Country kick sound...

[Dogbreath]

I'm doing drums for a country track (not my forte') and my kick is sounding like a metal kick (my forte' )

I have a Beta 52 inside, pulled back to just inside the reso and a diy subkick. I also replaced one of the beaters to the white padded ones to get a softer thump instead of the click.

My thoughts were to EQ some of the top end out of... and some of the mid into...the kick. Then bring down the level of the 52 and slightly raise the level of the sub to try to get more of softer oomph with definition.

That make sense?

Like I said, I don't know too much about country style drummin but would much like your input.

Thoughts?

Peace...........Kel

 

[Dogbreath]

Country drums aren't your forte' either?




Any thoughts? The main reasons I'm asking is...

I'm a dough-head.

And I don't know if my EQ and subkick idea is gonna mess with the mastering dude.




huh?

 

[Greg_L]

Lol. Just listen to some country and see what you think. The kick seems to be pretty pronounced in modern country music, although not aggressive like with rock or metal.

 

[PhilGood]

I have been working on some country tracks.

Use a felt beater, a standard pillow, tune the kick just above flappy and use a decent kick mic near the front head of the drum. (by that I mean the reso head) Try and position where you get the most attack and not a lot of low end. Sub kick should be unnecessary!

You want mostly the "thwap" of the beater. It should be represented as the attack for the bass guitar. You don't want a concert hall bass drum. EQ should be minimal, if not unnecessary at all.

(For what it's worth, I find that positioning the mic too close to the beater impact area is a bad thing and highly over-rated. Back it up a bit and let the drum breathe.)

 

[Dogbreath]

Lol. Just listen to some country and see what you think. The kick seems to be pretty pronounced in modern country music, although not aggressive like with rock or metal.

Well, I took your advice and listened to the only country CD around my place and that was my wife's Shania Twain. Didn't help much...

My bro's stuff is more like Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, John Denver type of stuff.

So.......(thanks Phil...).... next I'm gonna try ditching the sub and tighten the head a bit. Maybe both of em. We'll see. I'll snag a pillow too.
I've got the beta 52 pulled back to just inside the reso already and I've got the felt beater. So I'll just keep fartin around with it, scrape up some talent and see what I can see.

Much thanks, much peace............Kel

 

[mrface2112]

There's a LOT of different "country" kicks.....and it starts with the drum itself.

The kick on the shania stuff is likely to be sample replaced or sample augmented (as is a lot of "modern" country stuff).

Keith Urban's drummer (chris mchugh) uses a HUGE kick.....his drums are very Bonzo sounding. he's a monster player too. he was playing ludwigs last time i saw him. great combination of classic and modern sounding drums here.

However if you're talking cash, old kenny and such, you're looking in the wrong place if you're looking at a modern rock kick sound. there are several ways to get there, depending on the era. get something like an old ludwig or gretsch, put a full resonant head on it and tune it open (with a pillow inside to dampen the ring). use a coated batter head with a white marshmellow beater and mic it from a little ways in front (6-12in). this'll work for the 60's style cash, etc. think "ringo".

for the late 70's type of kick, you'll want a silver dot or a coated on the beater head, a pillow inside, tune it a little tighter so you get more of a note out of it, and pad it down with that pillow to kill all the resonance. think "eagles".

i find i can cover a LOT of "classic" country ground with my old ludwig kit. my pearl kit does ok for the more modern type stuff, but it can't cop the DW tones heard on a lot of modern country.

really, just approach it like you would anything else--get some reference songs for what he wants it to sound like, do a little research on the drums of that era and the drummers in particular and try to get that sound.....

....and remember that often getting the correct sound requires the correct instrument. you can't get a les paul sound out of a tele.


cheers,
wade