Recording the DWs - New Sabian Holy China!

[Solaris]

Hey guys.

Had a recording session for my band last night. Unfortunately I found a lathe-line crack in my 22" Omni last week and had to send it away for a warranty replacement. Luckily though I have a few good drummer mates who were more than happy to lend me a few cymbals in lieu of my ride. One of my mates gave me his whole cymbal set for the session!

We ran a few different set ups depending on the songs. The first one here has a pair of 18" hats - a Legacy crash over a Saturation crash - for a real Ronni Vanucci vibe. I love crashing a pair of 18" hats, nothing quite like it!

For the other songs we just used my 14" HHX Xcelerators. I also dug out my Jimmy Degrasso snare, which I've modded a little bit with diecast hoops and tube lugs. It sounds so much meaner now than with the Pearl Superhoops.

And of course, there is my new 21" Vault Holy China. My HHX bit the dust last month after serving me for over 3 years, so I decided to grab one of these as a replacement. Man! What a sound! So trashy, loud and yet surprisingly musical. The holes really make this a trashy china, though you still get a great amount of tone from it instead of it just being a white noise china. The raw bell gives this baby balls.

Full list of stuff used:

Kit:

DW Collector's

12 x 10
14 x 12
16 x 14
22 x 18

Snares:

14 x 7 DW X-Shell
14 x 5.5 Pearl Jimmy Degrasso

Cymbals:

18" hats
14" HHX Xcelerator Hats
18" HHX Evolution Crash
18" AAX Xplosion Crash
19" AAX Xplosion Crash
20" HHX Legacy Ride
21" HHX Groove Ride
21" Vault Holy China

Toms had G2s on them - first time I've used them and I'm a big fan - nice warm fat tone!

DW edge has an ST dry on it, probably my favourite snare head.
The Degrasso has an Oynx on it, which helps control some of the insane crack and ring.
I'm rocking an EMAD on the bass drum.

And finally, a link to a song we've previously recorded:

http://soundcloud.com/blake-howson/03-how-she-runs

[Tropellor]

Hey Solaris,

Where did you get your Omni from? I've been hanging to get one here in Brisbane, and as far as I can see, no one is stocking them.

[Solaris]

Ordered one through Hydes. About 470 or so retail. Don't think they're stocking them as a regular thing though, I had to special order mine, was the first ordered in the country haha.

Hopefully they have some in stock or I'll be waiting a while for a replacement...

[Solaris]

Ok, so I probably shouldn't be posting this yet, but here's a rough bounce of one of the songs. It's still pretty raw, just guitars and drums but it gives a good idea of the sound. for this track we used 18" hats comprising of a legacy crash over a saturation - fat!!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43518714/Band/instrumentalBOUNCE.31.09.m4a

Should just be able to follow the link to listen.

[keep it simple]

Nice tight grooving by both guitar & drums. Good stuff!

[Naigewron]

Very nice! Sounds killer!

Do you remember what snare you used on How She Runs?

[Solaris]

DW 14 x 7 X Shell. Evans Genera Dry head tuned mid to low with a bit of moon gel on it just to help control the buzz. Yes it's a bit freaky I remember that haha...

Thanks for the positive comments. Really looking forward to seeing how this track is going to sound once everything's finished. Will keep you all posted!

[Muckster]

Solaris,

Thanks for sharing. Did you go with G2's both top and bottom on the toms?

[Solaris]

Hey Muckster, I just had G2s over the stock resos (clear ambs). Haven't found a reason to change up the redo heads yet - was thinking about going coated G1s a while back but never got around to it.

[bigmetal]

snare sounds great! should sit real nice in the final mix.