
Hello! My name is Kyle and I am a session drummer, producer, and engineer based out of Nashville, TN.
I will record high quality drum tracks from my home studio! All I need is the song with & without temp drums (if applicable), tempo, and any instruction regarding parts & tones and I will deliver tracks to you within 1-3 days! I typically cut up to 3 takes of the song to send over for review and then we can discuss revisions, edits, punches, etc. if necessary. I play on many sessions and tour professionally. I've appeared on Good Morning America, The TODAY show, CMT's Hot 20 Countdown, Pickler and Ben, the Grand Ole Opry and more.
Drums
Gretsch Broadkaster
Gretsch USA Custom
Gretsch Renown
Mapex Bop
Snares
Craviotto Ash
Ludwig Black Beauty
Ludwig Aluminum Acrolite
Gretsch Hand Hammered COB
Ludwig Bronze Acrolite
Pearl Masters Maple
Gretsch Maple
Gretsch Brooklyn COB
Vintage Marching
Cymbals
Over 3 dozen Meinl Cymbals - Foundry Reserve, Traditional, Polyphonic, Sand, Brilliant, Jazz, Dry, etc.
Mics
1. Kick in (sE electronic vKick)
2. Kick out (Fet 47)
3. Snare Top (Beyerdynamic M201)
4. Snare Top (sE8)
5. Snare btm (akg 451)
6. hat (oktava mk-012)
7. tom 1 (414 b-uls)
8. tom 2 (414 b-uls)
9. Overheads (sE Rupert Neve RN17's)
10. Rooms (Coles 4038)
11. Knee (sE v7)
12. Mono Crush (WA44)
Gear
Heritage Audio, API, Grace Designs, Focusrite, SSL, Neve, Apollo x16 (x2), Midas, Neumann, Dangerous Audio, Warm Audio, DBX.
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Credits
- Billy Ray Cyrus
- Kelsea Ballerini
- Brandon Lay
- Adam Sanders
- Abby Anderson
- Michael Ray
- Jimmie Allen
- Old Dominion
- Carlton Anderson
- Runaway June
- Matt Stell
- Kaleb Lee
- Clay Walker
- Lynryd Skynryd
- Levi Hummon
- Walker Hayes
- Maddie & Tae
- Willie Jones
- Amanda Jordan
- Lindsay Ell
- Kelsey Lamb
- CB30
- Thomas Day
- Halle Kearns
- Tyler Braden
- Derek Austin
- David Morris
- Carter Faith
- alexandra kay
- Sophia Scott
- Iam Tongi
- Walker County
- unsecret
- GREYLEE
- Sam Tinnesz
- Sacha
- Lecade
- Chet Hanks
- Filmore
- Willie Jones III
- Sammy Ariaga
- Sadie Bass
- Anna Vaus
- Danny Worsnop
- Tony Vincent
- Drew Green
- Ashley Walls
- Jaden Michaels
- Conner Smith
- Jeremy Camp
- Mae Estes
- Madden Metcalf
Endorse Kyle May406 Reviews - 65 Repeat Clients
check_circleVerifiedKyle is the best and truly cares about your song. That is worth so much in today’s world! Find someone who pours themselves into your music as much as you do. Kyle is that guy!
check_circleVerifiedExcellent job providing drums for my new song, really strong performance and great drum tone. Kyle listened to my requests and delivered on time. Will use his services again I am sure.
check_circleVerifiedOverall, an amazing experience! Kyle played drums and mixed our song perfectly. We’re excited to work with him again on future songs. Don’t hesitate to work with him...highly recommended!
check_circleVerifiedKyle is fantastic and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you're happy. Get you someone who cares like that on your music!
check_circleVerifiedThis was my first project with Kyle, and he crushed it. Beautiful tones, great energy, lovely feel, great fills. I asked for a couple of updates and Kyle made it happen, no problem. So happy with this whole process. Will definitely be back with more tracks.
check_circleVerifiedReally great stuff on this one! This was a different song than most of what Kyle and I have done to this point, but as I expected - 0 bumps in the road for Kyle on finding the right tone for my artist's specific taste.
check_circleVerifiedTones are always so dialed to your specific song. Lot of people just do one size fits all, whether that's for convenience or lack of tools, or lack of feel/taste for the song. Kyle has all the tools, gear, and intuition you could ask for to get a custom-built sound for your song.
check_circleVerifiedThank you so much Kyle for the amazing drum tracks!! I highly recommend Kyle to anyone looking for a drummer. The turnaround was super quick and he delivered three amazing tracks. I didn't need any punches or edits. They were all three solid takes! Very professional, kind, and easy to work with. I can't say it enough...highly recommend. Thanks again!
check_circleVerifiedWhat a wonderful encounter! Collaborating with Kyle was a breeze. Kyle is a great listener and brings that little something extra that makes all the difference. Super fast turnaround. Highly recommended.
check_circleVerifiedThis song was completely different tone-wise than anything Kyle and I have done to this point and he nailed it, no issues, even including options and programmed sounds to supplement the sound I was going for! Super creative work!
check_circleVerifiedFantastic work! These couple songs I sent Kyle couldn't have been more drastically different, but that just speaks to Kyle's versatility. No matter the style, he's got not only the options in terms of tools to deliver, but more importantly the intuition, instinct, and overall music knowledge to make sure it's 100% on point.
check_circleVerifiedAlways delivers stellar drum sounds and parts, amazing work! File delivery perfect as well🤙 1000% recommend!
check_circleVerifiedKyle once again came through for me big time. I appreciate not only his talents but his amazing work ethic. Thank you, Kyle!
check_circleVerifiedI threw Kyle a worship song which is a style/genre we've done less of. And shocker, he crushed it and dialed in the tones perfectly for the CCM feel.
check_circleVerifiedFast, communicative, and cares about your music. Like actually cares about the project. Hard to find that
check_circleVerifiedKyle makes my artists extremely happy, and he makes me as the producer very happy. Which speaks to his feel for the audience/listener, as well as the engineer/technical side of things. Just so dialed.
check_circleVerifiedEvery style, every feel, Kyle has it in his bag!
check_circleVerifiedIt was a great pleasure working with Kyle again. His drumming brought my song to life. Thank you so much.
check_circleVerifiedKyle was super helpful, did an AMAZING job on the drum track for my song and was super quick getting it done. Highly recommend!
check_circleVerifiedDude is legit as it gets. I can't overstate how badly you need Kyle on your song! Save the time and headache of trying to program everything or record in a less than optimal space. Just do it and hire Kyle
Interview with Kyle May
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: I love working with Zachariah Witcher on bass. I would also recommend Peter Ferguson for guitar. A few other notable folks on here are Keegan Ferrell for production, Mark Prentice for Bass, Brian Seligman for utility, and Abbie Parker for vocals.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Folks typically ask how many tracks they'll get. It's around 12-16 tracks. I have a mic or 2 on every drum, 2 pairs of overheads in different configurations as well as room mics and I'll print my drum bus compression so they can use it if they like. I also get asked about turn around time which is typically 1-3 days.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I have been playing drums and producing for over a decade now. I've toured with Maddie & Tae to Billy Ray Cyrus and have cut on songs for Walker Hays, Clay Walker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Runaway June, to name a few.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: I try to never stop learning. There's alway something new to discover, so I encourage folks to constantly be on the lookout for ways to grow.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Country, Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Indie
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Communication and timeliness. Professionalism for me starts with punctuality.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I currently have a Protools rig with all UAD, Soundtoys, Safari Pedals, Plugin Alliance, Native Instrument Komplete Ultimate and WAVEs plugins. My mics include sE Electronics, Neumann, AKG, AEA, Coles, Shure, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and Miktek. I have various Gretsch drum kits and an assortment of snares from Craviotto, Ludwig, Gretsch, Pearl, and more.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm really inspired by drummers like Aaron Sterling, Jerry Roe, Paul Mabury, Nir Z and incredible sound chaser drummers like Dan Mayo and Brody Simpson. My producer inspirations are Busbee, Jay Joyce, and Dann Huff.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. Each is extremely valuable.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That they'll be 100% satisfied. I can back it up too with every review and money back guarantee as well as my flexibility when it comes to revisions
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That it's different every day.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I typically ask for references so that I can have a clearer understanding of their background and what they're looking for.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I've loved everything Sabrina Carpenter has put out. I love the acoustic and electronic elements in her music.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Familiarity. Artists always have an idea of what they're looking for even if they can't describe it and I try to find that reference and make it feel like it's their own.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I am working on sampling all of my drums. They'll be released in a package for use with Trigger, Native Instruments, Logic and ProTools samplers and many more. I'm really excited because we got to do some of it at The Tracking Room Studio in Nashville that is going to be torn down soon. It's one of the best rooms in town and I'm so grateful to have recorded so many amazing sounds there.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm cutting drums on a few projects that I recorded from my home studio and it'll be exciting to hear them on the radio.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Just be as clear and concise as possible in terms of what you need from me! I'm very flexible and always willing to work until you're happy.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I'll typically import the files from the producer and start to map the song out in ProTools. Then I'll look at the temp drum track and have a listen to the references that may have been sent along with the song. After that, I'll begin the kit, snare, and cymbal selection along with any other mic or gear changes that need to be made. I'll typically cut a couple of takes and then send them over for approval. Once everything is finished, I'll print and export files to send the client!
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: My most common work is recording drums on songs for clients.

I was the drummer and engineer in this production
- Stupid by Greylee
- 20% by Walker County
- Ain't Got Enough Faith by Conner Smith
- In A Car
- Live drum trackAverage price - $200 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $250 per song
- ProducerAverage price - $1000 per song
Drums: Almost unlimited revisions. Fast turn around.
Producing: Minimal revisions. Fast turn around.
Mixing: 2 revisions (½ rate per revision after) Fast turn around.
- Distressor
- API 3124
- BAE 1073
- HA 1081
- DBX 560
- Neve 5043 & 5015
- SSL UVEQ
- Midas 512
- API 560
- WA Bus-Comp
- Tubesessor
- Dangerous Audio
- Focusrite ISA
- Grace Designs
- Apollo x16 (x2)
- Neumann
- Coles
- sE Electronics
- AKG
- Shure
- Miktek
- Telefunken
Please contact for flexible pricing! Willing to work with any budget.



