Recording Metal with Eyal Levi: A Bootcamp

Lesson Info

Bearing Edges

With a drum there's basically three major factors that go into what a drum sounds like and that's the bearing edge shape, the type of wood that the shell is made out of, and the heads that you're using, the head selection. So, starting with the first one, the bearing edge shape. There's several different types of bearing edges on the market and the sharpness, the degree of the cut, how much roundover, how far into the shell the bearing edge, it has a counter cut. All of those things determine what type of sound the drum is ultimately gonna get before it even gets to the wood characteristics and the head characteristics. So with Tama's kits, they use a, looks like a double 45, but a slight out cut, so it's not quite centered in the middle of the drum, but it's enough into the drum to where we're gonna get a little bit more of the shell contribution. Basically the idea is the sharper the bearing edge cut and the further out it goes, the less shell contribution you're gonna get in the sou...

nd. The ultimate contribution from a drum shell is gonna come with the bearing edge cut and centered over the center of the shell plys, and Tama is pretty close to that. They're not all the way in the center but they're pretty close. Do you wanna explain to them real quick what you mean by shell contribution as opposed to head contribution? Sure, so shells, they all have their kind of EQ curves I guess is the best way to describe it. Every wood kind of has its own resonate frequencies and characteristics. Heads also have their own characteristics as well. So let's say for example we have a drum where the bearing edge is cut completely to the outside corner. There's no counter cut at all, so when you look at the shell itself from the inside out you have a straight line and then the end of the shell goes down. So that example right there is a picture of what happens when you mostly only have head sound contribution. The shell is not really activated by the head at all and your sound is largely determined by heads, your head selection. Let's go to the other side of the spectrum which would be the more vintage rounded type of bearing edge where you have a rounded outside edge with a cut on the inside. So the round part kind of centers over the middle of the shell. That is going to give you a lot more shell contribution than the previous cut because there is more contact with the head to the actual shell, activating the wood characteristics a little bit more.

Recording Metal with Eyal Levi: A Bootcamp will give you access to one of metal’s most in-demand producers and educators. You’ll also get to watch the talented and seasoned performers of Monuments show you how to record flawless takes and how to prepare to enter the studio.

Recording Metal with Eyal Levi: A Bootcamp is the definitive guide to recording and producing metal. From soup to nuts, start to finish, A to Z, you will learn everything you need to know about recording and producing a metal song.

Eyal Levi will take you inside the studio with Monuments as they record a song from scratch at Clear Lake Recording in Los Angeles. In this bootcamp you will learn how to:

• Prepare for a session in preproduction by choosing tempos and organizing the session
• Record flawless drums from selection and reheading/tuning to mic choice and placement to editing
• Record rhythm guitars
• Record clean and lead guitars
• Record bass guitar
• Record, edit and tune lead vocals, harmonies, and screams
• Mix and master from session setup to final bounce

What comes with purchase of the class?

Lessons