I'm a drummer (and mixer/producer) with over 10 years of experience making records and touring, having played on tracks with over 50 million plays across streaming platforms. I specialize in rock, pop, singer/songwriter and electronic/groove based styles (funk, soul, electronic pop, etc.).
Being a drummer & producer makes it much easier for me to understand what a producer needs from a drummer in terms of performance, sound, aesthetic and attention to the song. I know how important it is to have a great performance with good separation in your different drum mics, and a clean, instantly usable and ready-to-mix sound. I understand the necessity of having great sounds that work with your track, while being tweakable and giving you options.
I know that good communication, great sounds & performances and a great experience are key in any collaboration. Let's work together!
Send me a note through the contact button above.
Credits
21 Reviews - 2 Repeat Clients
Endorse Tomas Shannon- check_circleVerified
Had a fantastic experience working with Tomas. He has a collaborative spirit and a great sense of how to bring a production to life with his drum and percussion expertise. Looking forward to calling upon him again in the (near) future!
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Tomás has done some killer tracks for me before. He works fast, and gives you lots of great options. He's very easy to work with. Friendly, and professional. A great drummer/percussionist who knows his craft!
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I highly recommend Tomas. He is a great drummer, very professional and wonderful to work with. I look forward to working with him again.
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Tomas did a really nice job with the drums on my track. Listened well to what direction I wanted, and had a really fast turnaround
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Tomas did a great job with the drums for my track! He went above and beyond! Highly recommend him to anyone looking for a session drummer :)
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Tomas is officially my new go-to remote session drummer. Great communicator and a BADASS drummer. Tasteful, thoughtful and groovy. 11/10 recommend!
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tomas is the man. he provided the perfect drums for my project and made sure to hit each request i had until i was 100% satisfied! fast, responsive, and super easy to work with. 10/10
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Tomas absolutely kills it on the drums! Highly recommended. Best droomz!!
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Tomas did a fantastic job of these drums! He pretty much nailed it the first take, and was happy to do some additional revisions to make it perfect. Tight playing and high quality recording. He also included some extra percussion and other ideas that I hadn't even asked for. Definitely above and beyond. Very highly recommended!
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First time for me using Soundbetter and I couldn't be happier! Tomas is an sbsolute professional. His expertise not only playing the drums but of the recording process is amazing. I gave him a very basic demo and he made it into something special. Looking forward to working with him again for sure :)
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Tomas is awesome to work with! Love how he can actually get your drums record-ready so you don't have to go crazy mixing them and trying to make them sound right. Such a great bonus!
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Tomas is an amazing drummer with a great feel and sound. Every performance he delivered was excellent and had the right energy and sound for the track He absolutely exceeded my expectations! Friendly, very professional and a great communicator. I'll definitely be working with him again!
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Working with Tomas was great. Amazing sound, feel, and attention to what the song needs. He's always super in tune with the music and I could tell he really cared about lifting my track and taking it to the next level. He's also a great communicator, which makes it fun and seamless to work with him. If you ever need drums, Tomas is your guy!
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Permitir a alguien más grabar va más allá de una experiencia musical, es una interacción de muchas dimensiones, y en todas ellas, Tomás es extraordinario
Su comunicación constante, los adelantos midi que mandó, la revisión de material, o simplemente el diálogo entablado para que tuviéramos unidad de mente en el proceso creativo. Tomás excede las expectativas en todos los aspectos del proceso creativo, tanto a nivel musical como profesional. 100% recomendado. - check_circleVerified
There are drummers and then there are DRUMMERS. Tomás not only fits in the latter, he brings musicianship to your track, soul to your song and professionalism to the job. He agreed on terms quickly, delivered previews and final tracks on time and in a perfect fashion. He talked with me through every single stage of the process and became the perfect musician for the song.
Recommended 100% on all accounts. Great performance and incredible craftsmanship. Tomas works in a very professional manner, delivering awesome-sounding drums and showing a deep understanding of the sound I was going for. 10/10 recommended!
I've been working with Tomas in different kinds of projects for several years now, and he's not only my go-to drummer but also my production and mixing guru. I can recommend him 100%, for his talent, experience, and dedication.
Tomas absolutely crushed the drums for my project. Not only was his playing great, but he was super communicative and helped take the song to the next level. I highly recommend Tomas!
I've worked with Tomas for years, and he's expertly, professionally and quickly turned out amazing work on a wide range of projects: vintage drum loops, drum teaching, video production, mixing and editing, programming and composing. Highly recommended!!!
Tomas is probably one of the best drummers I´ve recorded and worked with. I must say you might believe there is a trigger somewhere cause it usually sounds just as it should. He can deliver smooths groove to epic drum solos and everything in between with a killer feel. I´ve recorded him on 2 and +16 tracks and it always worked. He is a really cool and easy going person, and working with him is always fun.
Interview with Tomas Shannon
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Dylan Wissing is a great drummer for many styles, but particularly for old 70's funky drummer type stuff. Della is an amazing female vocalist with an insane range, both pitch-wise and stylistically. And they are both great people and super easy to work with!
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Currently working on a country, Kacey Musgraves-type track, a bedroom-funk (think Vulfpeck) type track, some worship music, a modern rock track (think Bring Me The Horizon) and working on my own tracks during my downtime :)
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Whatever the song needs! Personally I tend to prefer a mix of both, since that usually provides some contrast and depth to the music. Having a super quantized 4 on the floor kick really makes the organic time feel stand out in a live performed bass part for example.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: What I like most is being able to meet and work with great humans and musicians from all over the world. Also being able to cover many styles in a relatively short span of time. One might be doing the same 20 songs over and over when on tour (which I do love btw!), but recording from my studio I can do modern 80's pop, 70's inspired funk and folk singer-songwriter stuff in the span of a few days. Can't beat that!
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Make sure you like the human as much as their audio samples! You should feel like whoever you hire understands you and really wants to see you win. There are many great providers here, so don't settle for less!
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Whatever allowed me to build a helicopter, Macgyver-style! I'd take whatever allowed me to keep making music. A laptop, electric guitar, audio interface, an AKG 414 mic (best workhorse mic right there!), and a drum set (that counts as one, right?). You'd be surprised by the amazing tones you can get with just one mic if you know how to record and treat the recording!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Been playing drums professionally in one way or another since I was a teen. Studied with the best drummers in my country, majored in Composition, learned production and engineering by working in a bunch of studios both in Argentina and in the US (including working with Grammy winner Dylan Wissing at his studio outside Manhattan), toured North/South America and Europe and finally put together my own studio for recording drums remotely.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My style is a mix of all I love haha. It's generally the live and organic feeling that drums bring to a track, paired with the controlled consistency that modern day technology can provide. Striving for a good balance between super clean modern sounds and a human and organic feel is where it's at for me. All in service of the song and the artist of course.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Just one? Oof. I guess that'd be Trent Reznor. He focuses on creating unique and forward thinking music, combining amazing production, songwriting and delivering incredible performances, always striving to a high level of excellence. Either him or the dudes from The 1975 (Matt and George), since they focus on the same things I just mentioned.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Treat it as any job! Don't wait for inspiration. Just show up and do your job. You don't wait for inspiration and then get to work; you start working and attract inspiration through the act of doing. Also, aim to improve your workflow as much as possible! It makes you more effective and has the unexpected benefit of making you find your sound and style, since your idiosyncratic way of doing things will lead you to have a unique and consistent sound. Life-changing stuff!
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: All kinds of stuff really, but these past years it's been mostly singer-songwriter stuff. Sometimes more pop-EDM oriented, sometimes more funky and organic, sometimes more of a modern-80s thing.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I can recite all the dialogue from The Matrix from memory! Ok, seriously, my strongest skill is drumming. That's what got me hooked on music when I was a kid. After that it's production/drum recording, and then playing a bunch of instruments to a relatively acceptable degree.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring many years of experience as a drummer, recording engineer and producer. This means that besides getting great sounding drums and performances, as a producer I'm also very aware of the aesthetic weight that drums (and drum sounds!) carry in a track. Tight neo-soul drums provide a very different feel and vibe than big 80's gated reverb toms, or phat and warm drums ala Kacey Musgraves. It's essential to get that right so as to support the track and what it's trying to convey.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: My typical work process is I first listen to the music, then talk with the artist/producer to make sure I understand their identity and the vision for the song correctly. Communication is extremely important and it's key to make sure that we're all on the same page regarding what we want. Sometimes I'll send a rough stereo bounce of drums + music just to make sure we all agree on parts/sounds/vibe. Once all is cleared up I'll record drums & percussion and send 2 comped and edited performances so the client can have options while using my drums on their track. If any revisions are necessary I typically hear back from the client 1-3 days after I sent final stems. I'll work on those and send them over until the client is happy. My max is 3 revisions per track, but because of my communication-oriented process, I've never had to go beyond the 2nd revision I believe. Revisions after the 3rd one would cost extra,
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: The core of my setup is a Universal Audio Apollo x8p, a UAD Arrow, and a Focusrite Octopre MkII hooked up to a very powerful Apple MacBook Pro. This allows me to record up to 18 channels of drums running through all kinds of UAD preamps, EQs, compression and much more. Also got a wide-ranging variety of drums and cymbals to cover most tonal options out there and a collection of mics by Shure, AKG, SE Electronics and Cascade.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Drummers? Sterloid, Paul Mabury, Darren King, Vinnie Colaiuta, Edu Giardina Producers? Greg Kurstin, Trent Reznor, The 1975, Mark Ronson, Jack Stratton, Guy & Howard Lawrence Bands/Artists? The 1975, Haim, Nine Inch Nails, Vulfpeck, John Mayer, Disclosure, Jacob Collier, Anomalie
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Most clients are artists or producers (that produce artists or for sync) and they hire me to add live drums to their songs. Sometimes they have a laid out arrangement with some demo drums that they want me to replace with my performance and my own flavor. Sometimes they just have the demo but no drums, so I take care of creating and recording the parts based on the track and their references.
I was the Drummer in this production
- Live drum trackAverage price - $200 per song
- Programmed drumAverage price - $200 per song
I always deliver 2 edited comps of great-sounding drums + percussion and one shots
Drum tracks include 3 revisions. Add. revisions are extra.
Feel free to reach out to discuss your project's needs!
- The 1975
- HAIM
- John Mayer
- 🥁 Sabian
- Ludwig
- Rogers
- Remo
- 🎙️AKG
- Shure
- Mogami
- Universal Audio
- 🖥️ Logic Pro X
- UAD
- iZotope
- FabFilter
Get 20% off your next drum track when you refer someone else to my remote drum tracks 🙌