For Certain Songs, "Sub Par" Live Drum Capture > Programmed Sound

I would often take a 1-3 mic'd, roomy, farrrr less than perfect drum capture any day, over the sound of programmed drums, on many of the more indie / folky / bluesy / etc songs I'm hearing sometimes on calls with students. As long as the performance and timing is decent. What I’m saying is if the esthetic of the song allows for it, don’t be deterred by some idea that you need your drums to sound pristine or even close to pristine, and you would probably benefit from them not being pristine and perfectly to the grid, really. You could even trigger samples in there if needed for definition / low end, if you used 2-3 mics and some were close mic'd. It just often would serve the vibe of the song much better in my opinion. I feel like people shy away from this... Do you know how many classic tunes are just mono drum capture on like 1 mic? Look at old surf rock, 50's stuff, The Wrecking Crew... I hear some really cool songs and then the one thing that takes me out of it is the drum machine. This is NOT to say I don't like drum machines - I do, and they fit many songs very well. But I hear some productions and its like, drum machine just doesn't gel here, it's too out of left field, too clinical, and it would be way cooler to hear a lo fi real kick / snare in a room (and then take some pots and pans from the kitchen and do some crazy aux percussion or something! Kidding, maybe). Again, not all the time, but I hear it enough I feel its merited to mention - don't fear the lo fi mono drum sound yall!! Throw some saturation and smash it to bring out that room, and that might just be the perfect vibe for the tune!

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