There was once the tradition that recording musicians HAD to meet under one roof and a series of microphones to produce fine quality music. With the advent of high speed internet, ftp storage sites and mp3's, the ability to create in a 'long distance' fashion has truly revolutionized the way that music is made these days.

25 year professional session drummer Phil Robertson through his newly updated website www.e-studio-drummer.com has been recording tracks for the likes of major album projects, song parody producers, jingle and TV producers and singer songwriters for many years and sees it as the burgeoning 'value added' medium and means of delivery in this new digital age.

Speaking as a veteran online drummer and studio professional Robertson states:
"The beauty of it is that communication in these times is instantaneous pretty much anywhere in the world! A singer/songwriter or professional producer can send me a track from anywhere in the world via the internet and we can instantly communicate about musical direction, technical information and taste issues as if we were standing in the same room. In this sense the world has gotten not very small but tiny! A producer can 'proof', critique and adjust a performance long distance in the same way that he would if I were behind the glass in his studio."

This aspect of distance is what the old school has the most problem with. Many feel that it's just not possible to create the same creative vibe without everyone in the same room.

"I would agree with that for some genres of music such as jazz and free jazz that's highly interactive and unstructured. But most forms of popular music that are highly structured can be done fairly spectacularly this way. One of the beauties of this of course is that you are saving the client money left, right and center! The client is free to work on other aspects of his music while I handle the outsourced drum/ percussion and occasional integrated loop tracks. He's also not hiring an engineer or a studio. That's big, big money right there! I upload the finished files to him anywhere in the world with high speed internet and he imports them into his computer program and bam, you have a professional performance that just covered 1000's of miles in seconds and saved the client hundreds of dollars. The recorded drum tracks are totally manipulable and adjustable."

The other aspect of course is that the traditional recording studio with the exception of very expensive recording facilities has been utterly annihilated by the advent of the computer based home studio.

"This is a real problem. Example for a lot of budget conscious artists and producers. How do you get the tracks now? Many record drums in their home studios but drums show up recording weaknesses and shortcomings more than most instruments. You come away with a product that is stamped 'home studio' across the forehead!"

As Robertson explains it's not only electronic gear involved, it's esoteric stuff like microphone selection and placement, sonic treatment of the room, signal path, drum skin selection and the elusive art of drum tuning which really takes years to understand. "Drum tuning is one of those things that is so integrated into the player and the way he plays. It's very personal. Your tuning is very tied into your particular style and way of playing."

And of course the biggy. Years of playing sessions under a microscope and at times extreme pressure. Clients, labels playing hundreds of dollars an hour. Having 2 or 3 cracks at a 'take' or a performance. Years of learning what NOT to play and how best to serve the song. Being great at playing to a metronome or not playing to one. These are among the huge benefits of hiring an 'all in one' service from a proven veteran such as Robertson.

Says Robertson "There's a lot more to it than the person on the street would ever know. Like anything, it depends how far into it you get and the level of excellence you're striving to attain."

It's all about delivering a service in a highly efficient manner as well as world class quality. And that little thing of saving you time and money!!

Don R Ramos
VP of Education
TEC - The Education Company, Vancouver, BC. Canada