Preparing to Track a Song

In this episode, we get into what it really takes to prepare to record, and why “jamming to a song” and tracking a song for an artist are two totally different worlds. Eddy shares how he practices and preps parts (often without writing anything down), why e-kits can be a secret weapon for learning technical material, and how to identify the non-negotiables in a drum part when a demo already has programmed drums. We also talk about fighting muscle memory, why simple pop parts can be harder than complex chops , the “less is more” mindset, listening back with ruthless honesty, and the ultimate litmus test: did your drumming make the song better, or did it pull the listener out of it? Plus: the courage to “dare to suck” during the process… because that’s where the magic shows up. Enjoy - Mike J Support the show

You can listen to Preparing to Track a Song online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Preparing to Track a Song is an episode from DRUM with Mike & Eddy by Mike Johnston & Eddy Thrower.

This episode is 44:59 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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