If we’re completely honest, when the call came in from Toontrack asking to book the studio for many days to do a drum sample project with us we weren’t quite as excited as we pretended to be.
We imagined days of listening to 50 dynamics on 100 drums before moving on to a different pair of sticks or something. We’d never done one of these before and I admit we were guilty of lacking our usual irrepressible enthusiasm. Even Stefano, our Spaniel-like engineer found he was entirely able to contain his ungovernable zeal but we were slightly flattered that they clearly felt the studio acoustics were ideal and a gig’s a gig so we said ‘ooh how lovely’ and signed up.
The next thing we knew was there was a beep-beep-beep of a large truck reversing up to the studio door where it deposited more drums than you can shake a drum stick at. The studio floor was covered with snares, bass drums, cymbals and toms of every conceivable make, size and noisiness.
It was clear at once that Damian Blunt the producer and Pete Riley the drummer seriously knew their stuff and so began one of the most absorbing and enjoyable projects imaginable. As Stefano puts it, “I don’t think I’ve ever worked on something where there was so much focus on detail. For most recordings we have half an hour before the session starts to put the mics where we know they’ll sound good and we have to get recording. With Toontrack we were able to take the time to do tiny, fractional adjustments and to experiment. We learned so much about what is possible and discovered all sorts of things about the studio which we’d never appreciated before but will help in the future”.
Stefano said later that the opportunity to work in this way was a real eye-opener for him because it reminded him that big differences can be made with small adjustments. Pete’s astonishing accuracy at repeatedly increasing dynamics in tiny increments (around 50 dynamics per instrument) was a vital skill in the process – and not many players could maintain the concentration and precision needed.
After a week or so of this relentless concentration and focus there was an eerie zen-like atmosphere in the studio. Everyone had literally and figuritvely got into the rhythm of the project and knew exactly what they were all trying to achieve.
The best projects are when minds meet with a talented team and there is total agreement on the common goal. This happened in spades with Toontracks and I think that is borne out by the end product which really is amazing and exceedingly cool! You MUST give it a try.
To get a feel of what went on, click here and watch the ‘Making of’ movie and here to find out all about the finished product.
