DRUM ROLE Recording drums takes expertise, experience and experimentation Whether it’s a tight funk beat, driving R&B groove or blistering metal assault, nothing defines the character of a song like artfully played—and beautifully recorded—drums. But melding the magic of snares and cymbals with the right tincture of mics, preamps and recording know-how can be an elusive alchemy. Elements ranging from room acoustics to microphone selection... 

HEAR NO EVIL Safeguard your greatest musical asset by selecting the right hearing protection Who can forget fictional rocker Nigel Tufnel’s hysterical scene in This Is Spinal Tap, boasting his amp’s volume knob goes to 11? In reality, such ear-splitting decibels are no laughing matter. Performing night after night without hearing protection can be perilous, often causing relentless ringing ears—known as tinnitus, the inability to discern frequencies,... 

LINKIN PARK High-energy heavy hitters finally discover the perfect mix of rock and rap Linkin Park is on a roll. After releasing albums sporadically for most of their first decade, the Los Angeles rap-rockers have picked up the pace with two more since 2010, including Living Things, their latest. “We want to put out more music, more often,” says singer Chester Bennington. “The first six years of our career we released two records that took... 

LINKIN PARK Making noise about nü-metal, new directions and nuclear war Linkin Park will not be rushed: A Thousand Suns, the California hard-rock group’s latest, is just the fourth studio album the band has released since forming in 1996. It’s something of a departure for the band, with less emphasis on heavy metal guitar riffs and volatile vocals than on electronic musical textures, elements of hip-hop and driving rhythms. Why the change?... 

How to drive your tracks to the next level with customized virtual percussion So many of our favorite recordings would collapse without their own flavor of boom boom pow—the powerful percussion elements that propel a song at the drop of a beat. Whether you’re creating hip-hop, rock, jazz or R&B, your music will almost always benefit by integrating some form of percussion. But what if you don’t have access to Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Carter...