How to get a drum sound like the Flaming Lips?

Damn. I hope someone has the answer for this one for you, as I've been trying to do that myself off an on for years. The closest I've come is by compressing the overheads severely with very short attack and release...but I really haven't gotten that close.
 
guitarguy101 said:
I'm trying to emulate their drum sound in their song "Race for the Prize (remix)". Specifically, I am trying to capture the sound of their cymbals in the same way. Does anyone know how I can accomplish this?

The Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize (Mokran Mix) - YouTube
Click to expand...

First off, it's a mono oh. Sounds like condenser with lots of presence and highs but still very smooth up there, with a generous amount of high passing going on. Mic choice and placement is paramount. Sounds like it was recorded placed higher above the kit than the typical OH placement. It just has a distance to it. And it's likely being sent to some sort of stereo reverb (since it's mono and needs some splatter) which is also aiding in that washy distant sound.

There may be a slight bit of compression going on but I don't hear it pumping so it's probably a lower ratio on a fairly transparent comp, if anything. These drums also sound like they were cut to tape - and knowing the flaming lips they probably were. They have the chunk and grit that you can't achieve with some fake "tape saturation" plug, but I'm sure you could come close with something software based. If you're going to add tape saturation, don't only add it to the OH because then you may get phasing issues between your close mics. Just put it on the whole drums bus as an insert.

Good luck, cheers!
 
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