Gavin Harrison here!

Hey Gavin,

First off, I want to tell you how much I admire your work and your playing. It's a really great thing that you can be so personable as well.

Here's my question(s):

I hear a lot of bad things about the board that you use to record your drums (Mackie 32*8), but you seem to get really great sounds out of it. Do you find that the Mackie's apparent low quality preamps hinder you in any way or do you have to spice up your drum sound afterwards in Logic. Also, what recording gear are you using these days and how many channels of drums do you usually use per song? What AD/DA converters are you using and what's your signal chain look like?

Thanks very much for your time,
KW
 
Thanks for answering my questions, Gavin. I didn't think that the Mackie sounded bad to my ears either, but I've been told by several engineers to avoid it. Do you record flat or with a little bit of EQ and is your drum room completely dead? The drums on Deadwing sound very "in your face" and it sounds as if the drum room is dead quiet.

Have a good one,
KW
 
Hi Kenneth,
I use very little eq on the Mackie desk - I didn't use the big ambient room on Deadwing because I wanted a kind of "in your face" sound from the drums. Yes the drum room is pretty dead.

Same method on my new DVD that you can hear on "Futile" - there's just a bit of Space Designer reverb going on.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Gavin_Harrison.html

cheers
Gavin
 
How was the recording process different for In Absentia compared to Deadwing? I know you recorded at Avatar in New York on their Neve board. Did Paul Northfield have a lot of say on your drum sounds or were you in control of your own sound? I also read that you used a rented DW kit for the tracking of that album, was that set up differently from your usual Sonor set up?

I find your drum sound (and playing) to be incredibly tasteful on all the work I've heard of yours, especially Deadwing (the new Shesmovedon comes to mind). Also Sanity & Gravity is excellent.

Have a good one,
KW
 
Hi Kenneth,
Yes In Absentia was recorded in Avatar in NY and Deadwing was recorded at home in my studio. I had as much say as a drummer can in those studio circumstances about microphone choice and placement - but I wasn't in the control room dialling in eq - because I was playing out in the studio live room.
And in any case I prefer to be thinking about playing the drums and concentrating on the songs rather than engineering.
Of course Paul is a great engineer - so I only commented on something if I didn't like the tone of a particular drum...which I can't really remember doing as it was all sounding great.
I think the DW kit was 10,12,14 rack toms, a 16 floor tom and a 22” bass drum. I didn't like the sound of the 8" tom - so I left it out.

Glad you like Sanity & Gravity - it was recorded a long time ago in primitive conditions on a Fostex 24 track 1" tape machine.

cheers
Gavin
 
I have yet to order the Rhythmic Horizons DVD, but I will probably do that within the week so expect an order soon. I have your first DVD and I know you did all of the production yourself. Were you using Logic to sync up the video or was it some other program?

I think the album sounded excellent despite being recorded cheaply. The sound was befitting of the songs. Are there any plans for another solo album in the future or are you too busy with studio work and PT?

Take care,
KW
 
Hey ,Gavin! I was checking out your kit and the tom set up is exactly what I want. The pic didn't show the company they were from. I watched the "futile" clip on your DW page. What are they?
Also what's the co. for your double pedal?
 
Kenneth Wilson said:
Gavin uses the Sonor Designer series in that clip. The finish is called Earth. He also uses Sonor pedals. This was answered earlier in the thread.
Thanks. I didn't know it was already said. I'm too lazy read every post.
 
It's cool. If you need some information about his set up I wrote an article for Wikipedia which has his live set up. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but if Gavin would like to tell us of any changes I'd be happy to add it to my WIkipedia article.

Maybe Gavin should check the article out and let me know if any changes need to be made...

KW
 
Cheers, Gavin!

I saw PT Live in Rockpalast DVD. It was pleasant o me very much. One question: Your snare stands very highly. It is made specially to play rimshot. Do you like to play rim?
 
Hey again Gavin.

Just another quick question. What do you use for snare and kick heads and how do you tune them? Thanks for any reply.

Ege
 
Hi e7z,
I think making 'your sound' really comes from how you strike the drum. (see the post above about grip). I tend to get a similar sound out of most of my snares because of it.
Generally I use a double ply skin on the snare like a coated pinstripe or emperor - and a dampening ring. I cut the snares down to 8 strands...and always hit a rim shot for a backbeat. That's about it.
 
Hey Gavin,

I'm up here in Upstate New York trying to get everyone that i know to listen to PT, and i've put a pretty big dent in the scene. I am a Music and Media Technology Major at the University at Albany and I've even given the chair of the music department a copy of In Absentia... and he loves it. Last semester I did an aural presentation on "The Sound of Musak," and the class loved it.
For the past 8 or so years i have been very disappointed with the music scene and what these corporate pukes have been putting on the shelves. Last year my friend turned me onto PT by way of Blackest Eyes. I lost it!!!! This is what ive been waiting for, a breath of fresh air. This was around the same time that Deadwing was released, so i bought both albums. Best musical purchase i've made in a long time, with the exception of Rush's Chronicles.
Great job on the new DVD. The PDF's are a huge help, but i was disappointed that there werent more MIDI files present. I am a huge MIDI freak, basically cuz i cant stand click tracks. I would much rather sequence the drum parts out myself, getting the rough idea out in audible form and then use that as my click track. Got a real user freindly program called Guitar Pro.
http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php
I've been experimenting with some of your concepts in this program and it gives an accurate represention in a short amount of time. (just a few keystrokes). There is a speed training option that allows for selection of specific bars, and allows for input and increase of bpm, very helpful when dealing with difficult passages such as some of your neat little tricks. I have transcibed some PT songs in this program and the turn around time for learning these licks is staggering.
Anyway, I'd just like to thank you, Steve, Richard, and Colin for keeping the passion alive, cuz i can hear it in the music. I have tickets to see you guys in NYC on Oct. 6th at the Nokia Theatre. I cant wait. Take care and God bless.
 
Gavin, if you're still around anymore:

I am befuddled by the incredible triplet fill at 6:16 in Gravity Eyelids. Any words of wisdom, explanation, gloating? I'm interested in anything you can say about that lick. Thanks.
 
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