Recording a live drum performance is a great way to breathe life into a song, and give it that authentic, human feel that only an experienced drummer, on a great drum kit, in a treated room, with high-quality microphones and recording gear will get you. 

I've played drums on over 500 songs to-date, earning over 8 million streams across platforms, putting me in the top 5% of drummers on streaming and top 5% of audio engineers on streaming (According to Muso.ai). 

I typically charge $150 - $250 per song for me to engineer and play drums on songs depending on:
 

• How many songs you're doing

• Which process you choose for recording drums

• How many revisions you end up wanting

• How long and complex your song is

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If you're curious what gear we have available to record drums at Red House Studio, you can check out the Gear page.

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My Process

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If I'm playing and engineering the drums on a song, I can approach drum recording in three different ways depending on your location, budget, and schedule:

 

1) in-person drum recording sessions 

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In-person drum sessions are the best way to try out sounds and approaches, and get exactly what you want in a drum part for your song. This is a great option if your location, budget, and schedule allows it. 

My studio is located on the North Side of Athens, Georgia in my home. I try and schedule sessions during business hours, but can do evening and weekend sessions from time-to-time. In order to record drums for you I'll need a WAV or AIF file of the current version of your song, and then another version of your song with any drums muted so that I can play along with it. I'll also need to know the bpm (if it was recorded to a click track) and what sample rate you're working in (44.1, 48, or 96k). We'll get a date and time on the calendar, pick out drums and mics that fit your song, and I'll even make you a fresh pot of coffee.

I can do percussion overdubs as well (shakers, tambourines, stomps, claps, drum loop and sample reinforcement). Once you have a take that you love, I'll make sure it's edited to your liking and sounds like a record. I'll then bounce out the stems of each channel, and a stereo drum mix for you to drop into your session.

 

2) live remote drum recording sessions

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If you can't make it out to my studio in-person, I can also do live remote drum sessions with high-quality audio and video. As long as you've got a moderately stable internet connection, a phone or computer, and some headphones, we can hop on a video call where were we can talk, you can see me play, and hear my drum sounds through your headphones.

I usually use Sessionwire, or Audiomovers for this kind of thing and have found it a really great way for people to get a similar experience to an in-studio recording session no matter where they are. Similar to the in person session, I'll need those two WAV file versions of your song (with and without drums), to know your sample rate, and your bpm.​

 

3) fully remote tracking. 

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If our schedules don't align, or you just want me to send you some takes, we can also communicate through email. Similar to in-person sessions and live remote session, I'll need the two versions of your song (with and without drums), your sample rate, and bpm.

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I also like to have as much detail about: what kind of tones you're looking for, any reference songs you'd like to send me, any directions or charts on specific parts (sample or demo drums are a great way to send me direction if you aren't great at writing drum charts). 

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I offer 2 revisions for no extra charge, but after that I charge $25 a revision.​

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Songs I've played on

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The best way to know if you'd like me to record drums on your song is to listen to some of the songs I've played on and see if you hear anything you like. I typically get called to play on indie rock, folk/singer-songwriter, alt country, and alternative CCM music, but I love playing harder rock, funk, and more progressive/experimental music as well.

Disclaimer: I've played on some very different sounding songs and genres, and pride myself on my ability to adapt to an artist or prodcuer's needs and tastes, so please don't judge me to hard on one song!

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