A Yamaha Birch Stage drum kit was taken apart into twelve separate drum elements. These were then recorded individually to capture a clean, isolated tone. The microphones used on the project were an AKG D112, Coles 4038x2, Neumann KM184x2 and a Shure SM57. These were tracked through an analogue SSL console and processed using SSL ‘G’ channel equalisers and Klark technic compressors, for a combination of clarity and warmth.
Multiple microphone positions were tested to get the best sound from the kit, with each microphone measured to the millimetre from the central sound source to ensure phase consistency across recording inputs.
Equipment & Techniques:
Slideshow of images from the recording sessions
From recordings to samples
Once the recording sessions were complete, the next phase of production began. Each microphone stem recording was carefully edited, separating each drum hit into a group of samples. Care was taken to retain desirable transient information and to ensure a sufficient decay time for each sound. The samples were compared against audio reference sources and calibrated to ensure an optimal volume across the kit. Phase coherency was cross checked throughout the kit, prior to mass exportation into a custom file structure. These samples formed the initial library data, leading to the design of the Kontakt GUI and research into ways to implement further points of modulation, such as creative effects.
Slideshow of screenshots detailing some processes used to create the raw sample data from entire recordings
