The Online Drummer

Here's an uncomfortable truth: amateur sounding drums suck. All us indie and rock musicians here know how hard it is to get decent sounding drums, just like those 'real studios' do. Unless you've got a nice sounding room, a top spec kit, great outboard gear and a top class set of mics, you'll be hard pushed to record a decent sounding drum track in your bedroom. The neighbours often don't dig it either.

So what to do? Sample cds are a favoured solution, but don't always fit your track. Drum machine? Too inhuman. Imagine a world where you could use the magic of the internet to magic up a track to perfectly fit your song, with your choice of playing style and even your own choice of sounds?

Enter DrumsForYou.com. The theory couldn't be simpler. Send your track to a top quality drummer (namely talented multi-instrumentalist Elad Fish) along with instructions of exactly how awesome you'd like it, and back comes the perfect drums for you and your masterpiece. So in the interests of science and a healthy love of a good drum track, HRC went to investigate...

Elad Fish, Managing Director and Chief Drummer for DrumsForYou.com has been drumming since he was fourteen. From there, he built a studio to record his bands songs, and subsequently rebuilt it to industry standards and started producing singles for others. At one point working as a session drummer in Israel, Elad was working with a producer who couldn't make it to his studio, so he hit upon the idea of emailing the drum parts direct to him. With that the concept for his DrumsForYou.com was born.

For this review, after emailing back and forth with Elad a little, I decided to send him a track which was almost completed, bar any drums or percussion. The nearer completion the better because, as Elad himself put it "It will be much easier to understand your drift with a good sketch. It's the only way I can provide you with a great sounding drum track." This sketch should consist of your work-in-progress panned hard left and a metronome or click track panned hard right. The inclusion of the click track is crucial to ensure a tight performance as, let's face it, no one likes sloppy drums.

That done, head on over to the online order form (http://drumsforyou.com/product_info2.php?products_id=28) where you specify what sample rate you require (44.1khz – 96khz) the bit depth (16-24 bit) and enter some information on the style of the song, and any particular aspects you feel are important. A nice part of the DrumsForYou service is the chance to pick from three snares, listed on the order form with sound samples. The snare is arguably the most important drum of the kit, especially in pop and rock, and the three that Elad offers give a good selection of tones. I went for the '73 Dynasonic personally, but there's something for everyone here.

That done you're asked to upload your audio file in mp3 format. No payment yet, that's left until much later on in the process. In this case I uploaded my track on a Monday evening, email confirmation was sent to my inbox within a minute and Elad had emailed me to thank me for thank me for my order within the hour. That's service!

The site quotes 48 hour turnaround on drum tracks (unless you pay for express 12 guaranteed delivery) and in less than 24 hours I was sent the link to a preview of a mix of my song with full drum track. At this stage, if you're not completely happy with what you've heard simply email them and tell them why, and you'll get another version to your preference. As it goes, I LOVED the version I'd been sent, so there was no need for this, and I wouldn't expect this is required very often. If you've got something particular you want you can send in a midi drum track when you order for the guys to reproduce anyway, so it's pretty unlikely that you'll end up with tracks you don't like.

Once I'd manage to stop myself listening to the mix (about 47 repeats, approximately) I confirmed that I was happy with the results, and at this stage payment would be made. The next morning I received a link to the tracks in my inbox. From never having heard the song before, to producing a completed, beautifully played drum track, to sending me the files a little over 36 hours had passed. I've worked with drummers who take that long to unpack their gear...

The 9 drum tracks supplied consisted of the kick, the toms (3 of), hihats, two snare tracks (top and bottom of the drum), left and right overheads and a generic mix ready to slot straight into your song. If time is pressing having a single mixed wave file to insert into your songs is a Godsend, while having individual tracks to mix, run separate effects on, or disregard totally is great.

The individual tracks are immaculately recorded with no noise, kick pedal squeaks or other irritations but as you'd expect there is a little bleed from one channel onto another. But hey, this is a real live track, not a sample cd, and having a little run-off from one track into another makes for a beautiful full warm sound. The playing was sympathetic to the nature of the song that I sent and the tracks I was supplied were so beautiful I couldn't bring myself to add any effects or mess with them – not that there was any need. Whilst being powerful and strong it was also inventive, with little hihat rhythms mirroring the vocal for example, and not at all overbearing.

The tracks sent had processing such as compression, eq and gates pre-applied for that professional polish, as part of Elad's Premium Package, but untreated tracks can be supplied a little cheaper if preferred. To economise further you can also skip the separate tracks and buy just a stereo mixdown to insert into your composition.

As Elad says "When it comes to drum recordings, I think that it's very important to understand the function of each instrument playing in the project. Seeing the big picture and grasping the nuances of individual parts of the song is crucial to fitting the perfect drum track for a song" – something that his experience and beautiful recording techniques certainly achieve, all less than the price of a decent sample cd. Highly recommended.

An interview with Elad Fish

HRC (flame): First up Elad, what inspired you to start DrumsForYou.com, and what advantages does your service have over one of our members simply buying a drum sample cd?

Elad: As you probably know, musicians use music to express themselves on a daily basis. Some might not be able to go through their day without playing/creating music. DrumsForYou.com makes it possible for me to record music for people all over the world in almost any style and genre. Every day I'm recording new tunes which make it possible for me to express myself in the best way I can – playing music.

Real drum recordings and drum loops/samples are totally different things. Each has its own advantages and restrictions.

Drum samples are great for specific usages. Many great producers (especially in the dance industry) create productions using drum loops and samples. They use them as an instrument for groove but never intend to imitate real drums. Samples and loops will never replace a real drummer simply because they represent only one sound out of around 1000+ sounds that a drummer can provide from one real drum set. The performance of a real drummer can't be transformed into midi charts, it would be like comparing Mozart charts played via midi with the same charts played by Mozart himself.

When you use our custom drum tracks you not only get drum sound or performance, you get years of experience in drumming, drum recordings and music productions. The result is a professional custom track fitted exactly for your song needs.

HRC (flame): We're a bunch of gear heads at HRC; can you share some details on your recording set-up?

Elad: Our recording setup includes a DW Collectors drum set with AKG 414 TLII for overheads, D112 for Bass drum, Sennheiser E604 for toms and Snare and an Audio Technica condenser for Hi-Hat. We use TLAudio processors and most of the mixing is done over the computer.

Keep that in mind - It all starts from the source of the recording! You must first make the drums sound like a million dollar in the recording environment before spending a million dollars on gear. That includes very important emphasis on the drum set, tunings, room acoustics, and microphones placement.

HRC (flame): Do you have any preference in the analog vs. digital argument? Also, is recording to tape still practical in the modern recording industry?

Elad: In the battle between analog and digital recording I'm standing right for the digital. Analog recording is so complex that it really depresses the player sensation. The digital converters nowadays are developed to such a level you just can't tell the difference in the conversion. Let's say you have recorded a wonderful take but with a single mistake, what is simpler than going back, recording these 10 sec' again and having the perfect take?

HRC (flame): Any advice to assist our members in mixing your drum tracks well into their music?

Elad: We include a stereo drum mix with effects on every package, so you can have a great mix in seconds just by placing it into your project.

For those who need full control over the mixing, our basic package includes the 9 original unprocessed channels of the recording besides the drum mix.

Well, getting into drum mixing is a quite complex issue. Every drum mix we produce is unique and unlike mixes we did before because of the drum performance and the style of the song. Usually our mixing processing includes Gates on Toms and Floor, compressors on the bass drum and snare, EQs for every channel and phase reverse in some cases.

Elad: For those who want to have full control over the drum mix but don't have the professional knowledge required for drum mixing, we have created the Premium drum package. Beside the stereo drum mix, the premium drum package includes the 9 individual channels of the recording with all the processing required for the drum mixing. This allows professional and easy custom mixing of the drum track with the rest of the song only by adjusting the tracks volume.

HRC (flame): Got an opinion on 'computerised' drum tracks such as those in modern electronic music, or the extreme programming by artists such as Venetian Snares and Aphex Twin?

Elad: Computerized drum tracks have their own respectable place in the music industry. They can be great for particular requirements that a real drummer just can't perform. I even had few tracks where I added computerised drums together with our real drum track to reach a specific groove which was on my mind and the results were amazing!

Personally, it's very hard for me to listen to computerised drum tracks in a song where they stay the same for over a minute. It's like reading the same line in a book over and over… no matter how clever this line is, it's still the same.

HRC (flame): Describe an average day at DrumsForYou HQ.

Elad: Well, a few hours each day are dedicated to discussing and reviewing the projects with our customers. It is very important to us that our customers can have exactly what they want just as if they are present in the studio with us. Then we gather the teem and come up with ideas and share cool stuff for orders that require full production of drums, bass, keyboards and guitars. (Often this brain storming ends up with a crazy jam session)

We don't have regular working hours simply because this job requires muse and inspiration but usually the rest of the day is spent on recording. Actually the major problem of this great niche is that you can barely stop working...

HRC (flame): What would you consider your proudest moment in your career to date, and what do you still hope to achieve?

Elad: Well I don't think I have a specific moment that I'm proud at. My proudest moments are when we receive testimonials from clients telling us about their experience with the service. I hope to keep going in this direction - every day we learn a new thing and we grow together with the music.

HRC (flame): What does the future hold for Drums For You? Any exciting plans to share?

Elad: We have recently introduced an offering that includes recording of Drums, Bass, Guitars and Keyboards for your song, and this goes really well -. These are the basic instruments a musician needs in almost every song, so we simply know how to take a song in any state and bring it, according to the client's instructions, to its peak. I hope to keep developing DrumsForYou.com to include instruments like brass, strings, percussion and everything to make it possible for songwriters and producers to have every instrument they need being played by a professional player.

We are also planning to arrange songs competition of all DrumsForYou.com's customers with prizes and many giveaways.

HRC (flame): Best drumming recorded on tape to date?

Elad: I'm a big fan of Steve Gadd's playing. He is basically my biggest inspiration to date. I think his best drumming can be found on Chick Corea's album "Three Quartets". However you will find me listening to so may different styles of music from Jazz to rock and thru reggae and R&B.

HRC (flame): And the non-business stuff : Favourite food?

Elad: I'm really into sushi and sea food. But basically, I'm not so choosy about food, and even a good hamburger with a pint of beer might do the job well done.

HRC (flame): Favourite place to spend a lazy day?

Elad: There is nothing like sitting on the sea shore with my mp3 player listening to some good music. Combine that with the hamburger and beer from the last paragraph and here is my formula for spending a lazy day.

Thanks!