Recording Drums With Steve Albini [Third Circle Recordings]

[@JamesGasson]

Steve Albini, 1962-2024: Reflections On The Man I Met: thirdcirclerecordings.co.uk/recording-blog/reflections-on-steve-albini/

[@JJONNYREPP]

Recording Drums With Steve Albini [Third Circle Recordings] 1012am 18.8.24 i never met him. i saw him late in his career. and some wit saw him nigh-on early into his career... a fact i think he still clings to to this day.... anyone taking heed of his decidedly 70's recording technique? led zep and the like gave rise to albini's engineering purview, surely?

[@Fabrice-or9ec]

God bless you Steve

[@hiki2853]

RIP to a legend. Videos like this are so important in the long run. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

[@samielamri6044]

so fucking young..... what a shame...

[@davidrobert4246]

Unbelievable that we live in a day and age were we can just watch a 30 minute video of a genius at work explaining everything in detail on our phones or computers whenever we like. Thanks James Gasson and Steve Albini!

[@acidvatproductions9933]

​@@MarshallorFender complaining about your wife on KZbin is lame

[@Sagittarius-81]

@@acidvatproductions9933 What, should we do? B A N H E R?

[@drhall343]

I hope to someday find a girl who loves me the same way Steve loves microphones.

[@clownhands]

I hope to someday have an ex-boyfriend who talks about me like Steve talks about SM57s.

[@Tomversal]

Good luck.

[@redbear4027]

Women don't love you; they love what you can do for them. 💊

[@keithferris9574]

@@redbear4027 that's pretty true.

[@raingirlcat2245]

@@redbear4027 kind of sexist no?

[@chrissiemilnarskii]

Gone on 5/7, forever solidifying the hate for the SM57

[@coffeehigh420]

I'm serious, i can't beleive this man is no longer with us (in this world). I can't beleive it.

[@ArchieBC]

This is one of the largest gold mines of recording drums I've ever found. Thank you!

[@Frip36]

Veritable gold mines.

[@aidanknight]

17:43 to 18:31 is phenomenal advice from an engineer who's been doing this since I was born. Source, Position, Microphone, Everything Else. And as a producer/engineer, the idea of using your sense memory of what microphones sound like and choosing an appropriate one for that source is great as well. I love Albini's utilitarian philosophy on audio work and am glad this era of him was captured. Thanks for posting!

[@poxcr]

What a great teacher he was. It is great that all this knowledge was recorded for everyone to watch. RIP Steve Albini, and thank you for the music!

[@Superdelphinus]

RIP Steve. I dunno why but his death ha made me much sadder than other well known people I’ve never met. He just seemed like such a clever, thoughtful, generous and funny guy and I’ll really miss being surprised by a new one of his electrical audio videos popping up randomly :(

[@alanduncan1980]

I never met him, but he seemed like a genuine, good person. I always had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for him, and his entire way of thinking about music. It's very upsetting to lose him so young. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. R.I.P, legend.

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

He once kicked my friend out of a poker match because he asked him about nirvana Lol. Love Steve tho

[@JerryAulenbach]

I was waiting for a boring part of the video so I could go to bed. It never got boring.

[@bobbydreg5597]

We will miss you Steve. This was the first video I had seen you in action and what you’re about. I mentally reference this video at least once a week and thank the creators for releasing this. ❤

[@MaxVanGinneken]

Thank you for this video! Probably the best document on his drum recording technique we'll ever have now. I can't believe Steve is dead.

[@coffeehigh420]

I really am in shock about it too man.

[@meccarecords5786]

This is absolutely one of the best recording videos I’ve ever seen. You ask the right questions and let Steve go off, and you don’t cut the video so he can explain his ideas. So down to earth. A million thanks for this free wealth of knowledge. Cheers.

[@craggercragger8989]

James; I am so glad you have made this video. I have spent a few nights each year since 2012 trying to binge as much content where Steve has been interviewed. I am not a musician or an engineer, but I find everything related to music production absolute fascinating. Revisiting this video today after initially watching it a few years ago for the first time. Hope you're well and I hope Steve is remembered positively by all. What a legend.

[@intertubicular]

What a science recording drums professionally is. I was left feeling very small and baffled after this video. I record my own musical tracks for songs as a hobby, and for fun. Perhaps in my next life I will possess the ability to master recording like Steve. He's one in a million that truly understands recording, knowledge of equipment, and the science. WOW!

[@AbuGrave365]

On my way to rehab listening to rapeman. Leaving rehab he passed away. RIP from his own music to everything he produced he was my hero.

[@christopantz]

it's incredible how humble steve albini is given his achievements and influence. i think that's perfectly represented by his line at the end "i'm gonna get on my bike, go home, go make dinner for the wife". if only everyone was so down to earth.

[@bigmaz4002]

Captain Howdy ... that’s because you like hacks like the smiths

[@asmahism]

Max Feeney so you’re saying Steve albini is an asshole because that guy likes The Smiths? That’s so specific... but you seem to know so I’ll take your word for it.

[@Rubberbandfan1]

@@bigmaz4002 The Smiths are "hacks"? What groundbreaking, original, and influential music have you made? I think I know the answer to this one.

[@bigmaz4002]

Kyle Henderson never said that... the dude I responded to was trashing steve. Not the other way around. I’m a huge fan.

[@bigmaz4002]

Rubberbandfan1 none. But neither has morrisey. He’s just ridden off the coattails of other artists. Also he’s a racist idiot.

[@Bkoded]

this video is now a very important piece of historical information, rest in peace man

[@Dandroid5000]

Steve tells it like it is........no bullshit, and in a manner that makes perfect sense to anyone who cares. Thanks for putting this out James, he's a wise old sage.

[@JamesGasson]

Dandroid5000 cheers dude, glad you enjoyed it.

[@russell_szabados]

Dandroid5000 : I’m 2 years younger than Steve and grew up in the same underground scene as him. Those of us still making music are old in number only. Staying in touch with the scene as you grow older is the best way to still be young, even when you’re “old”.

[@waltersobchak926]

Steve's drum recordings on In Utero were exceptional

[@FlubbydaTubby]

@CHAD theres no plate reverb on in utero

[@TheMuseumOfMistakes]

@CHAD Those are room mics dude, not plate reverb.

[@emperorming2913]

@CHAD Room and mic. No rev.

[@chinmeysway]

@@emperorming2913who’s chad

[@emperorming2913]

@@chinmeysway Someone who deleted their comment? Dunno.

[@KingBlonde]

7 years of practice, training, making music and watching tutorials and I've finally come to the conclusion that the room is the single most important element of a good recording (apart from being a solid drummer of course)

[@JamesGasson]

For drums, yep I absolutely agree.

[@richardgraham9645]

If the room isn't good, eliminate it as much as possible from the recording. The room I record my drums in is shit. There are no room mics and a very directional overhead. It works but comes out very dry and 1 dimensional. An ER reverb program fixes this.

[@skipwave]

I used to say the same thing, but now I would argue that the drums, the instruments themselves are much more important than the room. To echo Richard, if the room sucks then don’t record the room. Instead, make the room as dead as you can. Steve Albini has the best-sounding room (I’ve been in it), so he uses those omni-directional, stereo microphones to record a lot of what is happening in the room. Without those, and with some baffles around the drums, he would have all the detail recorded to “fake” that room. There’s plenty of way to fake a room, including pumping the sounds out through speakers into an actual room and recording the resulting ambience. Just like reamping guitars this provides incredible freedom to tweak microphone placement without the musician getting tired of soundchecking or waiting around. Another is convolution reverb using impulse responses recorded in a good studio live room. The ideal scenario is a great drummer playing good sounding, well maintained, well tuned drums in a room that you can take your time in to find the best setup to record, but so very often we must be quick in compromised spaces. It is actually in perfect agreement with what Steve Albini was saying to focus all your efforts on the source, and fake the space through post-tracking trickery.

[@FLYWHEEL71KC]

You just blew my mind! I've never thought of reamping, if you will, drums. Crazy

[@skipwave]

Jon Freeman there’s a world of possibilities! As another example of “enhancing” tracks that turned out dull because you had to use extra damping or baffling to cope with the room, Try running a gated kick drum track through a bass amp positioned to fire into a kick drum in a room. Blending the re-amped track with the original can be huge

[@veronicabianqui]

This video is GOLD. I have been a huge Albini fan for years, and I'm getting my engineering chops up - what a dream to be able to learn direct from the source! Thank you so much for this amazing contribution!

[@fartboxer22]

My old band recorded an album in that room with Mr. Albini. I wish I could have savored the experience more but my girlfriend was 9 months pregnant and I had crank out my tracks and fly back to Boston. I highly recommend EA. Thank You Steve.

[@stella-vu8vh]

what band?

[@ericmsandoval]

Well? What band?

[@heythere6983]

how much did it cost

[@davidlee2221]

@@heythere6983 its about $1500 a day to get Steve in Studio A.

[@timgawertdrums]

Wow…that live room sounds incredible!! Such a cool video. Thanks for sharing

[@ivanhouben474]

32:16 "don't take anybody else's word fro what mic you should use where" WORD !!! Steve, I love you :-)

[@datar0t273]

his hi-hat stand is higher than snoop dogg

[@colinmcdonagh4705]

😁

[@Ashad2012]

Ironic reference since for years he went around talking about how hip hop was trash and wasn't music.

[@OpusLoveProductions]

It's to lessen the bleed from the snare.

[@ianmiller1000]

This could be for two reasons: To reduce bleed, or since James looks tall, to have better posture. Drumming is extremely physical, and improper technique/posture over the long run can cause serious injuries (Look at Phil Collins, for example). Having a more elevated hi-hat keeps your back straighter so it puts less strain on your hips and lower back. And looking at how he plays, it looks like it's easier from him to go from hi-hat to crash cymbal, or to go from hi-hat to a tom fill.

[@JamesGasson]

This is interesting to read and I appreciate your charitable defense of my technique, however the real reason is that I learnt to play drums as a kid by air drumming to Dave Grohl on Nirvana's Live & Loud -- he had his high hat super high, and therefore so did I. I got used to playing that way - I liked how much power I could get out of the snare drum with the hats high up, plus it does reduce the spill in the snare mic. The main reason though is of course that I thought it looked cool.

[@sugarbirdrecordings9650]

It's always a pleasure to hear a down to earth guy like Steve talking about recording.

[@jc.1191]

It's great he had no reservations about sharing so much of his craft.

[@moliver_xxii]

28:05 his cable rolling technique is superb !

[@anthonykellogg9332]

I bet most people didn't even notice that.

[@buddy_love]

@@anthonykellogg9332anyone who studies this as a career of course knows about it.

[@HubLocationSound]

How does this priceless amazing FREE content have any thumbs down? Thanks for sharing this.

[@valley_robot]

My words exactly, it’s free , it is important information, why hate it

[@busywl69]

@@valley_robot people today complain about warm bright sunny days lol

[@icomefromthemountain291]

Because recording enthusiasts love to fight about technique as if there’s a right and wrong. Dorks love arguing with other dorks! 😆

[@busywl69]

@@icomefromthemountain291 #facts !

[@waterwoodguitars6871]

This was absolutely amazing! Steve is a fountain of knowledge and hearing what he has to say about this art is priceless. The fact that this video has 91 dislikes is baffling to me. What’s to dislike? He’s sharing his decades of experience and knowledge with us for FREE. Thank you for the upload, this was fantastic!

[@paulmayerpiano]

Just when I thought you (read: "the internet") couldn't possibly be any dumber, you (read: "the internet") go and do something like this . . . and totally redeem yourself!

[@louiscyphre6049]

Steve is like the fucking Noam Chomsky of recording.

[@Robellers1]

Ha! Just thought that myself. :)

[@brad_genx_sk8er]

who?

[@hirokikyoku]

Totally, they both share that kind of low gritty rumble in their voice

[@conorm2524]

Also reminds me of Warren Buffett.

[@yomama847]

And their demeanor too.

[@liquidsnake6879]

Steve needs to be in the hall of fame twice, once for the influence of Big Black on music, and secondly for his pure genius in music production

[@steveg219]

I’ve learned the most about drum recording, and other types of recording, from this one video than any other single place

[@lancetti4843]

I'm hungover as fuck and this is therapeutic.

[@marcozuccolo8675]

Me too. LOL.

[@mrparkinson]

RIP Mr Albini. Since his passing I have watched a pile of Steve Albini interviews, and this may be my favourite. Thanks.

[@MrTommySullivan]

I LOVE that Electrical Audio jump suit. I want one!

[@driley4381]

I could listen to Albini talk about recording for days. Always learn something new.

[@D.A.V.E.TheDrummer]

Legend, He just makes total sense and I love his patractically minded way of doing things. Don't wear out your musicians by fiddling around with tons of outboadr just get the mics pluggedin and get the session running as quick as you can, this is so important to capture the full energy of a performance. What a great film, thanks for sharing!

[@echopathy]

Grateful not only for his meticulous process, but great command of language to convey it all.

[@davel.9467]

Thanks for sharing this. Albini is a genius. I'd love to hear him produce a King Crimson album.

[@fivebyfivesound]

Wow. What a great in-depth look into Steve Albini's drum recording process and glimpse of his depth of knowledge and insight. Thank you, everyone involved in creating this!

[@cbrooks0905]

I’m 200% dedicated to music and mastering the craft of audio engineering, but I doubt I’ll ever have the privilege of learning these microphones and rooms to the extent of this guy. His explanations are thorough, but I can tell that you have to have the first hand experience to really know what he’s talking about.

[@petergare4766]

Thank you for documenting this. I'm so gutted to never see the man live. I was really looking forward to the possibility of seeing Shellac this year. RIP Steve. You made a difference to the world.

[@jonathanthomamusic5131]

This video is like a dream come true ! A big thank you to both of you for making this knowledge available to all of us !

[@StewartBrand85]

Thanks so much for this! KZbin is full of millions of videos that randomly pop up and range from pointless to interesting but now and then we strike gold and find something like this, a full episode length video jam packed with amazing information. Love you for this.

[@AndreasRusso]

What a great and generous educator. Every kid wanting to learn about recording should watch this. Thanks for putting this out.

[@simcHyt]

What a kickass video. Steve's stream of thinking is so well put in his words, he gets into the point and explains it.

[@Fitheach81]

this was excellent! i've admired his drum recordings for 20yrs or so.

[@artysanmobile]

I’m just a few years older than Steve and when we did some live recording using my mobile unit, we shared a lot of ground. When we were forming our ideas, gaining chops as engineers, drums were acoustic instruments and tracks were few. Always. Those circumstances forced us to master the craft of capturing a drum kit. He does a good job sharing those hard to describe skills but even so, it really must be learned the hard way. In my case, and perhaps Steve’s as well, my own band was the ultimate test bench. I could spend days exploring different approaches and refining the results. If not for that, it would have taken a lot longer to be at ease with every kit. With enough time, 4 or 6 tracks was plenty to give me all I wanted at remix. With 23 available, for a complicated song, 4 was just right and occasionally a pair of those was comped from a large number of original tracks. I kinda miss those days of making big decisions and sticking to them.

[@Alonelycreep]

Simply amazing. Just arrived in my studio this morning, made some coffee and browsed youtube. This came on and it was simply inspirational. I once applied for an internship with Steve Albini. Didn"t get, but man do I love to hear him speak with such passion. Gonna listen to some fresh masters now.. Thanks for the content!

[@-______-______-]

Legendary. He could've just not told you any of that info, but he told you every last minute detail. Epic.

[@patreidcocolditzcastle632]

love his coveralls steve is wearing ha ha very workman like

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

Who would've known that this was made just in time. Thank you

[@GusParkermusic]

Bro you are an incredible drummer. I forgot what I was watching this vid for and started rocking out with You. You are kick ass. Shit got serious when Steve started taking though

[@JamesGasson]

Gus P Music thanks man!

[@kidwajagstang]

WoW. I am so extremely jealous. Not only getting to record with Mr. Albini, but to pretty much have a informal “class” in recording with him and getting to pick his brain on any topic you were curious about. Thank you for sharing this with everyone.

[@kevinclarke9406]

Coming Autumn 2018, Recording Drums with Butch Vig at Studio 606 :-D

[@anthonysclafani3963]

Pleaaaaaase 😩🙏

[@danandersen813]

øh....

[@danozism]

Oh come on... have you heard the Vig drum sounds before Wallace got hold of em? Albini is the fucking GOD of drum set recording

[@PHELCAN]

The awesome drums on never mind was really more of a testament to Dave Grohl's playing and the huge drum kit they used than anything

[@ORicardoNogueira]

Thanks for not cutting the video at the end of the interview. The last bit after he stands up made my day.

[@karmik2]

This is great .......Steve's knowledge of recording theory and gear is extremely deep. Thanks a bunch ......

[@danielwetzel7777]

I'm so glad you did this. His drum sounds are always my favorite

[@bencolemanart]

This video was pitch perfect - great info, great questions, nice editing, loved it. THANKS!

[@thecruddybug4437]

Wow it's amazing how much of a difference to the full mix the drums make when they're in the dead or the live room. Don't have to touch anything else, just the drums and it's a huge difference to everything.

[@JLBREMER]

Wow...... he’s got it down to a science literally. Very cool. Genius at work.

[@frustyfrumpy9801]

So long and Thanks 4 all the sound Steve!!

[@AndrewScott1337]

This is like a free masterclass, great vid!

[@dawboxstudio]

The fact he let you do this! Because he loves audio and wanted to do it. His child was audio. That massive signature sound I love it!

[@demagmusic]

Love the way you highlighted the mics on the video/audio and labeled each one. Rest of video awesome, too - but A++ for the mic placement part!

[@JamesGasson]

Demag the Adobe Premiere is strong with this one.

[@Doug_Diego_Cazadores_Cassidy]

@@JamesGasson Yabbutt, I would have rather you kept the labels visible, for the whole of each section. This is a common problem, with many many videos.

[@JamesGasson]

@@Doug_Diego_Cazadores_Cassidy Damn! If only there was a way of pausing the video... 🤔

[@Doug_Diego_Cazadores_Cassidy]

@@JamesGasson i think if there was some kind of magical video pausing thing, it would make it difficult to hear the drums.

[@JamesGasson]

@@Doug_Diego_Cazadores_Cassidy Removing the label after a few seconds is both an aesthetic and pragmatic choice -- it allows the viewer to fully engage with the content rather than be distracted by text at the bottom of the screen. You will see that news items employ the same technique, which is why a subject's name tends to disappear from the screen rather than remain throughout the duration of their speech. It's assumed that once the viewer has the information, they are capable of retaining it. On KZbin videos in particular, if the info is of particular importance to the viewer, they have the option of pausing the video and writing it down. It makes the video altogether tidier, more engaging and less cluttered with superfluous information.

[@marihutten]

This is one of the most insightful interviews I've ever seen with a recording engineer.

[@noahbirdrevolution]

I don't know Steve, but he's a gem. I like his random cuss word only being fuck. lol

[@rekocastren923]

Steve is such a cool guy, always shares his secrets and straight to the point, no fancypancy. Just got a drumset to my homestudio and this stuff is gold.

[@mariaulfah2813]

Gobless steve albini. That pixies and nirvana record has the most beautiful sound. And this video makes me happy to know how he works

[@mikeferguson4816]

What a wealth of knowledge. Listening to Albini ramble on about different desks/pre-amps and their design flaws is fascinating. Oh, and translation of "you should be stoked about how something sounds before you put a mic on it..." is the old adage "you can't polish a turd"

[@1985cactus]

That's a beautiful carpet.

[@degas]

Some say....best carpet ever.

[@HDmc16]

really ties the room together

[@stefan1024]

HDmc16 I came here to say that

[@smokesgtp]

It's striking

[@englishmanlv]

Steve Albini is wonderfully concise and unpretentious in his explanations, what a breath of fresh air :)

[@robburgess4556]

Hanging an Isomax above the kick beater is brilliant!

[@davyelwyn]

Very cool of you to make and share this video and very good of Steve to divulge his knowledge in such a generous manner.

[@rishieraajsachdeva6344]

Brilliant stuff guys. Absolutely loved it🤟🏼

[@walterkasper467]

Thanks I am 66 did my first recording at 12 on a cheep tape deck it distorted my guitar and I was hooked. What a wealth of knowledge. Thanks again

[@danozism]

Hey again James. Just wanted to say- this is fantastic- thanks so much for posting it!! I was making an album about 2 years ago and I emailed EA with a view to recording drums there- I 'spoke' to Tyler, if I recall correctly. It sure seemed like he, Albini and anyone/everyone else there were really cool people. Unfortunately my budget couldn't handle it (I'm independently signed, and based in Australia for a start!), but this video has shown me what I might've experienced- and may well experience in the future, if all goes well! Thanks again!

[@jacklongman4610]

What an unbelievably great idea for a video to put on KZbin. Thank you so much man.

[@TheLeon1032]

been into steves techniques for yrs n the last time i checked i couldn't find a decent vid that answered a lot of these questions, yeah theres a few seminars etc of his on here but steve sounded bored and in a rush in a few of them which made me bored, i really dig his dry accurate persona! years of experience in almost every sentence!! huge thanks for this video, great detail maybe my best ever tube find, thanks man!! Leon

[@petervad]

That was just brilliant, thank you. I have watched a TON of such videos, this was by far the best. Isolation of mic sounds, different rooms, processing reasoning, mic placement, mic choice - wonderful explanations. Thanks!!

[@Surefire99]

The most amazing thing I learned from this was how he coiled the mic cable

[@thebrixtonriot]

What a fantastic thing to do, sharing all of this info with the public. I am going to go back and watch this a few more times. Gold rings on you, sir.

[@garylappier136]

Thanks so much for this James - I might never get to hang at Electrical (or have access to all those mics!) but observing these techniques gives me all sorts of useful ideas!

[@jdrum4371]

Of all the videos on you tube about recording. This gentleman is my favorite. This guy is a walking audio engineering book. I truly respect this guy. Usually my comments are rude and negative. Not here. And yes on the mk-012. I hear it to. Mojo mic

[@ultrahero2115]

I caught you playing My Black Ass in the beginning there. Love that.

[@drongomala]

Gold. Didn’t search for this but this was what I needed to hear. Notably, there wasn’t much discussion over the ‘how much room matters’

[@christidal]

28:14 here's how to properly coil a cable. Try this at home, kids, if you can do it like him it's the first step to becoming a great mixer.

[@philippgrunert8776]

What a generous master of recording

[@adammono1839]

Steve Albini knows how to wrap cables properly, seriously! 28.08

[@bencolemanart]

Over, under.

[@icomefromthemountain291]

Dude knows how to run a studio and take care of gear. He’s a craftsman

[@Rompler_Rocco]

Wow! Thanks for commenting that. All these years, no one has shown me that.

[@Nick-eo2ol]

this is my favorite video on the internet

[@sadmachinesaudio6462]

As always, Steve drops one knowledge bomb after the other.

[@charlesruiz2000]

I really enjoyed this. You can tell there was a lot of time put into it. Steve is just dropping nonstop knowledge bombs.

[@JamesGasson]

Charles Ruiz thanks man. There really was.

[@anthonygiambusso2652]

“There’s a lot riding on the way drums come across on a record” :Proceeds to drop mic on the floor

[@chrislee8343]

LMAO

[@chrislee8343]

Legit tho I just recorded piano with Steve yesterday and saw a condenser lying on the ground and I joked that it must be the ambient floor mic. Then I came to this video today and realized that's just a thing he actually does lol

[@twelvety]

Gold mine of knowledge is right. I didn’t want this video to end. Thank you!!!

[@zachiswayposi1]

Thank you, KZbin algorithm, for this.

[@kmdaykin]

I could listen to this guy waffle all day, he's a wealth of experience.