The drum kit and the studio

: a spectral and dynamic analysis of the relevant components

Abstract

The research emerged from the need to understand how engineers perceive and record drum kits in modern popular music. We performed a preliminary, exploratory analysis of behavioural aspects in drum kit samples. We searched for similarities and differences, hoping to achieve further understanding of the sonic relationship the instrument shares with others, as well as its involvement in music making. Methodologically, this study adopts a pragmatic analysis of audio contents, extraction of values and comparison of results. We used two methods to analyse the data. The first, a generalised approach, was an individual analysis of each sample in the chosen eight classes (composed of common elements in modern drum kits). The second focused on a single sample that resulted from the down-mix of the previous classes’ sample pools. For the analysis, we handpicked several subjective and objective features as well as a series of low-level audio descriptors that hold information regarding the dynamic and frequency contents of the audio samples. We then conducted a series of processes, which included visual analysis of three-dimensional graphics and software-based information computing, to retrieve the analytical data. Results showed that there are some significant similarities among the classes’ audio features. This led to the assumption that the a priori experience of engineers could, in fact, be a collective and subconscious notion, instinctively achieved in a recording session. In fact, with more research concerning this subject, one may even find new a new way to deal with drum kits in a studio context, hastening time-consuming processes and strenuous tasks that are common when doing so.

Date of Award	2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Duarte Pestana (Supervisor)