Drum sound on 1960s recordings
Posted by: graham55 on 01 October 2006
As a second generation baby boomer, some of my favourite rock music comes from the late sixties/early seventies. I've been listening to Cream and JH Experience this evening and it occurs to me that the recorded sounds then of the drums produced a wonderful 'clatter' (of bits of wood hitting stretched skin) that just hasn't been there since.
Is this to do with recording techniques?
I rather suspect that at the time drums were miked from a couple of feet away, whereas later/now the mics are inside the drums (assuming that a human is hitting skins, as opposed to a click track).
I'm listening to 'Badge' as I type, which just goes to prove my point.
Graham
Posted on: 07 October 2006 by Mabelode, King of Swords
Have a listen to "The End" by the Doors - the physical presence of the drumming is quite startling when you hear it for the first time on a high quality system.
Steve
Posted on: 09 October 2006 by John M
This simply isn't true; there are many examples of Copeland in the pocket ... Every Breath You Take being just one.
Thanks Fred and I stand corrected. I usually have a automatic regulator in my head that puts up a flag whenever I use the word "never." I actually love Stewart Copeland (Walking on the Moon is one of my favorites.)
I was going to mention Ringo - the human drum loop comment by others is a real crack up. Tommmorrow Never Knows is one of my favorite beatles tracks for that reason. Can/Jaki Liebezeit also had some great loop-like drumming, and I am pretty sure they were muscle and sinew as opposed to chips and electrons.
John
Posted on: 09 October 2006 by fred simon
quote:
Originally posted by ROTF:
I loathe drum machines BTW.
With a hammer you can build a house or you can bash someone's head in.
Fred
Posted on: 09 October 2006 by fred simon
quote:
Originally posted by John M:
I actually love Stewart Copeland (Walking on the Moon is one of my favorites.)
A very innovative track ... drums, guitar, bass, voice ... all of it. Before that track there had never been anything that sounded quite like it; elements of other things (reggae, jazz, etc.) but never put together in quite the same way.
Fred
Posted on: 11 October 2006 by Steve Smith
These days a drum set is miked up with numerous microphones (not normally inside the drums). You can easily get 25 microphones or more, with a few on the bass drum alone.
I guess the raw sound of a drum kit is a little harsh to some ears (even mine - and I play the things). People have becomed accustomed to a sanitised sound where tom toms do not reverberate, where snares have the ringing sound removed and kick drums have to produce a short pop sound. It's mainly a fashion thing, I guess. Drummers themselves often tamper with their kits to dampen down the natural sound they produce.
I love the sound of John Bonham's kit. His Ludwig snare had a lovely crack with loads of character. A nice compromise of natural sound and produced sound, to my ears. It's a sound I've never quite heard elsewhere. You hear it well on Led Zep 2,4 and Physical Graffiti.
Steve
Posted on: 11 October 2006 by bhazen
quote:
Originally posted by fred simon:
With a hammer you can build a house or you can bash someone's head in.
Fred
My brain is still on the mend from having my head bashed in in the Eighties and early Nineties...
