybrid mixing
• 17 Mixing Drums: Creative Processing
• 17.1 Equalisation and Spectral Processing
• 17.1.1 Cutting Low Frequencies
• 17.1.2 Treating the Fundamental and Overtones of Each Drum
• 17.1.3 Adding Attack and Presence
• 17.1.4 Controlling High Frequencies
• 17.2 Using Reverb to Regain Authenticity
• 17.3 Delay for Drums
• 17.4 Distortion and Enhancers
• 17.5 Sequential and Sidechain and Processing
• 17.6 Drum Replacement
• 17.7 The Final Mixdown
• Index