How to Write Complex, but Simple Drums Parts
Cypress Bartlett
No A.I was used in this article.
⏰ 12 min read
Know the Artist
“Balance the strong with the experimental.”
From the beginning of writing with anyone, it’s incredibly important to know your role in the creative process. Are you a friend helping out, a band member, hired gun, producer, or is it your own song? Each of these roles can impact the way you bounce ideas to one another, but overall, it’s important from the start to discuss what the boundaries are for how you collaborate.
The way Kaya Byrne and I started working together was in between shows, performing for the Australian production of Come From Away In Newcastle’s Civic Theatre. Kaya wanted to jam with some of the band members of CFA and shed some ideas. One week later, we discussed making some demos and I offered to write the drum parts on his behalf, which was accepted. Now, while I was able to write the drum parts and create my own ideas of how Stasis could sound, I didn’t start writing without knowing who influenced Kayas sound.
Side note: Stasis only has Kaya’s vocal melody, lyrics and acoustic guitar to start with.
So, I put on my investigator's hat and asked “hey, what kind of style is this song (and overall EP) going for”, to which Kaya replied “Last Dinosaurs album In a Million Years”. Down the proverbial rabbit-hole I went, listening to that album on repeat for weeks, while cooking, jogging, contemplating life, to and from work, you get the idea.
The particular track Zoom caught my attention as a foundation for what Stasis might feel like, big hi-hat energy, hits that grab the listeners ear, absolute solid groove, all while cruising at altitude with the anthemic guitar riffs. More ideas started popping out, more influences started to emerge from the vast forests of rhythm. We started talking about London’s Jamiroquai and his simple grooves in ‘Little L’ that allow the vocals to breathe, all the way to Tennessee’s Kings of Leon and their song ‘Supersoaker’, with its hard hitting kick and snare groove that hugs the bass guitar, as if the instruments are childhood friends strolling down the street.
As we wrote, there was a particular point of contention, the big triplet hits in the middle, and at the end of the song. These were hard, I'm not sure why, but we spent a long time getting these in the Goldie Locks zone, a task at the time that felt like a hero up against a monster in an ancient Greek tale. The hits are not any particular sub-division, and they were not a particular set of hits that I had ever played before. Wires were definitely crossed within my rhythmic mind. Did it get frustrating for the drummer in me? Yes! Did I let it ruin the writing process? Well, the song is released alongside an incredible music video, so I don’t think so!
Every single fill, groove hit, and build was equally important for this particular genre of bulls-eye produced drum sound. We discussed, toiled, shaped and moulded our ideas before putting them in the kiln of recording, which was only weeks away. A recording session where there would be 5 short hours to set up the drums from scratch, and record Stasis. With 7 other songs.
Knowing the artist recap
Clear communication from the beginning
Know the influences for the song
Adapt your skill set for the music/ artists needs
Don’t let your ego get in the way
Know Your Ability
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
By the time the drum parts were being written, we were touring Come From Away in Adelaide. I was going to be living in a self-contained apartment that also happened to be 1,400km, or a 14 hour drive, from my personal drum kit.
Writing drums as a hired instrumentalist can be a daunting call. Your creativity, ability to perform on the spot and pull rabbits out of hats is on show for the crowd. This pressure cooker can cause stress, anxiety and self-doubt. How did I overcome this? The foundation from other artists canvases that are masterpieces in their own right. We were able to start sketching down ideas, developing grooves and adapting to the shape of the song at every step. As we were also simultaneously writing the bass and electric guitar parts. I knew the drums needed to lock in, hug the bass guitar, float with the vocal melody and groove with the anthemic guitar riffs.
Stasis is one of 7 songs in Kayas Belladonna/ Supernova concept EP. It’s a monumental task remembering all these intricately bombastic and delicate parts. I am thankful that I was able to develop my music reading and writing ability. So I made a drum chart for Stasis (as with the other 7 songs) with equal parts detail and space.
Detail: The composed parts that elevated the rhythms of the other instruments and made a tender undercurrent for the meaning of the lyrics.
Space: The creative moments when I felt something fresh emerge from my musical soul under the audial microscope.
Thankfully, by the time Come From Away was in Perth, I was able to practice the parts for Stasis (and the EP) in the drum booth in-between shows. Sheet music, toiling over detail and intimate knowledge of the style I was going for, allowed for seamless practice sessions. Each session had a focus, first the broad strokes of each song, making sure that each section was under control. Then down into detail I would go, like studying at a tree, then its branches, stems, and finally the leaves. If anything were amiss, I would go back and ask why is this feeling uncomfortable, acknowledge the difficulty, mismatch of tone or style, and try again with a new approach that aligned with the song.
Every day I did this, either on the drum kit, while cooking, going for a jog, or riding my bike to and from work, I was getting every song into my bones. Since this wasn’t my first studio recording, I made sure to pinpoint sections in the song where I was able to ‘drop in’ comfortably to save time in the studio, knowing that I was able to use different takes in post-production. I marked these points on my charts. I felt ready, until I got an email from Imran at 385 Studios saying that the DW Collectors drum kit I requested was unavailable.
Know your ability recap
Demo, listen, practice. Repeat.
How do you interact with other instruments
Sheet music can help with the detail
Practice more than what is required
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
“God is in the details”
Let’s go back to Adelaide, to the self-contained studio apartment with no drums and no physical place to sound off our ideas. Luckily, I remembered to bring my one octave midi keyboard from home, and I had already downloaded some succulent sounding virtual instruments from Kontact’s virtual instrument library. Drum kit sorted.
We bounced a demo after every session to listen and review, making sure that we were both happy with how the song was developing and how the drums were interacting with the other instruments. Every day we added more and more layers, the Surface laptop I worked from started screaming “Hey! I’m running out of brain power here!”. This led to some funny and frustrating moments of playback. The humor peaked for us when a particular playback started to sound like we left popcorn in the microwave for too long. I think we called a break at that point to let our own biological CPUs cool off from the laughter.
Side note: Optimisation of virtual instruments and plug-ins can help playback on older, or, underpowered computers.
Fast forward back to Perth and days before recording at 385 Studios. The practice schedule was lining up, all the charts I had written were allowing flow. Until that email. As it turned out, the DW collectors kit was hired by another project for the week we were recording, a simple and accidental clerical error. All the demoing and knowing with certainty the sound we were aiming for went out the window. The moment in the studio for the clay to be blasted by the fires of that red recording button and set that clay with permanency. Dropping in, retakes and overdubs can be edited in post-production. The inherent sound of the drum kit? No. The owner of the studio said they had another drum kit, a one of a kind 6 piece DW Dave Grohl signature series kit. I was skeptical, I was anchored under my own cognitive bias, stuck in the dreaded law of the instrument. I felt as if I knew with all my whole heart, that the Grohl kit was the wrong sound - before I had even played it -, alas, it was the only option, as we were in the most isolated city in the world, with only days until the march of microphones would be upon my doorstep.
Improvise, adapt, overcome recap
Preparation is everything, and then it don’t mean a thing
Use your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses
Allow time to cool off and reassess your creative situation
Be aware of your cognitive bias
The Little Things
“In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity.”
Recording day. Kaya and I arrive at 385 Studios, owned by Imran Griffeths with James Buchanan as recording engineer. We actually recorded the drums next door at Lee Buddle’s Crank Recording studio (where the string, choir and grand piano tracks for the EP would be recorded). I was ready for the songs, but was I able to overcome my doubts and bias to finish all 8 in one session. The alternative is delay in production, elevated cost for the artist, and scariest of all, a drum sound that would be inconsistent throughout the concept EP. You may ask; why not get more time, record over more days, record when you get back from Perth? One word. Logistics.
This was the only time this could all happen without suffering greater financial burden. Kaya and I also had other productions we were already hired for after Perth, so it would be at least 2 months before we could get together in another studio. 5 hours is all we had to lay down the drums. All I had was my mind and preparation.
We listen to songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit, with its iconic drum introduction, the high energy flaming of the snare that weaves around the kick and hi-hat. You know what you’re in for after only a dozen seconds. Dave Grohl (and Nirvana) didn’t achieve this in isolation. He built his pocket through artists such as; Gap Band, Cameo, Tony Thompson, and more. “It’s all disco.” - Dave Grohl
Before even hitting a drum, the kit must be set up, mics put in place and sound checked. Pre-prepped click tracks and drumless demos to be imported into the Pro Tools recording session. I know this will eat up time, maybe more if anything goes awry. So no time to squabble over my biased drum kit preference. Work fast, but not so fast that you trip over yourself and get tangled in mic leads. 2 steps forward, no steps back.
One. Set up the kit: Approach the 6 piece behemoth that drumming legend Grohl commissioned himself. Be humble. “This can be the sound” I tell myself as I assemble it like lego.
Two. Clearance: Are the cymbals touching any mics? No. Are the toms hitting the bass drum? Yes. I move to fix them as best I can. The angles are a little off to what I'm used to, the massive toms weigh more than I could have ever expected and any movement takes longer than I anticipated. I don’t bog myself down in ergonomic semantics, I need functionality as a priority over minute positioning at this point.
Three. Sound Check: All the mics were aligned perfectly with no issues at the desk. I hear a weird squeaky rattle coming from the kit somewhere. This will eat up time. Okay, let’s break it down. Is it coming from the cymbals, hardware or the drums? Kick pedal (a usual suspect) check. It’s as smooth as a windless lake. Cymbals? Spotless. Around the toms I go, one by one like a hunter searching for prey. The two floor toms are OK. First tom, rattle. Great, I've found it. Second tom, rattle. Oh oh. The toms are attached to a mounting system with dozens of wingnuts, screws and bolts, they are webbed together with 3 other cymbal stands and any vibration ripples throughout. We all started looking. This sound must be snuffed, but we must keep moving.
Four. Headphones check: I’m getting good sound from the desk, the click track and backing tracks for Stasis are working well. All the mics are positioned well. I was also becoming more familiar with the Grohl kit, my bias started fading.
Five. Tuning: As I tuned the drums to the sound of the backing track, the studio team had their ears open to the sound of the rattle, trying to pinpoint it down. I take my drum key and start to unlock the sound of the session, I relax into the sound of the Grohl kit. Tuning the oil taker toms to the sonic sensitivities of the song, the law of the instrument was subsiding, the anxiety of the correct drum sound was shifting like tectonic plates across time. This can work. With the toms, snare and kick drum now in tune with the song, we could almost start to record. Rattle.
What do we record first? I started with the 5 main intricate songs, knowing that the subtle beats for the final 3 instrumentals could be recorded elsewhere, and would have the least impact on the overall sound of the EP.
So I start with Stasis.
A final check before the red light to extinguish the rattle. Inspecting each tom arm mechanism with a fine tooth comb. We found it! A pesky little lug nut hidden away in the tom mount. Now ready to record with 3 hours remaining.
The basic basic math runs through my mind; the song is 4 minutes and 15 seconds long. 4 full takes will eat up 17 minutes. Each song averages 4 minutes. 2 hours of recording - NOT including breaks, resets, or time spent to load up the next song - the time burns away. I must stay calm, relaxed, and be firm on what I need. Focus on the moment. I have 4 takes and some drop ins if needed, knowing they can be inserted in post-production. Stasis is now deep in my bones and ready to be recorded.
Red light on. Drum grooves so meticulously planned and toiled over flowed with what felt like the artistic expression of an impressionist painter with the precision aim of Robin Hood splitting the arrow. Dave Grohl’s signature DW drum kit had now fully grown on me. The beauty of its cathedral-like resonance had filled the diaphragm of each and every microphone, we were sold on the sound. The big triplet Hydra hits then roared their ugly heads at the center of the Herculean task we were embroiled in. I dropped in take after take, my wires were crossed even after all the preparation and practice. With time ticking I say “It’s close enough, we’ll polish it in post-production.”
Yes, we did finish all 8 of the drum tracks at Crank/ 385 Studios in Perth. We asked for an extension. Imran, Lee and James were able to extend the recording by an hour to finish the remaining 3 instrumental tracks to keep the cohesive and quality drum sound.
The Little Things Recap
Plan big to small
Little details eat can up big time
Work with haste, but take your time
Pre-production saves time in production. Post-production is for polishing
Post-Production
“The key to such repetition is that new elements were added each new round. Every round goes higher and higher”
