how do you get that Zed Leppelin sound?

kidkage

kidkage

Bored of Canada
And by "how do you get that Zed Leppelin sound?" I mean, "Will you guys recommend some solid overheads?"

I've been using Studio Projects B1's for 2 years now. Ready to move on up in the overhead world here in some months.
I'm looking to spend between 600-800 for the pair.

As it is now I'm using a 4 mic set-up. Kick, snare, OHs (bouncing between Recorderman and G.J.).
Never really thought about close mic'ing my toms (2 racks, and a floor).
 
jimmys69 said:
A really big room with great room mics. And one other thing, a drummer that plays Zeppelin well. :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was going to add that. John Bohnam's playing style is a HUGE part of the "sound". No doubt Page played a big part as producer of the band, but Bonzo's way of playing is really the main ingredient of the sound.
 
I beg your pardon my analysis.

kidkage said:
"how do you get that Zed Leppelin sound?"
Click to expand...
Do you mean just for the drums ? It's a question that can be easilly misunderstood. I think I have !
I love their music and for me, they are one band that really exemplify what it means to be "the sum of their parts". I think if any one element was taken away, you'd have a lesser band. In the 70s and into the 80s, they were viewed as the definitive heavy metal band. They certainly inspired many to go their heavy way. But actually, they were an incredibly versatile and diverse band. Between the four of them, they played a bewildering array of instruments and having been a staff producer at Immediate Records as well as one of the most in demand sessionists in British rock history, Jimmy Page knew his way around the studio. I think John Paul Jones is one of the truly criminally underrated figures in rock history and for all Bonham's hard hitting style, he could also be incredibly deft and funky. I've long thought he was also the perfect folk rock drummer.
Zep are one band I could talk about throughout a plane flight from London to Adelaide.
 
grimtraveller said:
Do you mean just for the drums ? It's a question that can be easilly misunderstood. I think I have
Click to expand...
Since we're in the drum forum, I think it can be assumed that the Kid is asking about the drum sound, especially since he asked about overheads and described his DRUM MIC SET-UP.
 
Bonham's kick drum was a 24" diameter. You can simulate that sound using a 22" if you follow my secret technique...

Record the 22" kick as usual with a decent kick mic. During playback, get an aux send from the kick drum channel and route it through a reverb. Return that reverb signal to a new mixer channel. Roll off (filter out) all mids and highs in the new channel using EQ. (So that the reverb only affects the low frequencies.) Blend to taste. Presto! That low frequency rumble (verb) makes the drum sound like a 24 incher.

The rest of the kit simply needs the right reverb to simulate a huge studio room.
 
There was a great article in Tape-Op a few issues back about recording drums - I seem to remember something about him recording in a stairwell once! But ya know they say 50% of all memories are false...
 
kidkage said:
...Ready to move on up in the overhead world here in some months.
I'm looking to spend between 600-800 for the pair...
Click to expand...

The best sounding over's I've heard were a matched pair of Oktava MK-012.

EDIT:
And if you buy them modded from someone like Micheal Joly, you'll also be approaching some of the sweetest sounding acoustic guitar mics on the planet, to boot.
 
Last edited:
RawDepth said:
It was originally recorded in Memphis in the 1920's, but that's another story.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is another story. We're talking about drum recording. If we want to talk about how many people Page and Plant ripped off, got sued by, and lost to, we'd be here forever.
 
:o the title was just a clever way for me to ask for overhead mic recommendations completely unrelated to Zeppelin.


But. 24" kick? Recording in a stairwell?
This all sounds interesting.
I titled the thread just as a joke (Zed leppelin, led zeppelin :p) but I'm seriously going to do some more research.
Never really have researched much on Zeppelin. Mainly just Page stuff :o
 
Another tip on room mic. Get about 10'-12' from the kit and aim it at the nearest wall, pointing away from the kit.
 
And then when you realize that your drum tracks suck because you're not Bonham on his own kit in his own entryway using decades old recording gear, you'll switch to something easy like guitar. :D
 
For Binzo fans. I actually tried using some of these in my songs a few years a go, but it was too much work to try looping and syncing, etc....but anyway, they're very cool to listen to.

The John Henry Bonham Files
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top