How do you utilize drum samples alongside your drum kit in a live worship setting ?
[ Simon Kobler ] I learned of the potential that drum and percussion sounds have to enhance an acoustic drum kit when I began working on recordings . I ’ d sit in the control room and hear the kit isolated from the rest of the band and hear how the acoustic kit lacked in certain areas . I know there ’ s taste involved in all of this , but I for one absolutely love a well-rounded live and subby kick drum . But it ’ s not easy to get everything you want from one physical kick drum , nor is it all that important to in the scheme of things . Thanks to triggers ( for live drummers ) and post production of sample enhancement ( for recordings ), you can achieve a drum kit sound that has everything you like from the live space , including the human performance , and you can pick and choose what you want from the world of drum synthesizers to create a superior end result .
With that in mind , I use a drum machine at my live kit so that I can incorporate samples into my performance . This allows me to include elements not easily achieved from a live kit which broadens my capacity as a drummer drastically . I use kick and snare triggers on my live kit and those samples are blended with my acoustic sound at monitors and FOH . I would encourage other drummers to think of drum samples as a way to add a fun , new element to their drumming . One that is every-changing and can be as easy or as challenging as they ’ d like it to be .
[ WM ] Can you give us a rig rundown of what you use live and / or in studio ? What are your
favorite pieces of gear ?
[ Grant ] My studio rundown is pretty simple currently : laptop , UAD Apollo Twin , UAD Satellite , Genelec 8020 Monitors on loan , a pair of ATHM50x ’ s ( headphones ) a few mics , cables stands , etc ., oh and my Prophet 06 I take that everywhere .
[ Simon ] For my live rundown : I tour a Ludwig Vistalite , and an Acrolite snare , heartbeat cymbals , Roland SPDSX , pd8 , BT-1 , Kt10 ( kick pedal trigger ), the Roland TM2 for my kick , and snare triggers . I use JH Audio in-ears and use Ableton as our playback rig , which I fire from a keyboard next to me . That ’ s about it I think .
[ Benjamin Tennikoff ] My Studio FX favorites : Roland 501 Chorus Echo , Echo Fix , Moog delays , and Moog filters . My keyboard favorites : Juno , Model D , Prophet , M1 , and Pocket Piano .
[ WM ] It ' s clear that your approach to music goes beyond rhythm and drums alone . How does the tonal spectrum play in how you create samples and produce ?
[ Simon ] One third of Bottega ( Tenni ) is primarily focused on keys and synthesizers which definitely contributes to a strong awareness of tonality whether we are making drum samples or something completely different . Tenni was contributing to the tonality of our drum sounds