Modern Drummer 2007-03 – Supermassive Drumming

Dominic Howard (March 2007 Issue) Supermassive Drumming

After touring for most of 2004 and 2005 in support of their breakthrough release, Absolution, southpaw drummer Dominic Howard and his bandmates in British rockers Muse spent six months sequestered in a studio in southern France, putting together Black Holes And Revelations. It’s the group’s most dynamic and diverse record to date.

This time around, the band dove into new musical territory, including experimenting with various electronic instruments. Says Dom, “We had a lot of synths, drum machines, and vintage gear in the studio, so a lot of the tracks were born out of messing around with those instruments.”

For his parts, the drummer approached each track individually. “The process in the studio is trial and error,” Dom admits. “It was never: Let’s setup a drumkit, get sounds, and record twelve tracks. It was a lot of messing around, changing mics and drums, and the moving kits to different parts of the room.”

On stage, the drummer has expanded his basic four-piece acrylic Tama kit with a Roland SPD sampler in order to reproduce “Supermassive Black Hole,” the album’s most electronic-sounding song. “I’m running triggers for that one,” says Dom. “I’ve sampled the sounds from the record, and I mix them with the live kit.”

Mike Dawson