James Knoerl on SoundBetter

I play drums for you and your song! I've played drums for HBO, Verizon, and Disney recordings! Berklee College of Music Alum 2015. Rock/Metal/Pop

I graduated Berklee in 2015 and I've been working as a session musician full time since then. I've had the pleasure of tracking in a lot of awesome rooms all over the country and I've taken this knowledge and crafted my own live room in my studio in Brooklyn. I've tracked for all sorts of situations such as commercials, TV, soundtracks, and tons of rock/pop songs! I currently play for deathcore act Brand of Sacrifice, progressive rock group Aviations, and art-rock band Gargoyl (Season of Mist).

I track with three Slate Digital VRS8 interfaces allowing me to track with 24 microphones so I can mic up everything I could possibly need to during a session. I also track using my DW Collectors Custom drumkit and multiple snare drums that I swap out depending on the song!

I endorse - Offbeat Drum Co, Vratim Drum Shoes, TnR Products, 64Audio, Trick Pedals, Sunhouse - Sensory Percussion, and Big Fat Snare Drum

You can check out my live room and my playing here - https://www.youtube.com/jamesknoerl

Feel free to shoot me an email discussing your project or message me thru the contact feature above!

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

3 Reviews - 1 Repeat Client

Endorse James Knoerl

by Stephen S.
Verified
Once again, more awesome drumming from James!
by Stephen S.
Verified
More awesome drumming, thanks James!
by Stephen S.
Verified
Super-awesome drumming!

Interview with James Knoerl

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I play in a band called Brand of Sacrifice and we released our latest record Lifeblood independently and it charted #1 on Billboard Hot New Artists. This was probably the most difficult record I've ever had to record in terms of technical skill and engineering the drums.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm always practicing!
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: BOTH
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: Someone will listen to your song and go "oh dang those drums are sick"
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I get to play drums for a living.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What is your preferred method of working and how do you want to go about collaborating on the project.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Ask me all the questions cause I want this to be perfect just as much as you do! :D
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Kick. Snare. Hi Hats. Ride. Floor Tom.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I went to Berklee for drumset performance and I've been playing drums since I was six years old.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: A fusiony jazz rock drummer who sometimes plays metal.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I'd love to work with Scarypoolparty that guy is a chameleon in terms of the genres he plays with.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Always check phase!
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Rock & Metal
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My willingness to get it perfect!
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring my own style and brand of musicality - which I believe is technical flair while paying attention to the needs of the song!
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I generally receive a song from a client and open it up in Pro Tools and start writing down notes for each section and what I think would be neat for each section. When the preliminary process has finished I start learning the sections until I confident in my ability to record them and then I start sending over takes to the client to start collaborating on the final drum part!
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: My setup is in Brooklyn, NY and I use DW Drums and Slate VRS8 interfaces. My Mic List is Shure Beta52 Shure SM57 (5) Shure SM57B Shure 91a Shure SM81 Shure SM7b (w/ Cloudlifter) Audix D6 (3) Audix i5 Audix D4 Sennheiser MD421 (2) Sennheiser e604 (3) Sennheiser e902 mkii Neumann KM184 (2) Slate ML 1 Slate ML 2 AKG D112 MXL 909 Gauge ECM 87s (2) Gauge ECM 83s (2) Samson C02 (3)
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm big fan of Ash Soan, he's a monster session drummer and has played on a bunch of huge records and his drum sound is so unique!
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I track drums for artists all over the world!

Gargoyl - Ambivalent I

I was the Drummer in this production

Live drum trackAverage price - $50 per song
Programmed drumAverage price - $50 per song
Time alignment - QuantizingAverage price - $40 per track

I'm generally able to give you a track back within a few days depending on my schedule!
I'm happy to send multiple takes of each tune!
I can send tracks over Google Drive with any sample & bit rate