Have you ever been shopping for drums and wished you could hear the difference between several drum sets side by side? That would be awesome, right? It’s the next best thing to having them all set up so you can play them right next to each other. Well, we can’t do the second one (especially online), but we did set up a bunch of drum sets in Sweetwater Studios and record them all with the same mics and the same drummer so you can hear the differences for yourself. How cool is that? The occasion was Sweetwater staff drummer Nick D’Virgilio’s solo album, and he actually set up 10 completely different kits so you could audition them just by clicking the PLAY buttons below.
The idea for this comparison started with the recording of Nick D’Virgilio’s just-released Invisible album. The idea was to pick exactly the right drum set for each song, all the way down to different cymbals, different hardware, even different sticks. “For this record, I’m using a different drum kit, literally, a different drum kit on every song,” notes D’Virgilio (NDV, for short). The consistent factor for all the kits is that the microphones, the “lenses” through which you hear all the kits, are exactly the same. This project called for transparent mics that would give us an uncolored sound and cleanly handle really high SPLs, and, for that job, the obvious choice was DPA microphones — on every drum, every cymbal, the whole kit. So, the drums were all set up in the same spot in Sweetwater’s Studio A and the DPA mics placed in the same position for every drum kit with the distances measured for consistency. Everything went through the same mic preamps and into Pro Tools.
According to Nick: “To be able to record the drums in the way we did was truly fantastic. I am so honored that all of these amazing companies said yes to this project. When making records, most of the time, I pick one set of drums and maybe a couple of different snares and various cymbals. But, for this project, I was able to sculpt drum sounds specifically tailored to the songs in a more exact way — sometimes using different brands together to serve the song. Thank you so much to every one of the drum companies! You have made this a very special and unique project.”
Take a Listen
Here are sound clips of 10 of the drum sets used on Nick’s album along with his thoughts about each kit. The first half of each sound clip allows you to hear the drums soloed, and then the second half shows how the drums sound and sit in the final mix. All production, recording, and mixing is by Nick D’Virgilio and Mark Hornsby.
Mercy
featuring Yamaha, Sabian, Evans, Promark
NDV: What makes this song so much fun to play on drums is that it melts two styles of music together — hard-driving, fast, frenetic, hard rock ‘n’ roll and dubstep, at least my version of dubstep, anyway. I chose this Yamaha Live Custom Hybrid Oak kit because it is punchy, precise, and loud, but it has a nice roundness to it and just fits this track really well. Great tone interval from the toms, high to low; a big, fat 24-inch kick drum, which cuts through the track and is perfect for this song; and a matching 5 x 14 snare.
I’ve got to mention the finish on these drums. The technique is called uzukuri. What they do is paint the shell black and then sand off that black paint so the black is only inside the nice, deep grains of this oak wood. It’s a really cool technique because, then, they add the color on top of that. So, you have the color and then grains in little spiderwebs of black all through the shell. Lots of people at Sweetwater see them and have the same reaction: “Wow, those are gorgeous-looking drums.”
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Mercy.”
In My Bones
featuring Gretsch, DW, Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, Remo, Vater
This song is classic rock — bass, drums, guitar, B3 organ, and saxophone. And I picked one of the most classic drum kits of all time to use on this song. In fact, it’s one of the most recorded kits of all time: Gretsch USA Custom. Gretsch started making their USA Custom drums about 65 years ago, and that signature Gretsch sound comes from the combination of woods they use in the drum shells — maple and gumwood. And this kit has the Anniversary Sparkle; it’s a killer-looking black/gold sparkle drum kit. And, for the snare, I used the Gretsch USA Bell Brass snare drum — a super-versatile behemoth of a snare.
I added to that a hodgepodge of Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste cymbals. When you’re in the studio, you don’t necessarily have to use one brand of cymbals all the time — it’s whatever serves the song. It’s the sound that fits the song best. And, in this track, the different tonal textures that you get from the different crash cymbals stand out in a cool and unique way. Take a listen and see what this whole kit sounds like.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “In My Bones.”
Money (That’s What I Want)
Featuring TAMA, Sabian, Remo, Evans, Vic Firth
I took this tune and I morphed it, made it a little psychedelic, and put some loops and some programmed things with it, which I’ve done quite a bit on this record. I really like taking technology — loops, arpeggios, things like that — and adding acoustic instruments on top of it. I think it’s a really fun way to make music groovy, putting those elements together.
The drums that I chose for this track are TAMA’s Star Maple drums. These are TAMA’s high-end drums, and they spared no expense on these drums. The construction is fantastic. They use a solid wood core layered with maple plies so you get the punchiness, brightness, and attack of maple, but that solid wood core gives it a warmth and depth, more than just a typical maple drum. These drums really sing. And since this song is slow and groovy, I needed drums — especially the toms — that had a little bit of decay, some nice breath to them, that would go along with the bass and the strings so you could really hear them stand out in the mix.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Money (That’s What I Want).”
Wrong Place Wrong Time
featuring Mapex, Paiste, Aquarian, Vic Firth
I picked just the perfect kit for this song. This is the Mapex Cherry Bomb drum kit. We love cherrywood here at Sweetwater Studios, and it makes killer recordings. You get nice, warm tone out of the toms and beefy, punchy sound out of the kick drum. One of the things that’s really special about this kit is its tom-mounting system: the MAATS magnetic tom mount designed by Randy May. What this magnetic system does is make this rack tom hang freely, and there’s a magnet on it where you can dial in the sustain of the drum. You can adjust the sustain by closing up the vent hole or by opening it up. This system keeps all the sound in the drum instead of it traveling out through the mounting system.
The low-end punch of the kick drum, the precise crack of the snare drum — really nice for that punky groove. And then, the roundness of the toms fits in great with the fills I’m doing in between all that stuff. And then, there’s the sound of the two floor toms played together. At the end of the song, I play them both at the same time, and they have a thunderous sound to them. Big and round and loud — they sound like they’re even bigger drums.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Wrong Place Wrong Time.”
Turn Your Life Around
featuring Sonor, Zildjian, Aquarian, Vic Firth
This is an aggressive song, and I wanted a kit that was aggressive, too. On this maple Sonor kit, they put reinforcement rings on the top and bottom of every drum, including the kick drum, so you get a great, punchy sound that really delivers. Nice and high and cracking over here on my high toms and big and fat and beefy on the floor tom. It’s a birch snare drum — birch and walnut. They go together really well. It’s a fat-sounding snare drum. And the felt beater on the Force 1 head gives me a nice, punchy, round, and fat kick-drum sound.
And, with the SQ2 kit, you can customize every tiny detail you want to customize. On the hoop of the kick drum in the front, you can pick the veneer you want for the inside of the hoop and the outside of the hoop. If you want that little bit of detail, you can do that with the SQ2. It’s a cool feature, and I love how detailed they get.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Turn Your Life Around.”
Where’s the Passion
featuring DW, Sabian, Remo, Vic Firth
I picked a really special drum kit for this song. I chose the DW Collector’s Series Santa Monica kit because it has a beautiful sound, whether playing the delicate grooves of the verses or the big, powerful grooves of the bridge and everything in between. With this kit, DW is paying homage to their old Camco series drums that they built back in the ’80s, and these are fantastic-sounding drum kits.
These are all maple drums with thicker plies, so the drums are a little bit beefier — these are hearty drums that just have a fat sound. The rack toms are old-school-style 12 and 13 inches, and the floor toms are 16 and 18 inches. These toms just sing, and they play an important role in this tune. They’re punchy and fat and loud and round and really musical.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Where’s the Passion.”
Overcome
featuring Ludwig, Zildjian, Paiste, Evans, Promark
I chose the Ludwig Classic Oak Pro Beat 24 for this rocking track. This kit is made of American red oak and maple. The inner core is three plies of maple sandwiched between outer plies of red oak, so you get a punchy, fat sound from those two woods coupled together. And, for the snare, I used an 8 x 14 hand-hammered brass Ludwig snare.
In the first section of the song, I needed giant floor toms to play a unison part with the strings, bass, and guitar. They had to have a lot of power in the song, and I surely got that from these 16- and 18-inch toms.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Overcome.”
I’m Gone
featuring Ludwig, Evans, Sabian, Promark
The inspiration for the groove and tempo for this tune came directly from the Bee Gees song “Stayin’ Alive.” Yes, I’m a rocker, but that song and a lot of their songs have some absolutely fantastic rhythm sections. You can’t help but to bop your head around to the beat. The subject of this song has the main character walking around outside, feeling like he is seeing the world for the first time. He is happy and having a great time, so the vibe and groove needed to convey that feeling. With that thought in my mind, I needed to use a drum kit that would give me a powerful 4-on-the-floor beat and a big tom sound for deliberately simple fills. The Ludwig Classic Oak Pro Beat 24 kit was perfect for this. I added a Ludwig hammered 8 x 14-inch brass snare drum with a Big Fat Snare Auto-Tone Snare Drum Topper to get that deep, thuddy, ’70s snare sound. The toms are big on this kit, too — a 13-inch rack with 16-inch and 18-inch floor toms.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “I’m Gone.”
I Know the Way
featuring TAMA, Sonor, Ludwig, DW, Yamaha, Trick, Zildjian, Aquarian, Remo, Evans, Vic Firth
This kit is called “Hodgepodge 2,” and it’s a mix and match of lots of the other drums I used on this project. This song is fairly straight ahead, and I went for a powerful yet clean and warm sound for the drums, like something I would put together for a pop-song recording session.
This kit is centered around the kick drum, the Ludwig Classic Oak 24-inch. The power of that big oak drum gave the grooves weight and was a nice match to all of the maple toms. I went with typical sizes for the toms: 10, 12, 14, and 16 inches. A very important thing I needed to get right for this song was the snare sound, and I chose the Trick Titanium 6.5 x 14-inch. That drum is quickly becoming one of my favorite snare drums to use for recording. I still kept on the Evans ST Dry head, and that was all the dampening I needed to create a cracking backbeat.
Here’s a list of the gear used on “I Know the Way.”
Snake Oil Salesman
featuring TAMA, Sonor, Yamaha, Mapex, DW, Ludwig, Gretsch, Trick, Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, Vater, Remo, Evans, Aquarian
This song has the biggest kit on the whole record, made up of a mixture of drums from the other kits. This track has a main groove that would need to utilize the toms and a powerful bass drum. I chose the Yamaha Live Custom Hybrid Oak 24-inch kick drum for the deep, driving low-end pump. The big oak shell with an Evans EQ4 head gives a huge thump. The one common thread in the four rack toms is maple wood giving all of them a nice, punchy sound. The three floor toms use maple, cherry, and oak wood. Again, all with different head combinations. The whole set is finished off with a fantastic Trick Titanium 6.5 x 14-inch snare drum, a killer drum that gave the backbeat of this song the exact tone it needed. All of these drums would not normally be put together, but that is what made it so special sounding. The crack of the 8-inch Sonor SQ2 high tom with the giant boom of the Ludwig 18-inch Classic Oak floor tom is super cool!
Here’s a list of the gear used on “Snake Oil Salesman.”
Microphones Used
Here’s the list of the DPA microphones that were used to record the drums.
| Kick In | DPA 2011A |
| Kick Out | DPA 4011C |
| Snare Top and Bottom | DPA 2011C |
| Toms | DPA 4099 Core |
| Overhead Left and Right | DPA 4011A |
| Overhead Center | DPA 4015A |
| Room 1 | DPA 4006A (x2) |
| Room 2 | DPA 4041-SP (x2) |
| Wall Boundary Mic | DPA 4061 |
Conclusion
What an amazing opportunity to hear all these kits side by side, recorded exactly the same way. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. If you need help picking out your next kit or if you’re ready to get that new snare you’ve been eyeing, give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700. We’re waiting to hear from you.
