It’s pretty rare these days for a drummer to have access to a space where they can practice comfortably on an acoustic kit. With many musos living in flats, apartments, student accommodation and share houses, it can be pretty hard to get in a practice without disturbing anyone or getting kicked out.  

Here are some tips and alternatives for you drummers out there.  

ELECTRIC KIT  
This is a great but expensive option. If you’re in a house or well-insulated apartment you should be fine, but the pads…

Album number 3….where do I start?  
I guess by saying hello to Amos Polglaze, because he’s probably the only person reading this.  
I’ve never written a bodge before, and aside from 3 highly fucked Farthing Wheel albums, I’ve never recorded an album. Big mistake right?  
Well I’m too old to care about anything except my greying hair and thinning pubes, so I’m doing it anyway.  
How did I convince the band to go along with this?  
It all started with the Triumph and Beyond demos we did way back in 2009. They were…

Recently I filled in for a local band ‘Wrath Of Fenrir’, after their drummer broke his hand 3 days before their show supporting Korpiklaani.  I hadn’t listened to their stuff in over 12 months so I thought I’d better get cracking! The scenario reminded me of a common and possibly more daunting instance – the audition. Here are a few tips that have helped me out in the past.  

GET HOLD OF SOME RECORDINGS  
If the band has any demos or releases, get hold of the tracks and have a listen through. Don’t get…

Ever had a sweet little mix going in your project studio and your DAW throws you an error message, or maybe crashes completely? Maybe you spent a bunch of money on a dedicated Mac or PC and you’re still getting nowhere further than your last setup! It is the most frustrating thing and it’s often hard to find info on the net because from you computer-specs down to your interface there are so many contributing factors. Here are a few basics that I wish I knew before I started buying up gear.  

RAM  
I…

Ever seen the equipment list of a studio online and gasped at how many different microphones they have in their collection? I certainly have, but it needed be as daunting as it seems. As is the case with most medium-to-large studios, they have more gear than they regularly use so as to give themselvesoptions when it comes to tracking. As project studio legends we don’t need all that variety to begin with. What we need is 1 microphone that will cover all bases and again allow us to do some quality tracking…

Undertaking an EP or Album recording for your band is a costly process. Tracking, editing, mixing, and mastering are the 4 major stages of recording, and if you’re on the studio clock then expect to pay dearly! Even buying the right gear and self-producing can be just as costly and is a risk to any band without an experienced member in the group. Fortunately by adding some key affordable items to an existing demo-style setup you can lower the cost of studio time by allowing yourself to track DI guitars and…

So you just got offered your first bunch of shows outside of your hometown…cumegratulations! But what should you bring along? 

As a young fella playing regional shows that were overnight driving-distance from Perth I was always intent on bringing my own drum kit and my band mates would provide a full backline of their amps and cabs. That’s really lovely, but we ended up taking 3-4 cars 2000-3000Kms+ to play 3 x 45 minute sets. To make it more difficult, with large distances between shows we would be…