Studio drummer gear requirements

May I ask who here is doing modern studio session work blind-date style?
I did about 4 per year, pre-Covid. Usually jingles, but sometimes tracking for an artist. I would be notified with “jungle beat” or “pop rock” or whatever, and I’d show up not knowing whether I’d be tracking 10 songs for an indie album or doing an hour straight of run through takes for a 30 second spot for ESPN or what…
 
Not for me! I wouldn't even need an acrylic. But I guess I have to collect something, so it might as well be snares.
Snares and cymbals if you want to get to the higher echelons of session drumming, that's my take-away. A few sets of different heads, too.

I'm not 100% sure what to make of it all. I've made lots of money over the years as a singer with the same instrument, me. I've made even more money over the years as a guitarist with whatever guitar I had at the time. But, mics and amps and all sorts of other variables are also part of that equation.

Drums are such a crucial element of modern music. Every detail matters, as it does with every acoustic instrument. I like the idea of a snare drum collection already, so.
 
A minimum would be three snares. Not many people want to record an acrylic snare.
Producers aren't very fussy about hi-hats and crashes, except they shouldn't be loud or harsh.
I can count on one hand the amount of times I've played ride cymbal on a record. Very often I don't even set one up. Two rides, one washy, one defined, would be a great thing to have in your bag.
 
A minimum would be three snares. Not many people want to record an acrylic snare.
Producers aren't very fussy about hi-hats and crashes, except they shouldn't be loud or harsh.
I can count on one hand the amount of times I've played ride cymbal on a record. Very often I don't even set one up. Two rides, one washy, one defined, would be a great thing to have in your bag.
Ya, rides aren't as popular as they once were in dance music and rock, but still pretty common for a lot of the types of gigs I get booked for..
 
A minimum would be three snares. Not many people want to record an acrylic snare.
Producers aren't very fussy about hi-hats and crashes, except they shouldn't be loud or harsh.
I can count on one hand the amount of times I've played ride cymbal on a record. Very often I don't even set one up. Two rides, one washy, one defined, would be a great thing to have in your bag.
Just following up on your posts in this thread, I've visited Craviatto's and Noble&Cooley's websites, and discovered some absolutely magnificent craftsmanship.

Acrylic snares speak to me. I've only put a stick to an acrylic snare once, way back in the 20th century. But, I've heard them a few times on the monitors, and it's always the same result. "Oooh, what's that?" So, maybe that's MY sound, not necessarily the sound that everyone else wants...

So, I've got a lovely 14"x5.5" birch snare. Yamaha Stage Custom. What's my next move, to be as useful as possible? Metal, I suspect, but maybe not?
 
Just following up on your posts in this thread, I've visited Craviatto's and Noble&Cooley's websites, and discovered some absolutely magnificent craftsmanship.

Acrylic snares speak to me. I've only put a stick to an acrylic snare once, way back in the 20th century. But, I've heard them a few times on the monitors, and it's always the same result. "Oooh, what's that?" So, maybe that's MY sound, not necessarily the sound that everyone else wants...

So, I've got a lovely 14"x5.5" birch snare. Yamaha Stage Custom. What's my next move, to be as useful as possible? Metal, I suspect, but maybe not?

Your immediate geography, and the zeitgeist, come into play a bit. By now you’ve probably noticed that 70s type muffled, low-fi drum sounds have come back (for now). Rather than a new drum, a tea towel, or Big Fat Snare ring, will open the door to that world. If you must have another drum, then a Dynasonic or COB Slingerland could serve you well here.

But if rock and powerful pop is going on, and you need a more unbridled vibe, then a Black Beauty or Supraphonic is a good call.
 
Your immediate geography, and the zeitgeist, come into play a bit. By now you’ve probably noticed that 70s type muffled, low-fi drum sounds have come back (for now). Rather than a new drum, a tea towel, or Big Fat Snare ring, will open the door to that world. If you must have another drum, then a Dynasonic or COB Slingerland could serve you well here.

But if rock and powerful pop is going on, and you need a more unbridled vibe, then a Black Beauty or Supraphonic is a good call.
Being a cheapskate when it comes to drums (and everything except Ampeg tube amps), I think I'm just going to get a nice Black Beauty when I think I've earned it and I have more disposable income, and if I collect anything, it'll be cheapo pawn shop snares and beater resto projects. I've done arena shows with $100 basses and $200 guitars and I can do it on drums, too. Well not yet...once I get good I would, though I'd rather rent something super :D
 
Your immediate geography, and the zeitgeist, come into play a bit. By now you’ve probably noticed that 70s type muffled, low-fi drum sounds have come back (for now). Rather than a new drum, a tea towel, or Big Fat Snare ring, will open the door to that world. If you must have another drum, then a Dynasonic or COB Slingerland could serve you well here.

But if rock and powerful pop is going on, and you need a more unbridled vibe, then a Black Beauty or Supraphonic is a good call.
I was born in Hollywood, California, and I have many friends and colleagues in the bowels of the entertainment industry. I'm sort of a rebel in that regard, I suppose; I'm not interested in fame or fortune so much as music itself. I'm not pursuing a career as a session drummer, but I'm definitely, very emphatically, interested in the subject of recording drums.

I'm not yet sure how to articulate this, but I am near to the end of my career as a singer/songwriter/guitarist. In the next 2 years, I expect that I will record the songs that I started writing when I was a child. It's about 3 albums worth of material; my opus. Maybe I'll put out a song every few months or a year or so after. Scott Bradlee of PMJ is a brilliant example of what I have in mind for my future as "Lefty Phillips".

Playing drums is something different for me. Let's say I've done everything I wanted to do as a musician, so what's next? Helping everyone else, helping the next generation, do the thing.

Not enough drummers in the world. I'm stepping up to that challenge. Am I making the least bit of sense at all, or...?
 
Being a cheapskate when it comes to drums (and everything except Ampeg tube amps), I think I'm just going to get a nice Black Beauty when I think I've earned it and I have more disposable income, and if I collect anything, it'll be cheapo pawn shop snares and beater resto projects. I've done arena shows with $100 basses and $200 guitars and I can do it on drums, too. Well not yet...once I get good I would, though I'd rather rent something super :D
LMAO.

"Would you prefer to buy a house, or an Ampeg?"

@Chris Whitten mentioned Craviotto snares, which are exquisitely beautiful and extremely expensive...
 
I was born in Hollywood, California, and I have many friends and colleagues in the bowels of the entertainment industry. I'm sort of a rebel in that regard, I suppose; I'm not interested in fame or fortune so much as music itself. I'm not pursuing a career as a session drummer, but I'm definitely, very emphatically, interested in the subject of recording drums.

I'm not yet sure how to articulate this, but I am near to the end of my career as a singer/songwriter/guitarist. In the next 2 years, I expect that I will record the songs that I started writing when I was a child. It's about 3 albums worth of material; my opus. Maybe I'll put out a song every few months or a year or so after. Scott Bradlee of PMJ is a brilliant example of what I have in mind for my future as "Lefty Phillips".

Playing drums is something different for me. Let's say I've done everything I wanted to do as a musician, so what's next? Helping everyone else, helping the next generation, do the thing.

Not enough drummers in the world. I'm stepping up to that challenge. Am I making the least bit of sense at all, or...?
You kidding??? That was brilliant! I mean, there definitely are way too many drummers in the world :D but there are never enough quality drummers.
 
You kidding??? That was brilliant! I mean, there definitely are way too many drummers in the world :D but there are never enough quality drummers.
Well, I'm a brilliant songwriter, so. LMAO! I'm extremely pleased that my words made some sort of sense.

The world is severely short on "quality drummers". That's my objective, to be a quality drummer. :)
 
Hey, Mark Knopfler calls me for a gig, I'll get one too! But I gots to have my Ampeg tube amps.
When the time comes, it'll be an Ampeg or a Mesa Boogie, whichever is on sale at the particular moment when I have enough loot.

File that under "Shit Lefty says when he doesn't even have a damned bass."

Guitarists are the worst people.
 
Never hurts to ask for reference material.

Almost every producer and his dog wants the snare from this album, but the kick from that album, and the toms from that random cat-puke covered 8track, with the sizzling 8-bit reverb from the cassette jammed in the radio in the lounge, etc. etc .etc.
 
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