• Trailer

  • 25 min

    Part 1

    Bass drum – resonant & beater side, attack & sustain, mic preferences, phase, signal ducking

  • 16 min

    Part 2

    Snare – top & bottom side, condenser vs. dynamic mics, separation, positioning, expansion

  • 16 min

    Part 3

    Toms – perspective, mic pairs, level blending, summing, polarity, mic preferences

  • 12 min

    Part 4

    Overheads & Stereo Room – cymbal capture, high end detail, peak limiting, Blumlein

  • 13 min

    Part 5

    Ambient Pair – distance, bandwidth, elevation, Haas effect, boundary principle, delay

  • 05 min

    Part 6

    Internal phase relationships, absolute & microphone polarity, amplifier stages

  • 21 min

    Part 7

    Signal flow to console & tape, VU & peak metering, processing, calibration, recording

  • 08 min

    Part 8

    Compressor circuitry, parameters, preferred settings, limiting, dual mono vs. stereo

  • 12 min

    Part 9

    Room ambience, studio design, reflections, acoustic treatment, symmetry, material

  • 04 min

    Part 10

    Demonstration of simplified recording setup using only three microphones

  • 11 min

    Part 11

    Diagrams of ambient mic positioning with regards to boundary principle & Haas effect

Tracking Drums #3

Tracking Drums

(13 min / 2h28)

Steve Albini

  • Recording

Join us at Studios La Fabrique for a comprehensive tutorial on drum recording techniques! Hosted by the legendary rock engineer Steve Albini, this video series dives into great detail on tracking a drum kit in fully analog fashion with a Neve 88R console and Studer A800 MKIII tape machine. Albini takes you through his microphone preferences and positioning for bass drum, snare, toms, overheads, stereo drum kit, and room ambience. He gives concise reasoning for the types of microphone used and their placement, while suggesting suitable alternatives. Furthermore, he reveals his clever processing techniques to reduce bleed, enhance natural reverb, control dynamics, optimise phase relationships, and more. He demonstrates the use of his techniques by recording a live drummer, and draws diagrams on a white board to clearly impart his extensive knowledge!

Subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese

Steve Albini

About Steve Albini

Steve Albini was a well-known engineer, mixer, and studio owner who lived and worked at Electric Audio studio in Chicago, Illinois. Steve Albini was also the guitarist and main singer of the grunge band Shellac. Albini continued to work almost entirely in the analogue domain, being known for recording "live in the studio" as much as possible. He also placed particular emphasis on the selection and use of microphones in achieving a desired sound, and to best capture the ambience. In 2004, Albini...

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