I ran across a video of Vinnie Paul from Pantera. In this video you should hear exactly what a metal drum kit sounds like in a regular room when it's being recorded by a cheap video camera.

It's often confusing for metal drummers when it comes to home recording. The sound of metal drums are a tad different than there more natural counterparts. Metal drummers usually require lots of attack and an “over the top” sort of tone to their drums. How much of that is done naturally on the kit? How much is done at mixing time?

Well, to be sure, there are definitely times when mixing tricks are employed to augment the sound of great sounding natural drums. With that said, you can only do so much during mixing. Trickery will only get you so far.

Watching the end of the video of Vinnie Paul playing drums in a room.

You'll notice:
» It's a really crappy recording done with a cheap video camera
» The drums don't sound anything like Far Beyond Driven, which implies that they didn't record Far Beyond Driven with a video camera!
» The kick drum does NOT sound boomy.
» The cymbals are in their place. The kick and snare are the dominant tone.

The big thing to pay attention to is the kick drum, which is so important for metal music. You'll notice that the kick drum never sounds “woofy” or excessively boomy. The kick drum is fast and tight with lots of attack.

This wasn't intended to be a huge article. I just ran across this video at NoiseMakerNews.com and I thought I would highlight a little lesson.

Brandon