Brad Wilk Snare Sound - Any Advice?

R

Rimshot-

Member
Hi everyone! I'm a new drummer - got my first kit (Gretsch Renown Maple 22" Silver Oyster Pearl) in October and am in love!

I've always admired Brad Wilk's drumming & sound - in particular I love his snare sound on the song 'Like A Stone':

In the above track Brad's snare has such a crisp and bright attack but a full & warm body as well. My research has shown me that Brad favors a Tama Bell Brass Snare Drum 14''x6.5.'' but of course it's hard to say if he used that on the above song - I am also well aware of all the 'drum doctoring' that goes on in the studio, etc. In any event my goal is to get as close to this sound as possible with my current snare.

I have a Black Dawg 14''x6.5'' brass snare currently tuned to G5 (392 Hz) on the reso head and D5 (293 Hz) on the batter head. The sound is quite full and has punch but the snare is not cutting through like that on 'Like A Stone'. On the reso head I have an Aquarian 14" Classic Clear Resonant & and on the batter I'm using an Aquarian 14" Focus-X Texture Coated. My snare wires are the Puresound B1420 Blaster Wires 14/20.

I have attached a recording of my snare (recorded with an sm57 on top and sennheiser e 906 on bottom). This is what I'm currently working with. The first 3 hits are centered on the head, the next 3 have rim as well - this then repeats but with some compression to bring up the sustain.

All tips, suggestions and advice on how to get my snare closer to the sound in 'Like A Stone' would be very very welcome! Whether it's tuning advice, or head advice or anything else, I am open to it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!
 

Attachments

  • Snare Test.mp3
    540.4 KB
From the interview Brad did following the release, he said he used the bell brass for most of the album and was listing a 14x8 but it looks more like a 6.5; For this song, it could be a Supra 6.5 for all I know, I think it sounds brighter than a NOB snare or bell bronze to my ear...but it does sound like the Steve Gadd tuning trick of detuning one lug and/or some type of muffling like a ring to get that funky wet sound; definitely not a wide open likely bell brass that you hear on Cochise or something.
 
I use a Remo Muffl Ring installed under my batter head on a '90s maple 5.5"x14" snare. It yields a more compressed note and controlled dynamics even when you really whack it. Think it was 20 bucks. You can return it undamaged if it doesn't do what you like.

It's a plastic tray with a thick foam ring in it. Jazz guy prob wouldn't like it, but it's gotta be useful mic'ed and recorded, especially for a Rock person. I've got a 7" maple as a primary gig snare that barks well with a rim shot. Just a tissue taped to the batter. Sounds better than the Audioslave recording imo. Although I understand what you're going after.

 
Last edited:
I appreciate the replies, thank you! Unfortunately though I'm not really closer to that snare sound. I have muffle rings and moon gel - I also have a loose lug, tho that is more an accident, haha - one lug just gets loose during playing.
 
A live drum will never sound like a recorded drum due to mics, EQ, different room, and studio magic. The tone you're looking for may be in the your current snare, but you're hearing the full spectrum sound from a live drum and not the filtered/altered sound of the recorded snare. Live, that snare may have sounded different from the recorded tone.
 
SYMBOLIC DEATH said:
A live drum will never sound like a recorded drum due to mics, EQ, different room, and studio magic. The tone you're looking for may be in the your current snare, but you're hearing the full spectrum sound from a live drum and not the filtered/altered sound of the recorded snare. Live, that snare may have sounded different from the recorded tone.
Click to expand...
You should still be able to get in the ballpark.
Me, if I were trying to cop that tone, I would throw my half inch o ring on my snare, tune it pretty tight, and hit rimshots pretty hard.
 
I think I understood Gavin correctly when he posted that his mics are part of his sound. His tuning is partly within the mics and amplification.
And that makes sense that IDEALLY you want your dynamics and sound to be universally reproducible...across all venues.
 
Last edited:
Snare is pretty dry and tight sounding on "Like a Stone,"
I would crank the snare side real tight, and use maybe a thicker head on top. I have good results with Aquarian's Hi-Velocity heads. Don't crank it as tight as you did the bottom, but add a little dampening. One DrumTac near the hoop should be enough. With the wires, make sure they aren't too tight. You should be able to tap the center of your snare top with the stick and still hear them respond.
Play rim-shots on every hit.
This is more or less my snare tuning technique for any situation and any snare. I use a Bell Brass 90% of the time, but can get pretty close with my 14x7 and 5.5x14 brass snares as well.
 
SYMBOLIC DEATH said:
A live drum will never sound like a recorded drum due to mics, EQ, different room, and studio magic. The tone you're looking for may be in the your current snare, but you're hearing the full spectrum sound from a live drum and not the filtered/altered sound of the recorded snare. Live, that snare may have sounded different from the recorded tone.
Click to expand...
Very true - even so, what I have learned over time is that trying to alter the tone or timber of a sound in the mix almost never works out well - so I am really trying to get as close as I can before pressing record.
 
Living Dead Drummer said:
Snare is pretty dry and tight sounding on "Like a Stone,"
I would crank the snare side real tight, and use maybe a thicker head on top. I have good results with Aquarian's Hi-Velocity heads. Don't crank it as tight as you did the bottom, but add a little dampening. One DrumTac near the hoop should be enough. With the wires, make sure they aren't too tight. You should be able to tap the center of your snare top with the stick and still hear them respond.
Play rim-shots on every hit.
This is more or less my snare tuning technique for any situation and any snare. I use a Bell Brass 90% of the time, but can get pretty close with my 14x7 and 5.5x14 brass snares as well.
Click to expand...
'One DrumTac near the hoop should be enough' can you please elaborate? I currently have a moon gel on the batter head to tighten the snare up a bit - but I do not know what drum tacs are?
 
Rimshot- said:
'One DrumTac near the hoop should be enough' can you please elaborate? I currently have a moon gel on the batter head to tighten the snare up a bit - but I do not know what drum tacs are?
Click to expand...
Gels.

Edit: not gels. Never mind.
 
Last edited:
That snare sound has always fascinated me. It's so fat, bright, open, and dry at the same time.

It's definitely one of Ross Garfield's Tama BBs. I think Brad is partial to the Terminator, which was also used on the first (and probably more) Rage Against the Machine records. And Nirvana's Nevermind, among other records. (It is not the Black Album BB.)

Those drums are dry, fat, and powerful without needing any muffling. I'd be willing to bet that that drum had a coated Controlled Sound on it with no muffling. Bottom head tuned very high. Tama BBs with the early extended snare mechanism only fit 20-strand snares.

Sounds like there's a little distortion on the way in from a Neve mic preamp, and the close mics are gated in the mix stage to get that bit of snare honk without also getting a bunch of harsh bottom-of-hihat bleed.

I'd start with a dot head. And crank up your bottom head, but not so high that it starts to choke. Use your ears.

I personally don't think Moongels or tape or muffling rings are going to cut the note like a studio gate will. They'll just lob off the crisp top end you're after. Instead, tape a cymbal felt to the hoop, so it bounces off the batter head when you hit it, then returns back down to gate the drum a little. I use this on pretty much all my snares. It's a sort of acoustic gate.

A high quality die-cast hoop on the batter side will also help you get the strong attack.

Oh, and hit the drum north of center, with rimshots.

EDIT: On a second listen through my studio monitors, the snare sounds more muffled than I'd previously thought. BBs take muffle rings pretty well. A coated Powerstroke 3 might get you close to this sound.
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much for this super detailed reply! Very helpful info! I actually removed the moon gel, tuned the reso head to G4 and the batter head to D4 and added a bit of saturation in the mix stage and all of a sudden the snare came alive! I am a BIG believer in getting the right sound in the beginning and not having to tweak it in the mix - but after a lot of experimentation I think Brad's sound is also partially the result of some distortion/saturation - just enough so that you bring out the upper harmonics but not so much you crush the transient - in that middle point is where that snare sound reveals itself.
 
SYMBOLIC DEATH said:
A live drum will never sound like a recorded drum due to mics, EQ, different room, and studio magic. The tone you're looking for may be in the your current snare, but you're hearing the full spectrum sound from a live drum and not the filtered/altered sound of the recorded snare. Live, that snare may have sounded different from the recorded tone.
Click to expand...
This 100%
People "chase the dragon" of wanting a certain sound heard on a recording, without understanding that the recording engineer does all kinds of tricks to get the sound they feel is best for the band as a whole.

I can't begin to explain how many times I've done studio sessions where I've tuned my drums to sound great to my ear, yet I felt the engineer added all kinds of stuff that made it so I shouldn't have tuned at all.

but after a lot of experimentation I think Brad's sound is also partially the result of some distortion/saturation - just enough so that you bring out the upper harmonics but not so much you crush the transient .
Click to expand...
@Rimshot- After reading this, I'm assuming you may be a "new drummer" but it's clear you've worked in sound engineering pretty extensively to know about sound to this level.

I'm curious if you applied this knowledge to the snare sound when you first got it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top