DANIEL Q&A.

Name: Daniel Bergstrand
Location: Uppsala, Sweden

Q: Honestly, this is a monster of a product. What was the idea going in?
A: It just kind of happened, we didn’t really had an idea to be honest. It started with the obvious one in our opinion, the Classic Kit, and to capture that kit the same way we normally do in our studio but with some extra flavors on top. The phrases “but what about that kit,” “we have to include that snare” and “that set of cymbals needs to be sampled” were said a lot and, all of a sudden, the monster was born.

Q: Hearing it play back and working with it now that it’s done, what are your thoughts?
A: I’m insanely happy with the outcome. It’s such a versatile product, you can tweak and shape these kits to whatever style of music imaginable.

Q: When recording the library, you went for a quite unconventional approach for miking the individual instruments – which proved to be a strike of genius, if you ask us. Where’d you get this idea and how is it useful now that you’ve had the chance to work with the end result?
A: It’s a proven fact that it sounds better miking something up from a bit of distance so that the whole instrument gets captured correctly. I mean, you pretty much always hear each instrument of the drums from an arm’s length distance. The problem is to do that live, bleed-wise. That’s not an issue in this case because you can simply just erase all bleed and time-align the signal with the close mic position. And being able to even do this in stereo was such a joy. Imagine starting to create your sound as you hear it while actually sitting behind the kit playing it.

Q: You also captured up to 11 different ambiences of the room. Which creative options do you think this will open to users…and how do you see yourself utilizing all these channels?
A: I usually record eight ambience channels here at the studio. In this case, I added a few more favorite mic positions so that it’s possible to create even more environments. There are tons of creative options at the moment, I would suggest to pick whatever desirable ambience that fits the song you’re working on and build your sound from there. That’s how I usually start myself.

MEET THE DRUMMER.

Name: Leo Margarit
Location: Eskilstuna, Sweden

Q: You started playing drums already at the age of three (!). What are your earliest musical memories and why do you think you were drawn specifically to the drums?
A: I don’t actually recall starting since it was such a long time ago but according to my dad, who’s a professional guitarist, he was rehearsing with his band and I was apparently drawn to the drums, which I guess is a natural thing for a small kid… So the drummer of his band gave us a silent practicing kit that I started playing on. I got lucky to be able to jam a lot with my father and to grow up in an area (in the south of France) where music was a big part of the culture, so there was a lot people to play with and opportunities to perform live. One of my first gigs was when I was seven. I’d play the marching snare as the Little Drummer Boy in a theatre piece for 3,000 people a night for two weeks. I remember being terrified, not because I was playing but because there were horses running around and explosions…

Q: Over the years, you’ve played a lot of styles of music – anything from pop to jazz and salsa. Is this something you think has helped shape the drummer you are now? Inspiration and rhythm-wise, what from these worlds do you bring to your drumming today?
A: It has absolutely shaped the drummer I am today. I feel like being open to different styles made me a better musician overall! When I play rock or metal, you can most likely hear my jazz influences – and same goes for the other way around. I carry these influences in everything I play and even strive to incorporate them in my playing. I always loved playing different things and can’t see myself being stuck in only one genre!

Q: You’ve also played percussion over the years, which of course is related to playing a drum kit – but at the same time completely different. Hope do you think being able to handle and understand the role of percussion helps you as a drummer?
A: It is indeed a different world, especially the classical percussions like vibraphone or marimba! When I joined the conservatory back in 1996 to study percussions, I remember feeling almost helpless because I was starting from scratch. I was bad at reading music sheets that had more than just rhythms, so I really had to step up my game and practice a lot – from six to eight hours a day. This is something that taught me discipline in my drumming, how to practice efficiently and for the music. I also got to learn hand-played percussions over the years, like congas, bongos, darbuka… Most of the time out of necessity… “We need somebody to play the congas for that gig!” – “Fine, I’ll learn!” I’m very grateful for that because all this really developed my drumming “vocabulary” and skills.