Help for playing Doom Metal

angelofdef

Junior Member
I've been playing for about two years and originally started off with Pearl Forums. I've put in a lot of time to get decent and just joined a band that plays a hybrid of Doom (Death/Stoner, think Sleep meets Hooded Menace). My play is fine but my drums just don't match the music. I'm not sure if I'm not tuning right or if it's the heads, or if it's just my crappy entry level drums.

I currently use Remo Emperor Black Suedes on my Toms, Super Kick 10 on my bass, and Aquarian Triple threat on my snare. I bought the tuning key that lets you select a setting and then it will stop when it hits that, but I have no point of reference as to what is high/low.

I've recently seen some bands use acrylic drums (particularly toms and bass) to get a real deep punchy sound which I like, but the problem is all the acrylic demos I can find are tuned pretty high to get a more bouncy sound so I don't know if they would be good for this style once tuned down. Willing to buy new drums but looking to stay around $1000 used.

Anyone have experience in this genre that can help out?
 
Triggers.

If you really want that metal sound that you hear on records (which is unobtainable on any acoustic kit without electronic help) then you might want to consider triggers. $1k isn't a huge amount of wedge for drums, especially the number of drums that metal bands tend to use.

Heads and tuning will help to a point, but triggers and a copy of Steven slate drums thru a laptop will get you a lot closer to the sound I think you're after.
 
Doom/sludge/stoner/etc is generally a very lo-fi, earthy, natural sounding sub-genre; I'm not sure triggers would be the right sound...

You should probably just learn to tune better, and not rely on a device which probably doesn't work very well (read countless threads here through Search, and look on youtube for lessons, and read articles etc.).

Also, the above poster is right that you may be expecting too much, in a way. You'll never get drums to sound like they do on CDs without micing them up and putting them through racks of processors. The sound you hear from the driver's seat is much different from what is heard out front (altho adequate hearing protection can help).

You drums are probably fine quality wise. Its probably just the usual combination of high expectations, and lack of tuning experience that everyone goes through.
 
AJ, thanks for the thought, but I'm not sure you are thinking of the right type of metal.

Fuo, I agree that expecting CD quality would be silly, but I'm looking for advice on how to improve the fat and punchy sound I'm looking for, not really to just give up. I guess I'm really looking for other drummers of this genre what they play, how they tune, what heads they recommend etc...
 
Fuo is right. Once your kit is mic'ed up and put through a 4k rig you can add as much bottom end as you want. Trust me I've had a 1k drum monitor next to me and I told the engineer to turn it off. You'll never get an acoustic kit to sound like a cd. Tune them low and you'll lose volume if your not miced up. Tune them so you can play and let the engineer get a doom sound. But most importantly tune them so you can play easily and better as you'll struggle to progress on a poorly tuned kit.
 
What sizes are your drums? A lot of drummers in this genre play bigger drums. 24" kick, 13" rack and 16"&18" floor toms.

If you can find a Yamaha 9000 series or recording custom in the bigger sizes, for a good price, you'll be pretty happy.
 
I don't think there's a standard sound for stoner rock - you really have to do your own thing, and tune and play for the music you're making with your band.

This is my favorite rock genre. I just finished up with a stoner rock band and am in the process of putting another one together. I play bigger drums and tune higher than most guys would...at least the people I hear in other bands around town. I'm running a 24/16/13 Ludwig Classic Maple setup with coated emperors on top...clear ambassadors on the bottom. Clear PS3 w/ coated ambassador reso, on the bass drum. The kick is tuned up med-high, tom resos are tuned much higher than batters. It sounds old school and "organic", like Fuo mentioned.

Your only real guidelines are; bigger drum sizes and HIT HARD. :)
 
I don't think there's a standard sound for stoner rock - you really have to do your own thing, and tune and play for the music you're making with your band.

This is my favorite rock genre. I just finished up with a stoner rock band and am in the process of putting another one together. I play bigger drums and tune higher than most guys would...at least the people I hear in other bands around town. I'm running a 24/16/13 Ludwig Classic Maple setup with coated emperors on top...clear ambassadors on the bottom. Clear PS3 w/ coated ambassador reso, on the bass drum. The kick is tuned up med-high, tom resos are tuned much higher than batters. It sounds old school and "organic", like Fuo mentioned.

Your only real guidelines are; bigger drum sizes and HIT HARD. :)

Thank you, this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. There is not going to be micing or engineers at the basement shows we would end up playing. All I really want is to flam on the tom and have it be fat without resonating for three seconds.
 
What sizes are your drums? A lot of drummers in this genre play bigger drums. 24" kick, 13" rack and 16"&18" floor toms.

If you can find a Yamaha 9000 series or recording custom in the bigger sizes, for a good price, you'll be pretty happy.

I have a 22" bass, 13" tom, I took the second rack tom out of my setup and a 16" floor. It''s the entry level pearl kit.

I found a Ludwig Vistalite six piece with a 24" bass for like 800 bucks. I saw a band a few weeks ago use one of them and it sounded great. Leaning towards that right now.
 
Thank you, this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. There is not going to be micing or engineers at the basement shows we would end up playing. All I really want is to flam on the tom and have it be fat without resonating for three seconds.

Right on! Rounded edges (old school sounding drums) will give you that fatness *and* tone. I'm going for a Gretsch Brooklyn kit next because I'm basically looking for the same thing. The Ludwig drums have served me well, just looking for something different.

Good luck! Post some clips of your new band so we can check it out, once you're ready. :)
 
Right on! Rounded edges (old school sounding drums) will give you that fatness *and* tone. I'm going for a Gretsch Brooklyn kit next because I'm basically looking for the same thing. The Ludwig drums have served me well, just looking for something different.

Good luck! Post some clips of your new band so we can check it out, once you're ready. :)

Here you go Zambizzi,

http://soundcloud.com/andrew-schneider/seven-trumpets-jam-2, Here is two songs we are working on (skip to 40 seconds in)...constructive criticism welcome, but be gentle, there are lots of obvious mistakes since it was our first time running through some of this stuff and the guitar all but drowned out my bass drum (he plays a double Emperor stack with an Orange head...ITS LOUD). Band is called Seven Trumpets as in the seven trumpets that signal the apocalypse.
 
Re: Help for playing Doom Metal,

Sounds ok, I'd tune the snare deeper and wind the snare off. Try listening to side two of My War by Black Flag
 
Re: Help for playing Doom Metal,

Sounds ok, I'd tune the snare deeper and wind the snare off. Try listening to side two of My War by Black Flag

Exactly, I think many would agree with you.

My point is, Doom/stoner/desert rock even, is much less to do with the 'norm' a lot of the best stuff comes from complete left-wing experimenting..I don't like bands in this genre that play by any uniform code.
 
Are you implying you are the drummer for Om or just posting it as an example?

Om rules...

Good lord no

As I explained above..not only is every drummer going to think it should "sound" differently. Furthermore, it SHOULD sound different with doom/stoner rock...it's not about clear cut examples and cookie-cutter samples.
 
I play in a band that identifies most with this scene, although we really play a huge mix of styles.

I'm going to echo some earlier advice. I play a 70's 3 ply Ludwig kit, 24, 14, 16, 18. I run coated Emperors over Coated Ambassadors on the toms AND the kick, and an 8" deep maple snare. My cymbals are all huge, 24" ride, 18" hats, etc.

I tune my toms and kick up way high. My ideal is a very vintage rock drum sound, Bonhamish for sure. This lets them cut through the music; you've got to think that if you're tuning your toms and kick low, especially when unmic'd, it's not going to cut through guitar and bass stacks; it won't be heard.

In addition to playing hard, which I do in spades, you have to concentrate on bringing the sound out of the drums with your strokes. You can't simply bash away, because acoustic drums can only get so loud. You have to study technique and look at how you can hit hard to get volume, but also make the drums sound good. A dull thud from your toms may sound cool in theory, but at a show no one is going to hear it.

I compete with Marshall and Orange full stacks, and an 8x10 bass rig, and I normally have no trouble being heard, and get lots of compliments on how everything sounds from the stage/corner of the basement. Now, as was mentioned above, everyone has to find his own sound. So experiment and have fun and find what's right for you and your band.
 
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