So my normal thing is to start a song with drums. of course im generally doing hard rock so im trying to make the drums pretty big. Big kick, big snare.
So I have MANY expansion packs for my EZ Drums but I tend to come back to the same 1 or 2 snares and kicks…those that are the biggest of course.
So the question is: would there be some value in experimenting with the other “weaker” kicks and snares?? Point being, maybe they have certain qualities that would come out IF they are simply cranked more in the mix??
is it just a matter of cranking a weaker kick or snare up and then it is just as legit as a “stronger” kick or snare??
and I guess a flipside to the question would be; if my drums are TOO big, will it sort of preclude me from making certain kinds of mixes???
for instance I like lots of blues rock and different shades of rock and not all of them have big boomy snares. Some almost have a snare just sounding like a slightly thicker hi hat lol
Any thoughts in general?
a few old mixes where the drums arent exactly huge. Would these just not be legit mixes today? id tend to make the drums bigger I guess but is that at the expense of just having a thicker, snarlier mix??
in general my mixes all tend to get to be pretty thick. ive yet to do anything natural or “open” sounding…maybe thats related to starting with big drums??
is there a snare here?? sounds like another hi hat lol. one of my fave ZZ songs though but I first heard it with the vamped up dgital release, not this old vinyl mix
not tiny, but not huge either even though its a “heavy” song
The volume level of a drum will trick your ear, absolutely. You want to compare snare-kick-toms sounds at the same levels as one another, otherwise you’re likely to assume that your louder sample will be better sounding. Also, make sure you focus on EQing your drums so that they cut through the mix better. Don’t rely on the default sounds of EZ Drummer to have exactly the right sound to work perfectly in your mix.
Another think you could try is blending 2 or more different drum samples. Get 2 different snares and adjust each level to taste. You may find something that is suitable for your songs.
Ha. I have the same issue. I almost always go for pretty much the same kick and snare. Every time I switch it up I just think “eh, I liked the other one better.” I have all the superior drummer kits, and 90% of the time I stick with the default avatar kit or the nashville kit. Not that the other kits don’t sound good, i’ve just never seen a time where those kits didn’t do just as well, and it’s always a lot of work to go through and find other sounds.
That said, I can’t think of a time where I’d ever purposefully get that 70’s drum sound that you hear in these mixes. I certainly wouldn’t be happy if my mixes sounded like any of those. I think we have higher (or just different? I think higher) standards today.
I love old 70’s classic rock but I tend to favour the big, modern sounding drums. Although AC/DC had some really nice dry sounding drums as far back as 1976.Now that I think about it, there were at least a few 70’s drum sounds that might sound really good, depending on the style of music. But for heavy overdriven guitar guitar music, I much prefer big, modern drums.
I think that’s very true. For example, everyone “loves” Bonham’s drum sound right? But does anyone want that kind of drum sound in their mixes of today? Hell no. If a Led Zep mix was posted anonymously and no one knew what it as, it would get roundly thrashed by modern internet experts.
Would a Led Zep album sound better to you with sims and drum samples and autotune and all the other modern fix-it-in-the-mix techniques? Would it even sound like Led Zeppelin anymore?
Led Zeppelin production is great for Led Zep, and a '70s band. Those drums in Custard Pie slam me in the face everytime, particularly the toms, I love it. A Ramones album sure would sound better with sims and drum samples, they’re pretty talent free.
I’ve never understood what people loved about Bonham’s drums. I guess I was introduced to rock after the black album came out, so by the time I even heard Zeppelin, it just sounded like old recordings to me, and still does.
I agree. Zeppelin sounds old to me too. I think the only reason to listen to Zeppelin is the drumming in spite of the drum sound. Amazing drumming if you’re into amazing drumming. Bonham is still the standard.
yeah, most 70s stuff doesnt hold up. Then again, I feel there was a certain “peak” of standards around 79-82ish when the industry had 10-15 years to improve on Sgt Peppers etc but BEFORE digital came in and people went nuts. Anything like late 70s Abba, Steely Dan, Floyd, ELO, Elton John, SuperTramp etc etc just generally had a high degree of sophistication IMO
As far as rock, yeah a lot of the lower budgeted bands had real sucky production. Lots of people more worried about cocaine than lasting production values. (I wont pick on Ted Nugents drum sound again)
A few still hold up ok though IMO, as far as drum sounds and overall sounds:
Ive always thought this one has a big fat production
these drums might be a tad dry but I dig the overall punchiness
I’m just teasing him about The Ramones. It’s a good album, it’s strong songwriting even if it isn’t your cup of tea. I prefer thrash Metallica, but the black album is good.
As soon as I get finished dusting off my Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry records. Right now, Justin Bieber is on the turntable. FYI, Kill 'Em All is my favorite.
