Drums

The advent of digital recording has led to a dramatic increase in the number of contemporary metal productions being created and distributed. A majority of those with poor production are due to inadequate drum sounds, which includes those that sound fake due to an overreliance on drum samples. The way the drums react to a studio environment is likely to differ from the space where the tuning and dampening took place—often the rehearsal room. The kick is the only drum that is struck in exactly the same place with each hit, resulting in comparatively stable dynamics and timbre. The half-in/half-out of the porthole mic placement is the most common way to mic a bass drum. A kick isolation tunnel provides enhanced spill rejection to greater distance external mic placements, which capitalize on more fully formed low frequencies at this distance. A snare drum’s bottom head and snare wires can be considered as tone generators for brightness, high-frequency noise, and “spit.”