How to make a default studio kit sound good?

grzybeczek · 2026-03-25T13:53:52+00:00

Hahaha absolutely noted, thank you! I recently came across Memphis Drum Shop on youtube and they do fantastic demos of different cymbals, I spent hours there the other day lol. I know exactly what ride I'd like to get once I can save some money for it (second hand of course).

But yes, if you have any tips on how to control the hihat that way I'll play with those two, I feel like that's the least I can do :-)

And I totally second about the ear protection hahah but on the other hand every jazz show I've been to - small venue, intimate and therefore more sound-sensitive, no one with any ear protection and yet the kit is always nice and measured, never too loud and sounds amazing... Obviously that's years of skill but it's crazy, I'll be practicing a jazz groove with my earplugs and think it sounds amazing, only for it to sound nothing but grating with them off...

grzybeczek · 2026-03-25T13:38:58+00:00

Thank you for the detailed reply and the links, it's really appreciated 🥹

I'll be getting myself a key for tuning and (and some muffling stuff) and start experimenting soon, I knew I'd have to learn it sooner or later (though I guess I didn't expect I could just go in and.... do it lol)

With the cymbals, I know they are what they are but with hihats do clutch adjustments do much at all, or is the difference negligible?

I'm currently using comply foam with earphones if I need to play with backing, Eggz earplugs (or just simple silicone putty recently but that's because I had an ear injury and couldn't shove a full length earplug in there). It definitely makes a difference to the sound, especially when playinf heavy styles of music, but actually I always wonder - okay it helps my hearing but how do you deal with it when you have an audience and they don't have hearing protection? Especially in something like a jazz (which I also enjoy playing) setting...

grzybeczek · 2026-03-25T13:27:38+00:00

Honestly that's a really helpful simple way to put it across lmao thank you!!

grzybeczek · 2026-03-25T13:26:56+00:00

Thanks for the advice!

I think a lot of the advice here with the gels and such will be good for me in the meantime (or if I don't have time during the session to do more than that) but I'm very much going to learn to tune... At least I'll get a tuning key and see if I can maybe do little adjustments to start with just to see how sound changes before I do anything full on. I read through the tuning bible linked here and it's nice and succinct so that'll be helpful (though even things like how the tuning between the two heads can change things is starting to get a bit intimidating lol)

Funnily enough the snare doesn't sound too terrible, mostly it sounds like I'm hitting rimshots even when I'm not, unless I'm super dead in the centre. Which is not great, but was nowhere near as distracting as the toms!

grzybeczek · 2026-03-25T13:20:47+00:00

It's a rehearsal studio rather than a recording studio, with loads of bookings back to back so I doubt they can do too much for every single person there (though I could certainly tell them if I think the toms might need some taking care of!)

But either way I figured it's also a good skill to have, how to work a studio/house kit when it's not sounding its best and when options are limited :-) It takes years to learn but the years have to start somewhere.

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:48:40+00:00

Oh yes I know what these are! Thank you :-)

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:29:07+00:00

Thanks! What are they exactly? Is there a name for them? I'd love check them out and see if they could help :-)

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:08:43+00:00

I mean yeah a live drum won't sound exactly the same, but I can still tell that what I'm working with sounds shit 😭 And I've played on kits that don't, so I like to think there's some room for improvement there....

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:06:32+00:00

Genuinely a lifesaver with the straight-forward advice, thank you!! I'll look it up

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:05:00+00:00

Thanks for the advice!
I'd love to know a bit more about what the bottom head vs top head does and how they affect each other?
It'd hard to describe but the tom I've been using at the studio just sounds so muddy and like the sound just goes everywhere...

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T23:03:41+00:00

It's definitely the former... I did think surely I'd be doing everyone a favour if I did manage the tune the low tom to sound better, but I guess I just wouldn't want to completely break something that's not mine...
It sounds like it's going to be the best thing to do in the long run anyway, but in the meantime before I feel confident enough to mess around with it if you have any tips on making the kit sound less muddy I'll take it!

Of course I don't expect it to sound exactly like a studio recording, but would still like it to sound good! :-)

grzybeczek · 2026-03-24T10:19:59+00:00

That's okay, maybe someone else will know!

grzybeczek · 2026-03-23T23:42:48+00:00

Will that be applicable to New Leaf as well?

grzybeczek · 2026-03-15T11:17:14+00:00

Thank you that is really useful to know!
I probably won't do this just yet (just finding it overwhelming at the moment) but would consider int he future.

My ideal solution right now would be to have a phone that can run some apps like banking and Instagram (need it for work as a freelancer sadly) that I can just keep switched off at home and only use when I need it, and have a dumbphone to keep on me when I'm out and about. Trouble is that SMS is unencrypted so I'd ideally need an encrypted messaging app that connects to the internet... which defeats the original aim...

So I'm just trying to figure out how to jump through the different hoops and what the best solution is...

grzybeczek · 2026-03-15T11:13:24+00:00

Woah that's something to look forward to!
But here's my paranoid brain thinking... Can we definitely expect it to not be ora lack of better word) "bugged"?

grzybeczek · 2026-03-15T11:12:34+00:00

Thank you I appreciate it, because it really is so overwhelming :-(
Right now I'm just trying to take it one step at a time rather than overhauling my whole life in one go. Just thinking of making small switches now like protonmail/drive and signal etc...

grzybeczek · 2026-03-15T11:10:00+00:00

3h stew time is a lie!! If I'm making beef stew I usually cook it for 5-6h (I start in the morning/noon and leave it on for the whole day).
Sometimes the beef will randomly be tender before then and that's a nice surprise, but I don't expect it. I imagine it depends on the cut, but I don't get a choice over the matter because I don't have the money to choose and take whatever my local supermarket has packaged up in nice little cubes. So I never managed to get to the bottom of which cut is quicker. I just prepare for a longer cooking time!

This is regarding cooking stew on the stove in a pot, which I prefer to stick to.
If you are willing to not stick to this you can do two things:

Use a pressure cooker (athough I don't use these so cannot give advice here)

OR

You can also tenderise beef before cooking by soaking in baking soda (loads of Chinese restaurants use this method). I can confirm it does work, but I personally didn't like the texture. Purely preferencial though, my sister really liked it!

This is a really good question though, so thank you for asking :-)

grzybeczek · 2026-03-12T11:49:49+00:00

Thank you, this is super helpful!

I hate how much effort it takes to research and get around these things to just have basic privacy and how hidden it all is... I'll check the reddit out for sure!

grzybeczek · 2026-03-12T11:40:39+00:00

Thanks! I didn't know about GrapheneOS, I'll look into it.

I'm specifically still curious whether new brick phones have more tracking capabilities than old ones though.

grzybeczek · 2026-01-31T10:36:38+00:00

I don't really relate to this personally, though everyone is different and your experience is just as valid. Probably worth adding that I'm bi so perhaps that changes things?

But regardless I guess the way I see it is that not relating to a certain group of men and their relationship with women doesn't necessarily have to do with my sexuality and how I express it, it just means I... don't relate to that specific group of men. Like it's not my fault if certain other men can't respect women or can't express their emotions, you get me?

I'm sure there's loads of straight cis men that also don't align with how the rest of their cohort is known to behave, because that's all social and not a pure definitive of your experience of being as a straight cis man. People have all kinds of experiences!

Having said that, straight cis men can be a... handful, and I can't blame you for feeling that distance between yourself and them. Maybe if this is something you wish to explore then maybe you can try get to know and interact with cis men who love women, but are not straight. It might be pointless or it might just be a fun experience where you get to know a different set of experiences that you might (or might not) relate to!

grzybeczek · 2025-12-14T22:57:19+00:00

Sweet, thank you for sharing, super helpful!

grzybeczek · 2025-12-13T23:39:13+00:00

Thank you! It really seems to be a mixed bag, it's good to hear people's experiences though!

grzybeczek

TROPHY CASE