Date

5-2020

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Department

Music & Performing Arts

Major

Music

First Advisor

Lanier Sammons

Second Advisor

Jeffrey Jones

Abstract

I want to invest in recording equipment so I can record music at my house. I do not want to pay for studio time because I would rather pay for, and keep, the gear. What gear do I need to record myself playing drums? What elements of recording myself playing drums are most important? How much do these things cost? Considering these costs, where is my money best spent? I decided to do an experiment where I record myself playing the same sound file with different drum sets, with different microphones, in different spaces to find out.

To find out how much the instrument plays a role in the recording, I set up two different drum sets in the highest quality space I had available to me, with the highest quality mics I had available to me and played a drum part. To find out how much the recording space plays a role in the recording, I set up the highest quality drum set I had available to me, with the highest quality mics I had available to me in two different recording spaces and played the exact same drum part. To find out how much different microphones play a role in the recording, I set up multiple microphones on the highest quality drum set I had available to me, in the highest quality recording space I had available to me and played the exact same drum part.

This experiment has answered my questions about where to invest in my drum set, how valuable acquiring the best recording space as possible is, which types of microphones I should be shopping for, as well as where in the recording process I can save some money and where I should not cut corners.

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