Annihilator Media Page

The very short clips are to show grooves in song parts. Other clips display drum part questions raised in clinics & interviews.

Annihilator Site for Products & Info

Mike Plays Drums On:



Set the World on Fire

No Zone

Bats in the Belfry

Knight Jumps Queen

The Edge

Don't Bother Me

Brain Dance

Style: Heavy Metal

Audio:

No Zone Verse
MOST Snare & Kicks don't land at the same time. All 'on' beats are played w/right foot, all 'off' beats are played with the left.
No Zone Melodic Toms
Listen closely as the pitch of the toms follows the guitar riff
No Zone Clip

KJQ riff

Braindance Intro
Again, some Kicks don't land with the snare. The snare had to be blasted in order to get enough low end to keep up with the kick so that it isn't easy to hear when they are together or not.

Braindance Solo

Video:

STWOF intro
ALL Snare & Kicks don't land at the same time. All 'on' beats are played w/right foot, all 'off' beats are played with the left. The left hand hihat is used here.
STWOF chorus

The right hand hihat was used here.

 

UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CD HAS NO DRUM SOUND REPLACEMENTS OR SAMPLES. Go to the

<The Braindance solo section is one of my favorites. The energy is a real factor in making that a very fun part to play. That's great 'metal' guitar!

Mike Plays Drums On:

All for You
Dr. Psycho
Demon Dance
The One
Bled
Both of Me
Rage Absolute
Holding on
The Nightmare Factory
The Sound of Horror

Style: Heavy Metal


Actual notes hanging from stands during session

Dr. Psycho Bridge riff

The One quintuplet Intro
The tom fill is 5 hits in the space of the pulse

The One Ballad Groove
a slight 'swing' was need with the snare ghost notes to give this section its feel.

Sal DiFusco page to see the same kit in the same studio. The difference for AFY was no mini snare in the center as seen in the DiFusco session.

Various Video Clips:

Clinic soundcheck in Taipei warming up by changing single & double stroke rolls on feet for Dr. Psycho Bridge.

The feet are following the guitar at the soundcheck way more than is played on the CD. Again, it is warm up test for foot singles & doubles being practiced.

Same Taipei soundcheck with Absolute Rage diddling around.

EP

Weapon X


The One

 

Weapon X Intro Transition

Weapon X kicks, then melodic Toms

 

 

The Toms are melodically following the guitar runs in either an ascending, or descending pitch structure.

Mike Plays Drums On:

Same as "All for You" but there is no guitar. The purpose is play-a-long.

Style: Heavy Metal

Actual notes hanging from stands during session

Jeff needed specific parts played specific ways. Having the hanging song forms made it easier to focus on what to play rather than being worried about losing the place in the track.

Using a simple 'block form' of the songs allowed for notes to be more easily seen while tracking. Using music notation sparingly was helpful for playing in unison with the guitar when appropriate.

1 9 9 3

Video Shoot for "All for You"

CHECK OUT THE KITS BELOW

The challenge in recording for Annihilator is in the repetitive type of execution required to set a foundation for the rest of the instruments.

Along with hitting specific drums really hard (toms/kicks) while not distorting over head mics from smashing the cymbals and snare drum, is the problem of timing all the hits to not vary more than 1 millisecond from the intended beat target.

Add speed to this equation, and you have a very serious problem on (or in) your hands if you are the drummer. Add a lack of stamina, and forget thinking that executing the simplest of songs buried in a 14 hour day is an option. The point is that a lot of practicing with a metronome is vital.

Kit in Fiasco Bros. British Columbia for the STWOF session

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