Online Drum Tracks – Tips For Success

Online Drum Tracks – Take Advantage Of The Opportunity
Getting custom drum tracks for your music from an online session drummer is a great idea for several reasons, but there are things you need to know to make good decisions.

You have recognized an opportunity to save money and time by getting custom drum tracks from an online session drummer. Using today’s technology to get something you need makes a lot of sense.

For those who currently aware of the advantages to getting your custom drum tracks online, this article should help you better understand how to make good choices in terms of which provider to go with.

But first we should review the advantageous aspects to online drum tracks

The traditional way of doing things involves having to pay a lot of people.

First, you rent a studio to record in. Studio rates depend on a lot of things, including the area the studio is in. A well-equipped studio usually averages around $150 per hour.

Secondly, using the traditional method, you have to hire one or more sound engineers. Sometimes the same person will set up the mics and run Pro Tools, Logic or whatever recording platform is in use. But often there will be two engineers, which of course raises your overhead for your project.

So far, there are three people you potentially have to pay: the owner of the studio and possibly two engineers. Of course you must add the session drummer in, and that makes three or four people you have to pay. That’s fine if you have a limitless budget, but if you seek to save money (without compromising quality, of course) there is a better alternative. That is of course going to an online session drummer.

We are living in exciting times, as technology expands rapidly in all areas. The ability to do recording sessions over the internet is one of those things that seemed highly unusual not long ago but is now becoming common practice. But as of now this is still a relatively new development in its beginning stages.

Let me get to the point: This is great for composers and songwriters who need custom drum tracks for their music! They can now get drum tracks that are like the big studio recordings (if they choose wisely) for a lot less. This is saving people much money, and they don’t necessarily have to leave their home.

You can now send the files of your songs to an online session drummer, they record the custom drum tracks, then they send you the individual files after you have approved them and paid. Most also have the option of a stereo bounce. This process is way easier than coordinating a bunch of schedules, and it can make travel budget for recording a non-factor.

Now that everyone is clear on the advantages of getting your drum tracks from an online session drummer, lets move on to the point of this article:
understanding your options. So lets get in to what to look for in order to make a great choice.

Or rather what to listen for, because the first priority is great sound.

The playing level of the session drummer needs to be high-level, but if the actual recording quality is not of a professional, master quality level then that good playing is somewhat wasted.

You absolutely must compare websites and find which sites have the best sound quality. As you compare websites, you will hear vastly varying levels of sound quality!

Why? Because some online studios have better outboard gear than others. And, because of the varying level of expertise in terms of sound engineering.

Bottom line: your ears will be able to tell the difference between the lame, the mediocre, and the best. The online session drummer you hire must either himself be a professional sound engineer, or he should be working with one.

To be a truly pro recording engineer is a serious skill. On some of the online drum track sites you can really hear the lack of engineering expertise.

The bulk of these sites are run by drummers who play well, but are limited in their gear, their engineering knowledge, and of course their tracking room. Many sound like they are recording in closets or small booths. You can hear the phasing issues and ugly flutters.

Most online drum track providers have no analog equipment, working totally “in the box”. Nothing wrong with this per se, it just is not the same as analog gear. Most also have only eight or fewer inputs available to them, which is a limitation you do not want for most contemporary styles.
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The overall is that you can hear weak links in the recording chain, and limitations of the tracking room, on many of these sites.

Better sites are run by session drummers who either are professional sound engineers themselves or are using one. These better sites have no weak links in the signal chain and use excellent outboard recording gear. There are only a few of these!

Keep in mind, most of the best quality sites are of drummers you have heard of such as J.R. Robinson or Bobby Rock. These guys have name recognition that allows them to charge fees that would be out of reach for many clients.

So your first chore is to “weed out” the lemons, which frankly are most of sites.

Be careful not to be tricked into listening with your eyes, because some of the worst-sounding sites around actually have a nice visual presentation. Just listen to the examples.

You can be suspicious of the sound quality of any site charging less than $100 per song. Do your own research, but you get what you pay for. I found a very slick-looking site offering tracks for only $35 per song. MAN that is cheap, and it truly sounded cheap, like the worst thing you have ever heard.

My advice would be to spend what is necessary to get master quality custom drum tracks. Cleaning up a mess is not affordable, get it right the first time. Doing so is more affordable than ever before to do so because of online drum sessions. If you must put your project on hold for a few weeks or even months to save the right amount of money, it will be well worth it in the end.

Now, your next order of business will be to investigate how communication will be.

Some sites had forms to fill out, asking about artistic considerations such as when in the song the drums should enter, if the approach should be similar to that of a specific song or drummer, and how “busy” the drumming should be.

This is a great place to start, but probably not a great way to communicate your musical needs. Other sites offer direct communication prior to recording. Some also employ programs such as NiceCast which allow the client to listen live to the recording from anywhere, hearing exactly what is heard in the studio control room. This is almost like being in the room, and allows clients to produce the sessions in real time.

This approach increases the likelihood of getting exactly what you need in your online drum tracks.

This approach will also probably save you money, as most sites charge extra fees for additional takes, often referred to as “mods” (modifications), or “re-dos”. While this is basically fair, having to do an excessive number of takes per song can be avoided with by having the ability to produce the session remotely in real time.

The last order of business in choosing an online session drummer is the fun part: deciding which drummer you like best in terms of playing style! You need to find a session drummer that will play your music in a stylistically correct way.

Remember, if the playing is good but the sound quality is not, then move on as it won’t be good enough for your music. Once you have found the websites offering the highest level sound quality, you then need to which drummer will handle your songs the most musically.

Listen for things like groove/feel, energy level (some guys sound like they are just “phoning it in”), dynamics, musicality of parts, not stepping on vocals, etc.

In summary, find a site that will give you major-label sound, with a session drummer whose playing you really dig, and will be able to communicate with you (hopefully in real time). Hopefully this article will help you choose the best online drum tracks site for your project.

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