Bass drum sound

SwissArmy

Member
I'm looking for advice on how to get a bass drums sound like that in "Try!" by John Mayor Trio.

What size bass drum/heads/and tuning could be helpful?
 
Since it's recorded live, Steve uses a 24" by 16" bass drum equipped with a Powerstroke3 batter and a Ebony reso.
 
Since it's recorded live, Steve uses a 24" by 16" bass drum equipped with a Powerstroke3 batter and a Ebony reso.

and a great sound man with a rack full of goodies to make them sound even better.

You'll never achieve a recorded drum sound even if you have the same drum kit as the drummer you are trying to sound like. Too many variables in tuning, room size and of course all the effects, compression, gates and such that sound guys use. so your best bet is to try a few different head combos and see which one your kick likes best that gives you a tone you like. Part of the fun of being a drummer is having your own sound ;-)
 
It doesn't have to be a full rack but a handful of decent equalisers and compressors have been used on that recording by all likelihood. Plus top notch microphones and preamps.

Try accepting the fact that regardless of how the source (drumkit) sounds in real - as soon as you put some microphones up and pull up the faders on your mixing board it will sound differently. I haven't recorded drums yet, but electric and acoustic guitars (usually with a 2 microphone setup). IMO it's not a must to get the real sound 100% to your liking, but to get a 'workable' real sound which, applying microphones, preamps, EQ's and compressors, in the end gives a pleasing result. You might be surprized how well you can get away with good medium range instruments recording them with decent equipment, instead of starting with a high-end source. Sure there's more sound pontential to the latter, but it's also no problem to mess the sound up, dialing in the wrong settings on the gear used. Factoring in that many studio devices have transformer inputs and/or outputs which in their turn colour the sound, it just takes a lot more to get a good recording than starting from a good source/instrument.

I've settled with having to experiment with the mic setup and gear settings until the final product is pleasing to my ears, regardless of e.g. the guitar sound coming out of the cabinet. I've come to learn to perceive EQ's and compressors as 'cosmetic' tools which can colour the sound very dramatically. In fact, I can't imagine to work without my Pultec clone (stereo EQ) - it's improving just about everything I'm throwing at it. One piece of gear can make a huge difference.
 
It doesn't have to be a full rack but a handful of decent equalisers and compressors have been used on that recording by all likelihood. Plus top notch microphones and preamps.

Try accepting the fact that regardless of how the source (drumkit) sounds in real - as soon as you put some microphones up and pull up the faders on your mixing board it will sound differently. I haven't recorded drums yet, but electric and acoustic guitars (usually with a 2 microphone setup). IMO it's not a must to get the real sound 100% to your liking, but to get a 'workable' real sound which, applying microphones, preamps, EQ's and compressors, in the end gives a pleasing result. You might be surprized how well you can get away with good medium range instruments recording them with decent equipment, instead of starting with a high-end source. Sure there's more sound pontential to the latter, but it's also no problem to mess the sound up, dialing in the wrong settings on the gear used. Factoring in that many studio devices have transformer inputs and/or outputs which in their turn colour the sound, it just takes a lot more to get a good recording than starting from a good source/instrument.

I've settled with having to experiment with the mic setup and gear settings until the final product is pleasing to my ears, regardless of e.g. the guitar sound coming out of the cabinet. I've come to learn to perceive EQ's and compressors as 'cosmetic' tools which can colour the sound very dramatically. In fact, I can't imagine to work without my Pultec clone (stereo EQ) - it's improving just about everything I'm throwing at it. One piece of gear can make a huge difference.

I agree that as long as you have a workable sound you can do a lot to make it sound good, but you can't work miracles. Crap in, crap out - as they say.

The best recording session I've ever engineered/produced was a bunch of guys in their 40s/50s in a prog/pop rock band. Their instruments came in to the desk sounding GREAT (except for the bass, that was a labour) and it shows in the final mix down. They were mid range instruments used, but they sounded good in situ and recorded.

As a side note, in University I did a mix down on the raw tracks to a few Marvin Gaye songs and you'd be suprised how little has been done to the audio between raw recording and mixing down. The instrument sounds are right BEFORE recording. If you want really high quality results from the post production process on a track then it's ALL ABOUT getting the sounds going in to a desk spot on first.
 
Thats because Stax,and Motown records had their own "wrecking crew".Studio guys who knew how to tune,get their parts right and cut a record in just a few if not one take.

Steve B
 
IMO it's not a must to get the real sound 100% to your liking
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hmm really not sure you can get that actual sound. since it's a live perf and the mixing of instruments and drums is in a particular way and the mics and all. but i'd say 22" with powerstroke 3s,maybe coated,and mute it quite a bit.tune the heads medium low with the batter lower than the resonant for a warmer sound. TRY! hahaha. pun intended.
 
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