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Studio tips for drummers from Rob Brian, who’s been making records for 35 to 40 years and says he’s still picking up new tricks.
Rob has recently worked at Abbey Road and Real World Studios. Here he shares what he’s learnt about walking into a session ready to play.
We cover what gear to bring (and why a few spares in the car always pay off), how to choose kit, heads and cymbals for the style of music, and why you should carry plenty of drum keys, including a slotted one for house kits.
We also get into working with engineers, producers and everyone else in the room, and why being easy to work with keeps the calls coming. Then Rob talks through preparing for a session with your own charts and questions for the artist, and what to do when you’re handed nothing.
Plus staying consistent between takes, keeping your head in the game, and whether the room changes how you play.
00:00 Intro: studio wisdom with Rob Brian
01:19 What gear to bring to a session
03:11 Choices: sticks, heads and tuning tricks
04:34 Why you need a pile of drum keys
05:28 Getting on with everyone in the room
07:23 Why being easy to work with gets you rehired
08:59 Preparing the material
10:48 Walking in cold: counting bars and tape pressure
13:04 When the producer changes the plan
14:04 Consistency between takes
15:04 Staying in the zone (no phones)
16:51 Give them more takes to choose from
17:37 Does the room change how you play?
18:44 Match grip requests and the “naive” sound
19:50 Outro
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