KENSAL CLUBDATE TECH INFO

Recorded & Played by James Yates

Recorded at Hoxa (old site), Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Rise, London NW10. July/August 2014

Mixed at Majetone 2021

A classic 1960’s Ludwig Clubdate Kit, recorded with the most ridiculous vintage mics and vintage Neve console.

My first vellum heads I’d made recorded in a sadly departed studio. The site was snapped up by developers and turned in to flats. 

Often when I’m tracking drums I’ll use different sticks, mallets or brushes. 

In the KCD there’s 8 options:

 Kit 1 : Sticks : Vater ‘Sweet Ride’ - these light maple sticks have an amazing cymbal tone.

Kit 2 : Tea Towel : Tight muffled drums, perfect for modern singer songwriting. 

Kit 3 : Metal Brushes, soft brush tone from my favourite Regal Tip Clayton Cameron brushes. 

Kit 4 : Nylon Brushes, a bit more transient over the metal brushes. These are Regal Tip

Kit 5 : Mallets - I call this mallet ‘Blue Guy’ I’m not quite sure where it comes from, but it’s the perfect mallet that I’ve been trying to find another!

Kit 6 : Hot Rods - Pro Mark bundle sticks, they’re really good for small transient tones.

Kit 7 : Threaded Brush - Vic Firth ‘Dreadlocks’. Weird sticks, they don’t have the power to activate the drum head so they sound light and thin, but for some things, can be perfect. 

Kit 8 : Broomsticks - Pro Mark Broomsticks, another bundle stick, but lighter, kind of a cross between brushes and hot rods. Probably my most used stick for recording.

This project was about accomplishing a few things - I'd been given the keys to the studio and I thought it would be fun to try and use all the posh stuff! Normally I'd put dynamics on everything but I wanted to try C12a's on the toms, the 47 as an overhead. The idea was get delicate, musical drum tones for singer-songwriters. Organic drums! 

It turned out to be fairly prophetic no sooner had I finished recording, a bunch of men in suits came with briefcases and offered the owner of the building a price that couldn't be refused. I'd love to go back and record there some more, but it's now expensive flats. Hoxa still exists in a different location, so maybe (at some point) I'll do a version 2 there!

Mic - D112 & Neumann Fet47

23" Deri beater buried

23" Deri Open 

Ludwig Clubdate 20x14

Mic - Neumann km84i Top & Bottom

1938 Leedy Broadway Parallel

Ludwig Clubdate 12x8 & 14x14

*close mic only on kit 1 & 2 

Mic - Neumann u47 

Mic - AKG C451eb

Mics - Neumann u67