Nate Barnes

Live Drum Tracks, Programming

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1129 Reviews (1111 Verified)
Nate Barnes on SoundBetter

I'm a seasoned session musician that has been recording my own drums for over 20 years. My tracks focus on delivering the best performance of the perfect part for your song with emphasis on groove, feel, texture, energy, space, and attitude. My goal is to serve the writer's vision by enhancing the song without ever distracting from it.

Check out extensive session examples on this Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3dR5vR4

Hi, I'm Nate Barnes. I have drummed for artists including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rodney Crowell, Ryan Bingham, Hiss Golden Messenger, Todd Snider, American Authors, Rose Hill Drive, and many others. I've also worked with producers such as Brendan OBrien, Jim Scott, Nick DiDia, and more.

I've done remote sessions for countless artists- My roots are in Rock N Roll but I have branched out from there into Pop, Country, Folk, Indie, Americana, and Singer-Songwriter, and I've done drum tracks in just about every genre imaginable. I'm also a solo artist (under the name Plutinos) and a composer, so I approach my drum tracks from a songwriter's viewpoint- with the primary consideration being what's best for the song. Additionally, I'm a drum/beat programmer, a guitarist, and am endorsed by Ludwig, Sabian, and Vic Firth.

My studio was custom built for recording drums. The room is fully tuned and treated and has a great room sound, classic preamps, and awesome mics. I dial in custom sounds for each project utilizing up to 20 channels with a ton of mix flexibility on a wide range of drums and cymbals- with sounds ranging from dirty and greasy to clean and polished; from tight and crisp to big and bombastic. Feel free to reach out with any questions- I'd love to discuss working on your project!

Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.

Credits

Discogs verified credits for Nate Barnes
  • Rose Hill Drive
  • Rose Hill Drive
  • Jully Black
  • Ryan Bingham
  • Kyle Kim
  • Ryan Bingham
  • thisiswar
  • Brad Thorn
  • Tommy Reltone*
  • Ethan Senger
  • Tommy Lorente
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • Sivan Langer
  • Sivan Langer
  • The Sun Sawed In 1/2
  • Bun (16)
  • Richard Soutar
  • Kiss The Ox
  • Abraham Alexander
  • Manville
  • Phil Miller (18)

1129 Reviews - 242 Repeat Clients

Endorse Nate Barnes
  1. Review by MATTHEW M.
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    Project number 7 done with Nate, fantastic as always! nothing beats his energy and enthusiasm that he adds to the track!

  2. Review by Matt Dougherty
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    Always great having Nate rock drums for me - great tones and even better musicality and taste. Highly recommend!!!

  3. Review by Ewan B.
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    Nate always delivers, his tracks are killer! He's my go to.

  4. Review by David M.
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    Quick turnaround (one week). Easy to communicate with. Will pay attention to your ideas. Adds in his own flavors here and there to make your song sparkle. Thanks Nate. I'll need you for more songs.

  5. Review by Dale I.
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    Another fantastic drum track from my go to guy. Takes my songs to another level. Always super friendly, great communication and a fantastic drummer. Highly recommended! Thanks again Nate.

  6. Review by Anton K.
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    Fantastic musician and incredibly easy to work with Highly recommend Nate!

  7. Review by Rob C.
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    by Rob C.
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    Nate is talented, courteous, and very efficient. His files come extremely organized and clean, audio quality is excellent, and - most importantly - the parts rock. He's a gem and my go-to guy.

  8. Review by Simeon K.
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    Another great drum track from Nate!

  9. Review by Daniel R.
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    Hire Nate! The 1000+ five star reviews, as well as my own prior 5* reviews, say it all. He is the best.

  10. Review by Aidan S.
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    We were looking for a drummer to bring our tracks to life and we found the man! Nate brought multiple quality takes to the table in no time at all and revisions in equally as timely of a manner. Can't wait to work with Nate again

  11. Review by Thomas M.
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    Amazing as always! Went back to him to finish an earlier project and he delivered some TIGHT drums, would highly recommend using Nate if you need that live drum feel.

  12. Review by Remy Smith
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    Nate is simply the best!

  13. Review by Lee
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    by Lee
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    Nate is a talented drummer and an all-around super nice guy! Will definitely be working with him again on future projects. He recognized intuitively what the song required and played along with style. Thanks for the quick delivery and professional quality recordings!

  14. Review by Sam M.
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    by Sam M.
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    Excellence as usual with Nate - thanks heaps for your work on this track, legend!

  15. Review by MusicMan
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    It's always a pleasure working with Nate! Thank you man!

  16. Review by Ed McGuire
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    Very easy to work with, Nate has great feel with his playing and his kit choices were bang on. The recordings sound fat and good. Highly recommend.

  17. Review by Samuel B.
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    3 tracks with Nate - quick turnaround, amazing playing and really helpful with revisions. Highly recommend.

  18. Review by Don May
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    Nate is absolute pro. Great communication, quick turn around, really fantastic tone and feel. Really- the complete package. He’s my go to guy.

  19. Review by Tim Karabajak
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    Nate's drumming has elevated another one of my songs, blending skill with a deep understanding of the music. His professionalism makes every project a breeze. Looking forward to more collaborations!

  20. Review by Thomas H.
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    Nate's the man. Great communication. Delivered killer live drums ahead of schedule. Your search for a drummer is over.

Interview with Nate Barnes

  1. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  2. A: I work in my studio Monday through Friday primarily recording drums, with the occasional fly date for a gig or session. I record drum tracks remotely as well as live online sessions via Google Meet and Audiomovers. I also do a lot of writing and composing for my own projects and for TV and film.

  3. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  4. A: As both a drummer and songwriter, I can approach the track from a songwriter's perspective along with the proficiency and knowhow of a professional drummer and experienced engineer. Drum part construction is key for me but I also like to leave room for improvising and reacting to what I'm hearing in real time.

  5. Q: What's your typical work process?

  6. A: My first step is to get on the same page with the writer, and I like to get a good feel for what the their vision is. I am the one who is being hired to be of service to the writer and make sure that their vision is achieved, and I love getting input from non-drummers on how they envision the drum track to sound because it can often result in a very cool and unique drum part. Having respect for the origination of the song idea is key for me- I often start hearing part ideas in my head right away when listening, but landing on the perfect drum part comes from a solid understanding of the writer's vision. My ultimate goal is to write creative parts that enhance and maximize the song without ever distracting from it. Reference tracks are always helpful for me as they give me a good idea sonically and stylistically of what the writer is after. After selecting the right drums, dialing in the perfect drum sound, and coming up with the general framework for the drum part, I start by recording 3 full "keeper" takes to give the client a few different vibes and options to choose from.

  7. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  8. A: Both have their places!

  9. Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

  10. A: I'll take working on your music very seriously and it will be of the utmost importance to me that I put my absolute best foot forward to elevate your track to the best of my abilities.

  11. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  12. A: I love getting to help with people's creations- it's inspiring for me to see such creative output from writers and also serves a reminder for me to keep doing my own writing and creating.

  13. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  14. A: Q: What files do you need to get started? A: Usually just a WAV file of the track with and without any programmed or placeholder drums and BPM of the track.

  15. Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

  16. A: I would love to work with Tom Waits- the drums and percussion on his records is so uniquely HIM, and I would just love to experience and be a part of that first hand in the studio with him.

  17. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  18. A: Simplify your arrangement as much as possible- the best sounding mixes are songs where everything has it's own space and the parts complement each other. Stacking a "wall of sound" of overdubs can lead to a cluttered mix where nothing can really shine in it's own space. Make each layer a vital component of the overall sound.

  19. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  20. A: I've done the most work in genres such as Rock, Pop, Country, Americana, and Singer-Songwriter, but I've also done tracks in just about every genre imaginable including Indie, Folk, Honky Tonk, Funk, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Electronic, EDM, World Music, Latin, Jazz, Fusion, Asian Pop, Bollywood, and more.

  21. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  22. A: I would say that feel and taste are my strongest skills as a drummer. No matter what you play, it has to feel good and fit the song like a glove. Crowds love the fills but groove pays the bills!

  23. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

  24. A: There are so many- I grew up on 90's Rock and Classic Rock, so early influences were John Bonham, Dave Grohl, Ringo Starr, Chad Smith, Matt Cameron, Jimmy Chamberlain, Eric Kretz, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Moon. Some of my influences since growing up and "turning pro" have been Matt Chamberlain, Josh Freese, Steve Jordan, Aaron Sterling, Jim Keltner, Levon Helm, Hal Blaine, Brian Blade, and James Gadsen. I'm also a big fan of producers such as George Martin, Rick Rubin, Dave Sardy, Greg Wells, Brendan O' Brien, Tchad Blake, Daniel Lanois, and Blake Mills.

  25. Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

  26. A: I primarily played with my original Rock n Roll band called Rose Hill Drive from age 16-28. We started touring shortly after high school and released 4 records over the course of around 10 years. We toured the world headlining shows and got to open for legendary acts such as The Who, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Queens Of The Stone Age, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Black Crowes. We were also fortunate to have been mentored by a local studio owner and were given free recording time when the studio wasn't otherwise booked, and logged countless hours and nights at that studio starting when I was 18. Learning my way around a full SSL console, patch bay, and outboard gear was very helpful in my eventual quest to record my own great sounding drum tracks. I started freelancing as a drummer around 2010 and also started engineering and producing other projects during that time. I've been doing in person sessions and online drum tracks out of my own space for almost 10 years now and am continually improving and iterating on my recording process and setup.

  27. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  28. A: My studio was custom built for recording drums and is fully tuned by way of professional consultation and top quality commercially custom manufactured diffusion and absorption, with a great room sound and even frequency response. Gear wise, I have a modern digital recording rig with Universal Audio Apollo X series interfaces and Logic Pro X as the hub. This is a great sounding and very versatile setup as I am able to truly tailor the sound to each track with unique preamps, gain levels, EQ, and processing, and I can also fully recall sessions in an instant should a client need revisions. I own most of the plugins that Universal Audio offers and I basically treat them like outboard gear, tracking through them live using the Apollo software and printing them right into Logic. I've engineered at commercial studios with full analog consoles and outboard gear, and Universal Audio's plugins sound and respond so similarly to the actual pieces of hardware, and I love being able to dial in the perfect vibe and "play to the sound" in real time. I also have a great collection of versatile mics after years of refinement and experimenting, and have total coverage of the kit with up to 20 channels, allowing for a ton of mix flexibility. The other main component of the sound is the drums themselves. I'm a Ludwig endorsed artist and use various series of their amazing drums ranging in size from a small jazz kit to a big Bonham-y rock kit, and I always make sure they're tuned perfectly and double check that all my microphones are phase coherent before recording. I change out drums and cymbals for each song and always tailor the drum sound to the specific track. I also have a wide sonic range of Sabian cymbals and various drum knick knacks such as tea towels, mutes, muffling rings, tambourines, rivets, percussion, dowel brushes, weird stuff, etc to help me achieve just the right sound and vibe.

  29. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  30. A: I'm currently in the middle of writing and recording the follow up to my debut solo LP (Plutinos-LP). This time around I'm incorporating a lot more synths and programmed drums and have really enjoyed exploring new sonic spaces and honing my craft.

  31. Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

  32. A: Bassist Jimmy Stofer and guitarist Daniel Sproul are two people I do a ton of work with. They are both on SoundBetter and are both phenomenal musicians and engineers. We collaborate remotely all the time and can help bring an extra layer of cohesion to the online recording process when we get to work on a project together.

  33. Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

  34. A: The project I'm most proud of would be my debut solo LP, released under the name Plutinos. I wrote, recorded, performed, engineered, mixed, and mastered it all on my own. It was such a fun and fulfilling project for me and I learned a ton in the process. It's available worldwide on all major streaming and download services.

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Nate Barnes Reel 1 (Rock/Pop)

I was the Drummer in this production


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    Nate Barnes Reel 1 (Rock/Pop)
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    Nate Barnes Reel 2 (Indie/Americana)
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    Infitite Eyes by Neon Castles
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    Falling Away by Plutinos
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Turnaround time is typically 2-5 business days after funding job and supplying materials, rush orders for tight deadlines available upon request

GenresSounds Like
  • Steve Jordan
  • Dave Grohl
  • Ringo Starr
Gear Highlights
  • Ludwig Drums (various series and sizes)
  • Sabian Cymbals (various series with a wide tonal range)
  • Universal Audio Apollo X Interfaces
  • API and Neve Preamps
  • Industry Standard Microphones
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SoundBetter Deal

Discount available for multiple tracks