Make your crashes count.

There’s no rule that says you have to hit a crash cymbal at the top of every section or bar. There’s no hard fast rule for this but think about why you are hitting a crash. Is it adding excitement or helping the song in some way? Or is it fighting with the other instruments, vocals or even your own drums?

Also think about how hard you are hitting the cymbal. A cymbal is very loud even when hit lightly. One of the best ways to get your drums to sound bigger is to hit the cymbals softer. This is especially true in a recording enviroment. Think about it, the best representation of the whole drum kit comes from the overhead microphones. Your cymbals are the closest, loudest thing to these microphones. If the cymbals are louder than the drums, you can’t use these the overhead tracks for much of the drum sound. They can only be as loud as the cymbals. If you are playing hard, this is easier said than done, but it is possible if you’re aware.

This is a concept that I've often thought about and discussed, but have never tried to collect in print. This first occurred to me while making an album called "The American" by Angie Aparo. I played all of the final drum tracks to beats programmed on a Roland Groove Box by Angie. The other instruments were overdubbed later on.

While I was cutting these tracks I noticed that my perception of time seemed to slow down while I was recording. I don't mean that the songs seemed slower, but my perception seemed deeper and the actual size of the beats seemed longer. Almost like zooming in on a digital picture and seeing the pixels. This allowed me to play on the front, middle or back of the beat more precisely. Wherever I was playing on the beat was still "in time" with the click, but retained a different feel ie. "on top" "laid back" "right on".

I tied this in with an earlier concept that I have used. If you are playing a beat or pattern with more that one limb you can push or pull the time feel of the individual parts to get different feels. For instance Led Zeppelins’ John Bonham generally put the snare on the back of the beat and the kick drum on the front of the beat. This gives him the illusion of a larger sound. In contrast, take the Rolling Stones Charlie Watts, his snare and kick are generally both on the front or middle of the beat, giving him the illusion of a more driving feel. I see the beat now like the following illustration:

This concept also applies to the other elements Incorporated into a beat, like hi hats or ride cymbals. These subtle variations are the things give a player an individual style. Everyone feels these things in a unique way. I think this concept along with a players individual touch are the main components of creating an unique feel.

This is a concept for playing drums (or any other instrument) more comfortably with a metronome or click track.

When you picture the sound of the metronome in your mind, imagine that it's being made by another musician. Don't think of it as a rigid grid. Imagine that it has an ebb and flow, and just try to play along WITH the click, try not to play TO the click.

It's also a good idea to practice with the metronome at lower volumes. This will help you learn to trust the metronome and help you keep from chasing it. Click volumes available in various studios can vary wildly. If you're used to playing with a click at a lower volume you can help to avoid panicking when you are in a pressure situation.

Another problem that I will address in a future update is playing to a click with a band. Bottom line:

EVERYONE is responsible for keeping time.

Unfortunately, this isn't often the case. In a future update, I'll outline some techniques to help you through the gig or session.

2 of my compositions are available for use on MyMusicSource.com.

Alone for Now
Swamp Soul


From the MyMusicSource website:

"MyMusicSource was founded by Michael Redman and Greg Sims, both successful musicians, composers, and producers in the music industry for over 20 years. Our mission is to educate and help our artists in any way possible, as well as offering their music to producers worldwide.

Michael founded PowerHouse Music in 1992 in Orlando, Florida while running a successful music house, playing in a rock & roll band, and composing music for Disney, Universal, Feature films as well as Advertising Agencies. He has worked as a producer for a multitude of bands, and picked up a little bit of the music business along the way.

Greg Sims graduated with an degree in composition, and a talented serious composer, and arranger of Orchestral Music. Michael and Greg started working together on Disney projects in 1998 and formed a long lasting friendship. Greg joined PowerHouse in 1999 and together they have built a distribution system in 12 countries, through agents that represented our artists music to production companies. PowerHouse was the training ground for MMS.

MMS is now co-located in Nashville, and Cleveland, Ohio. "

I have 2 collections of samples available at TheFreeSoundProject.

Snare collection here.
Kick collection here.

Whenever I do sessions, I always try to get some samples of the drum sounds if the engineer is cool with it. I've collected a lot of these and have some of them up for free download at TheFreeSoundProject website. This is an amazing website filled tons of great original sounds that are free to use as long as you credit the creator.

These files and more are also available free on my website. Free Derek Murphy Samples

I've found a good trick that I use to get a consistent cross stick sound in the studio. This technique requires a backwards left drum stick, an ink marker and some critical listening.

By cross stick, I mean that woody click sound that is produced by laying the drum stick across the snare drum head and striking the opposite rim while leaving the side in your hand on the drum head. This sound is used frequently in Country, Folk, Reggae, Rock and Jazz.

If you come across a song that is going to need a cross stick snare sound for a section, this trick can help you keep the sound full and consistent.

I feel that for the best cross stick sound, you must play the left stick backwards, so that you are holding the stick by the tip end. Using the butt end of the stick for the cross stick sound will give you a much more solid tone than the tip end. I almost always play my left stick backwards because I like the sound of the butt end for most things I play. If you play your sticks matched, you will need to incorporate some kind of stick twirl or flip to get the stick back to the tip end for the other parts of the song. This may seem awkward at first, but it's worth figuring out.

When I know I'm going to use a cross stick sound, I play the cross stick in a couple of different spots on the drum to hear what sounds best. By moving it around, you will find many different sounds. The tone and pitch will change depending on where the stick is hitting the rim (over a tension rod or not) and by how much of the stick is outside of the rim. Use your ears and ask the engineer to listen with you. I often listen for the pitch and solidity of the sound.

When you find the perfect spot, hold the stick in place and trace around the tip end on to the drum head (shown in red). Then draw a line under the part of the stick that is hitting the rim (draw on the drum head). Now you have a template of the location of the sound that you can match the stick to. This will help you keep the sound consistent.

This is especially helpful when you are using the cross stick for the verses and the regular snare sound for the choruses. Now when you go back to second verse after the chorus, the cross stick sound will match the other verses.