Best Drum Sound in Singapore?

[lars_ulrich]

I NEED HELP!

Which studio do you guys think has the best drum sound in Singapore? I'm talking about a really good snare sound and overall natural sounding drums. I plan to NOT use triggers so does anyone have any recommendations/links to studios in Singapore with what I have mind?

Thanks

 

[RolandLim]

What kind of music do you plan to record ? if it's anything heavier than pop rock pretty much SOME use of triggers are the norm these days . It also depends if you own a sweet drumkit that's well tuned or counting on the studio's drumkit and how good your technique really is.

I've been freelancing the last few months since i've been working from home and i personally like Leonard Soosay's ( Snakeweed ) drum recordings the most . However with the " sonic impact " needed these days I haven't heard that many cds without the use of some triggers .

 

[blueprintstudios]

lars_ulrich : if you're talking about jamming , you may wanna slowly check out studio by studio
http://tinyurl.com/jammingstudios

my vote would be with UrbanLegend's drums (except for snare, not suitable for rock) but unfortunately their studio has gone private. taken care of by the drummers at singaporedrumfest, you couldn't go wrong.

 

[lars_ulrich]

hi guys thanks for the reply. well i play in a thrash metal band si i guess the music's kinda intense and yes i do need somewhat of a triggered drum sound. though im not a big fan of triggers and i'd prefer not to use them.. i think my main concern is the snare.. honestly ive yet to find a snare sound that is good and and really cuts through the mix well.. the triggered ones that ive heard are well.. just too fake..

any comments?

 

[aquanaut]

hi guys thanks for the reply. well i play in a thrash metal band
any comments?

so you play thrash metal and you are looking for a studio that can accomodate you with a good drum sound?

my friend, you can wait long long la.

no matter how much money you can put forth, no good studio in their rright minds WILL give you their best drums in the studio for you to practise/jam or record.

you should invest in your very own personal set and lug it around.

thrash metal....pfahhh!

 

[blueprintstudios]

lars_ulrich : for most jamming studios I know of, usually they give the "beat up" drumset to thrash/core/heavy hitting drummers because it takes a toll on their maintenance for the income they earn in return and it's unfair to the rest of the bands that jam there who are not as hard hitting complain saying their equipment is "poorly maintained" cos of the previous band's genre that abuses the gear more than a poprock band. I'm sure you know about this by now , it's not that ppl are against thrash, music has own respective genres , but reality check jam studio owners also need to make a decent living.

so what I can suggest if you don't like triggers (you didn't tell us whether recording or jamming) but if it's jamming, you will need to get your own snare (at least) and cymbals, which is the common practise of some drummers who are very particular about their own sound. they literally bring in a trolley load of cymbals and snare for a 2-3 hour jam.
and for a snare that cuts through in jam situations, it'll be about the tuning and the skin/snare sound that has the "attack" thud.

if for recording.. well, it's the audio engineer/producer's job. if he only knows how to mix triggered samples, then it's probably time to move on to other recording studios , ahboy of TNT studios has always been the "godfather" of recording all the hardcore/thrash bands.

hope this helps!

 

[lordie]

what u intend to do.

1. to jam? and practice

2. or to record.

3. or want a snare?

my drummer got some custom drums contacts, he made a set for himself and it another 1 for a recording studio. he plays metal \m/ let me know if u want the contacts.

i play in a brutal death metal band, and its quite a challenge to get the sound just right. but recently did some recording for our last 2 EP's and is very very very satisfied with the recording and we intend to do our next full length there as well.

check out my band myspace there got some song's we record from that studio.

and to put the issue straight. death metal or hardcore or whatever metal thingy dun thrash drums or gears, its improper technique and n00bs is the one, either u play rock or indie or whatever a sucky drummer will always be sucky, especially all the crack cymbals, etc..etc..etc...

 

[lars_ulrich]

ya okay metal sucks thrash is dead we cant play music etc.. lets get that out of the way

ok so now let me answer the question. yes i am recording. hi lordie could you give me the link to your band's mypsce site? and which studio did you guuys record at?

yeah we've recorded at TNT before and of course it's great working with ahboy but i think everyone who goes there WANTS the triggered sound. alternatively of course i can just record there and turn the triggers off but what im looking for is a studio that can give me a solid sound without the use of triggers.. i checked out big ear musica and i thk they have a pretty good drum sound but it's kinda ex.

 

[blueprintstudios]

lars_ulrich : lordie's myspace site is in his signature Cardiac Necropsy and if i'm not wrong it's done at studio47 (in my singapore studio list) , and i think it's where the old musiczone studio was, or either that they're neighbours.

and yes indeed new young drummers reading this thread, if you find yourself bragging say how many cymbals and drumssticks you break per jam session per month, think again because that indicates your poor technique to get out more tone + less damage to the drumset + to your own wrists (good luck when you reach old age)

p.s : it's rare to hear purists who don't want the triggered sound unlike the trend of sampled drums these days. sorry if we aren't too much of help

 

[ParkertR]

lars_ulrich : lordie's myspace site is in his signature Cardiac Necropsy and if i'm not wrong it's done at studio47 (in my singapore studio list) , and i think it's where the old musiczone studio was, or either that they're neighbours.

and yes indeed new young drummers reading this thread, if you find yourself bragging say how many cymbals and drumssticks you break per jam session per month, think again because that indicates your poor technique to get out more tone + less damage to the drumset + to your own wrists (good luck when you reach old age)

p.s : it's rare to hear purists who don't want the triggered sound unlike the trend of sampled drums these days. sorry if we aren't too much of help

well said technique is important for the long term.

 

[lordie]

yup recorded at studio47 aka musiczone, and yes we did not use trigger for the last 2 EP.

halim prefer not to use triggers,

our myspace - http://www.myspace.com/cardiacnecropsy

 

[crackedbrain]

so you play thrash metal and you are looking for a studio that can accomodate you with a good drum sound?

my friend, you can wait long long la.

no matter how much money you can put forth, no good studio in their rright minds WILL give you their best drums in the studio for you to practise/jam or record.

you should invest in your very own personal set and lug it around.

thrash metal....pfahhh!

i totally disagree with wat you say about waiting long long n stuff...i realised ive read a few forum topics n saw your discouraging n dissing post.my you are damn ugly aquanaut..really am..n critising on genre of music is no good..if your particularly dont like it.. i think you should just keep the remarks to yourself.i dont noe you personally..n i assume you have been in the 'scene' for long.im playing music too in the scene be it underground or major.n i can tell you this im much younger then you are but i think wisely..its such a disgrace a person like you to give such discouraging remarks.ppl who dont noe is asking for help yet you are dissing?try being in the shoe of that someone n no one helps but diss instead?ouh i bet you love it do you??grow up old man..ouh ya..bout good studios giving good sound to thrash metal or watsoever not.i think you r wrong..there are good studios which can produce good stuff..i think you should go n do your research rather then juz sit here n diss ppl!get a life!

 

[rock-fied]

hey crackedbrain, dont worry about him, he's been doing this for a long time.

 

[bernardgoh]

yup, we've minimise our recording in using of trigger or midi.. call us a purist.
anyway, studio 47 is a recording studio which is formerly musiczone.
Studio 47 is run by totally run engineers and management.

This is one of the project that been recorded/mixed/mastered in studio 47 by our engineer.

http://terrabox.wordpress.com/category/singapore-music/

 

[blueprintstudios]

TS and whoever's still interested : some bands love the 100% triggered (layman : sound replacement) sound, some are purists and rely on pure eq/gate/compression and a good tuned drumset and room to start with. and some do a 50/50. there's limitless option of choice.

 

[bernardgoh]

yup, most importantly...
know what you really need. what solution can give you the best results u needed.
talk to the engineers and visit the place you're going to record.
understand who and what can help you on your product. Do not jump into something just by hearsay. you are going to invest in something that is going to spend your time and money. plan plan plan...

 

[kimura]

Brutha...

I must say it is pretty tough getting the 'drums sound' down, be it in a recording or studio environment.

In a recording setting, the sound engineer is a key player especially if he is one who can double as a producer. His knowledge of mics, white noise etc is crucial plus he has to factor in aspects like mixdown& even mastering.

Using the 2 quoted examples here namely Leonard Soosay& Lordie's band:

Leonard is one heck of an engineer/producer. From his Myx studio days to Mastering Suite& eventually to Snakeweed. He has done recordings for a wide genre of music& catered to the equally varied idiosyncrasies of the musicians that come with them. You should give him some serious consideration.

As for Lordie's band or rather brand of music. In my opinion, genres as such is the most challenging when it comes to nailing the drum sound. Some folks may say it's all about playing fast ( see brutal ), hard etc but to me it's also about getting the right overall balance. I must say, the end product for his band is pretty impressive.

Most people would wanna go all out when it comes to recordings especially when they have the budget for it so in that regards the work starts from research, which is basically what you're doing here& kudos to you.

There are a number of exprienced engineers, musicians on board& I hope when the dust settles, you're that much closer to finding what you're looking for.

As for rehearsals. that's tricky. Having your own snare, cymbals may help you or at least make up for what would be lacking. Drumsets in studios go through a lot of pounding& at times even abuse so to find one that sound good today would probably be crap some time down the road.

Don't be discouraged, I've had studio time where the drums are crap but we use those times as basic structuring sessions. When we're ready& have made some progress with some songs, we'd head out to a studio with better skins.

Good luck brutha.

 

[blueprintstudios]

as i always tell bands , it's important to be comfortable with your producer, because he is the person who will represent your music to your audience off-stage. no one can tell you how your band should sound unless he produced your influence's band haha.

 

[bernardgoh]

yeah, too bad alot of local bands doesn't see the important of producer.
that's why they have to find a engineer who can help their bands in the production.
Plan Plan Plan.... not all the producers/engineers is suitable for your projects. Talk around, see whether you're comfortable to hand your project to the one you'll be engaging.
you really don't want to make your decision base on saving of $100-300 then suffer to go through time wasting in studio due to differences of idea and the pain of hearing your final product.
again... PLAN PLAN PLAN...

as i always tell bands , it's important to be comfortable with your producer, because he is the person who will represent your music to your audience off-stage. no one can tell you how your band should sound unless he produced your influence's band haha.

 

[blueprintstudios]

indeed not all are suitable for projects, therefore it's important to check the profile and versatility and experience of the audio engineer you're engaging.personally i don't bother planning so much. just do.