Something's off

[8Mile]

Okay, there's a tune by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow called Picture. You've probably heard it on the radio.

Well, something about the drum track on this tune has always sounded off to me. The thing is, I'm not sure a live drummer plays any of the parts, so I don't know if something is really not synced up or if my ears are playing tricks on me.

Here's the clip (apologies if you have to sit through an advertisement) in case you're not familiar with the tune: http://youtu.be/rKFx0MMqb48

At around 1:29, the main drum part starts. Is the kick off? The hi-hat part? The handclap backbeats? Is the whole drum part off, dragging behind the rest of the instruments? Or are they all fine, and I'm out of my mind?

There's a part where a snare backbeat comes in at about 2:48 during the guitar solo, and that sounds off to me, too. Something sounds like it's dragging.

I need feedback on this. Something about this drum part, or the way the other instruments line up with it, has bugged me since the first time I've heard it. But nobody else I know has ever mentioned it and I'm starting to think it's just me.

Help!

 

[David Floegel]

Haha yeah it feels like the drums are too slow.. Especially the bassdrum - the snare seems fine to me. I guess it's because the bassdrum..

Strange song..

 

[Bruce M. Thomson]

It seems to be mostly bass guitar rather than bass drum. Don't think they are real drums either.
Nice song though.

 

[Anon La Ply]

That sits badly for a professional release. Sounds like fake drums to me. Since machines are always perfect some silly human must have gotten it wrong

 

[JBoom]

Kid Rock definitely has a real drummer in his band (Stefanie Eulinberg), and I like her playing and style.

I think she sat out this recording and it also sounds more like a mixing error combined with odd drum machine sounds (it sounds kind of drum machine-ish to me and the "bass" drum sound changes on the upbeat, perhaps exaggerating the mixing issue).

There appears to have been some legal issues with releasing the song as a single, so maybe that has something to do with it (it had to be re-mixed with different female vocals). Although the album version seems to suffer from the same issue (My son is a fan, and by extension I've become a sort-of fan).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_(song)

 

[toothie96]

Haha yeah it feels like the drums are too slow.. Especially the bassdrum - the snare seems fine to me. I guess it's because the bassdrum..

Strange song..

This.

Snare is in time, bass drum falls just in front of the beat, that's what's making it drag. Some bad editing going on there, especially for a professional track; drums don't sound real either...

 

[Phills]

The song is a tad too sugary and they sing and play it somewhat unsupple in my opinion.
(Hope this is correct English). But that is not the issue here I suppose.

The snare / rim / handclap-sound is on time.
But indeed they gave the bassdrum-sound a strange feel.
As if they shortened the note / sustain. But maybe it is just plain dragging...

 

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

That just feels really weird.

Vocal on the first verse is out of tune as is the lead guitar. A little bit has it's charm, but it's too much.

 

[Boom]

I don't like the feel of the song at all. So I don't think your observation is off. Super weird. I kind of wish I had come across it on my own before reading your thoughts (and others) on it to see if it jumped out at me without any peer pressure. I keep sensing that the drums are behind the beat in a way that I don't like. It has me all confused

I don't think I'd want to listen to it again because the feel irritates me a little. Maybe it is also because the drums don't sound real to me. But what do I know? Thanks for sharing, 8mile.

 

[DrumEatDrum]

I had no idea Kid Rock or Sheryl Crow still made music. I was under the impression Ms Crow fell of the face of the Earth after her terrible rendition of "Sweet Child o' Mine."

But I don't much listen to the radio and I don't pay attention to pop radio.

Clearly, it's a drum machine. No real drums are anywhere on that song.

I hear the bass drum is well ahead of the beat, which makes everything else sound off. Certainly kind of weird.

The snare/clap thing is flammed, which adds to the "drag" feel, but I think that gives it a bit of school charm in an otherwise sterile drum machine part.

 

[plangentmusic]

.

First off, that's an example of a "made up" song if I ever heard one. "Made up" in the sense in that it's just a simple chord sequence with any notes and can be written "on the spot." He probably had the lyrics first then stuck them to those chords.

As for the track, I'm guessing it was recorded with the guitar in free time, then they tried to make it more of a "song" by adding extra guitars, bass, drums, handclaps, finger snaps etc. It just doesn't gel. (Even the guitar solo's a bit pitchy). But hey, it was a hit.


.

 

[toddbishop]

Okay, there's a tune by Kid Rock...

Whoa, whoa, you lost me...

Ha. Since nothing happens by accident any more, I would guess that they've contrived to give it a "hu-man" feel by making the drums a little erratic and nudging them way to the back of the beat. I guess. I'm not listening to that more than once just to confirm or refute that.

 

[SergiuM]

The drums definitely don't sound genuine and the bass drum is definitely dragging.

 

[con struct]

Everything about that song is off. Everything about the culture that produces such a song is off. Every person who had anything to do with that song is off.

I'm sorry, but I could only make it through ten seconds of whatever that's supposed to be before I started feeling a sharp stabbing pain in the part of my brain that processes music.

 

[DrumEatDrum]

Everything about that song is off. Everything about the culture that produces such a song is off. Every person who had anything to do with that song is off.

I'm sorry, but I could only make it through ten seconds of whatever that's supposed to be before I started feeling a sharp stabbing pain in the part of my brain that processes music.

^ Best reply in this thread. LOL.

 

[bermuda]

Perhaps I have no business being in this business... I just don't hear what you guys are talking about! What I do hear is some push & pull on the guitar - played live of course - and that may make the kick sound strange, but I hear the guitar as being the culprit, if indeed there is one. The drums are sequenced, hardly a surprise for Kid Rock or probably half the pop/rock/country recordings today.

BTW, Sheryl Crow is just wrapping up a new album in Nashville, and I believe on tour soon.

Bermuda

 

[8Mile]

Well, I dunno then. I guess many of you also hear something strange going on with how the parts line up, but I wonder if this would have bothered anyone had I not brought attention to it, as Boom suggested. It has nagged at me for years now.

I felt pretty confident I was on to something but if Bermuda can't hear it, yikes. Maybe it's like one of those geometric illusions where kids from third world countries don't see it because their environments aren't filled with geometric shapes. Bermuda, maybe your ear is so finely-tuned to this stuff that you're the only one who isn't letting the guitar part trick him into thinking the problem is with the drums!

 

[bermuda]

I listened again, still don't hear a problem! Drum samples are right on. Sounds like some of the players are dancing around the sequence a bit. Meaning, sometimes there's a little push & pull, and sometimes it's nice & tight. But the drums sound correct time-wise. Doesn't mean that the kick isn't relaxed by a few ms to give a lilt to the song, but it doesn't feel strange to me.

I think lining up the song to a grid & click will reveal where any discrepancies may exist. If I get a minute, I'll try it and report back. I'm curious why everyone hears something but me!

Bermuda

 

[bermuda]

Couldn't wait - ripped it and lined it up at 97.9bpm. Drum samples line up perfectly both where the claps come in, and same when the snare comes in later. There's a lilt going on at times, but chalk that up to the live playing by live musicians... and/or an artist/producer that thought it sounded fine.

Doesn't bother me, however I don't really care for the song or the track.

Bermuda

 

[DrumEatDrum]

Couldn't wait - ripped it and lined it up at 97.9bpm. Drum samples line up perfectly both where the claps come in, and same when the snare comes in later. There's a lilt going on at times, but chalk that up to live playing by real musicians... and/or an artist/producer that thought it sounded fine.

Doesn't bother me, however I don't really care for the song or the track.

Bermuda

97.9? haha..

hey, Larry, Check that out!

So, 98 BPM wasn't working for them?
(sorry, referencing a thread from a few days back).