CYMBALIC DRUM STUDIO

Hey Brian, how did you come up with the clever name for your studio? 

Thanks for asking! My first email address in 1998 was cymbalic@flashnet. So when thinking of a name for my studio, specifically a drums-only studio, Cymbalic was the perfect choice. I love play on words and I also love the 

"Symbolic" album by the band Death from 1995. 

So why choose me for your next project?

RECORDING EXPERIENCE

Over 30 recordings in the books. Not my first rodeo! 😆

INTEGRITY

I have a solid work ethic. I won't let anything less than stellar out of my studio. 

After all, it has my name on it. So I'm always "chasing perfection". 

ONE ALL INCLUSIVE FEE

I've been hired to record in other studios in the past. That means the client paid me AND they also paid the studio separately. When you hire me to record in my studio, you won't have the additional fees for studio time. 

"All inclusive" also includes me doing any necessary editing, including tom track clean up (see final paragraph below for details).

EFFICIENCY

Recording in my studio is also much faster than recording somewhere else. I am the musician AND I am also the engineer, all at an arm's reach. When I'm in control, I can stop/start much faster. In a different studio, I am at the mercy of that engineer to roll it back to a certain spot when doing punch-ins, etc, and that has always taken way more time. But not when I'm at the helm. I know exactly where I need to go, which makes for a much more efficient session. That also means I'm going to be pickier since I don't feel pressured from being on the clock. 

NO TIME LIMIT

Typically when you set studio time it's for a set amount of hours/days/weeks. So there's a certain pressure to get it done within that timeframe. I personally don't like the feeling of being rushed through a recording. Of course, I don't want to take forever either. But by recording in my studio, I know that I can move at a comfortable pace and finish when I finish, 

with a quality product for the client. After all, I'm often trying different things, which can take a little longer. You're not paying me per hour. You're paying me for the results, regardless of how long it takes me to get'r done!

Do you mix your drum tracks before sending them to the client?

Not exactly. However, I do get all the levels balanced so that it sounds right. I send you the raw drums (12 separate tracks). Then you or your mixing engineer takes it from there. However, one thing that I do before sending the final stems, is clean up the tom tracks to remove that constant hum/rumble that will inevitably show up vibrating in the areas where I am not hitting them. You won't hear the rumble too bad when the whole kit is soloed, and even less with the whole band, but you will when soloing the tom tracks. Cleaning them up does make a difference. I remove all that because in the end, this makes for a much cleaner and tighter drum sound overall. It's extra work, but it's totally worth it.

Mic set up:

KICK - Audio Technica ATM25

RIDE & HATS - AKG C430  

SNARE TOP - Shure Beta 57A

SNARE BOTTOM - Sennheiser e906 

TOMS - Shure Beta 98 (pics below do not reflect these mics)

OVERHEADS - Rode NT1

AMBIENT/ROOM - Neumann TLM 102