recordinghacks

Progressive rock fans may not know Paul Northfield’s name, but they certainly know his work, from classic RUSH to new Dream Theater. We spoke to Paul at length about his work with these bands and our favorite drummers, Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, and Gavin Harrison (of Porcupine Tree).

In 1997, Drum Workshop released a promotional video called _The American Dream II_. I’ve excerpted John Good’s demonstration of Timbre Matching from that video, along with comments from Neil Peart, Mick Fleedwood, and others about the simple genius of selecting drum shells based on their primary resonant frequency.

One of the coolest products I saw at NAMM was the Kelly Shu, a true isolation shockmount system for permanently installing a microphone in a kick drum. If I were gigging, I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat.