Recording drums is one of the most important, and often tricky parts of any album. Unlike guitars or vocals, the room sound is often one of the key elements when tracking drums. This can make a good drum recording tricky… or even impossible, depending on your room situation. This month we will take a look at three methods for recording drums. Each have distinct benefits and drawbacks.

1. Tracking acoustic drums. This involves setting up an acoustic drum set in a room and capturing it with microphones.
2. Tracking sampled drums. This involves using an input device or already prepared midi beats to trigger samples of percussion sounds.
3. Sample & acoustic mix. This involves using both samples and acoustic drums.