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Chris' Articles

Musings About Drum Sessions and Recording

Chris Brush Drums - Creative Custom Remote Session Drum TracksChris Brush is a Nashville-based session drummer bringing his experience to clients in the form of creative, custom, passionate, high-quality remote drum tracks

Emotional Dynamics

Creativity, TechniqueApril 29, 2013

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Emotional Dynamics – Adding Passion to Your Sessions

Songs are alive. We mark our lives with them in that the right song can take you back instantly to an event in your past. A good song captures an emotional snapshot and presents it in an artistic fashion. As a session drummer, it is our job to add to…

Outside the Box Session Craziness - Mini Kit

Creativity, Inspiration, TechniqueApril 22, 2013

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Outside the Box Session Craziness

Sometimes sessions come along that force me to think outside the box. A song on a session last week called for something driving like a drum kit but was soft and acoustic and leaned toward percussion. Full kit would have been too much and just perc would have been anemic.…

Chris Brush - learning how to balance the hi hat

TechniqueMarch 15, 2013

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Hi Hat Balance

How a drummer hits the hi hats is important under the scrutiny of the red recording light. A lot of modern players play the hi hats too hard. This simple little video hopefully demonstrates the difference between bashing the hi hat and balancing the hi hat within the kit —…

Snare Drum Miking - Chris Brush Drums

Recording, TechniqueJanuary 25, 2013

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Snare Drum Miking – A Comparison of Sounds

This entry is titled “Snare Drum Miking” but is not about how to mic a snare. That’s easy enough to do. Also, this entry isn’t about shooting out between mics to find out which is “best” for a snare drum. All mics both add something to and subtract something from…

Drum Fills for the Session Drummer

Humorous, Recording, TechniqueJanuary 19, 2013

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Drum Fills for the Session Drummer

The last few weeks have seen me take a rather academic approach to various drum-related topics. This week is a complete departure. I offer my guide to Drum Fills for the Session Drummer - a (hopefully) humorous look at different drum fills in the context of a typical recording session.…

Kick Drum Tuning - Chris Brush Drums

Recording, TechniqueJanuary 10, 2013

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Bass Drum Tuning

So often the kick drum gets overlooked when it comes to tuning. The heads usually aren’t replaced as often as they are for other drums. In the pursuit of a really low sound, I would wager that most people tune the kick drum heads as low as they can get…

Snare Drum Tuning - Chris Brush Drums

Recording, TechniqueJanuary 2, 2013

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Snare Drum Tuning

The snare is the drum you hit probably 80-90% of the time. It needs to sound good for the context of the song you’re playing. This is especially true in the studio. In a day when drums can so easily be enhanced with samples or straight out replaced, it is…

Chris Brush Drums - On Drum Tuning

Recording, TechniqueDecember 27, 2012

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Drum Tuning

There is not a right way. Any drum with two heads presents a quite a combination of tuning possibilities; the best sound being subject to personal preference. If it sounds good to the microphone, it’s right (if it sounds good to your ear but NOT the microphone – use a…