Not another ' how do you get this sound ' post but..... :O)

[TascamJimi]

Hey folks, I'm sure folks will roll there eyes at another post like this, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. One of the things I've always liked about Danial Lanois' recordings is the atmosphere and ' air' around all the instruments. I especially like what he does on kicks at times where it sounds so low, but with no attack. Is he doing something magical to a regular kick drum or is it actually a synth ?? Even broke out my trust Boss-DR-770 to see if it had one of those big orchestra style bass drums but nada....I have VERY limited gear that's from the 90's so I doubt I have the tech. to do it... so I guess I'm just wanting to learn for now... I'll include a link of just one song I've heard him do this on. Maybe just cut it really low and drench it in reverb ?? Thank you for any info I can squirrel away for a later day !! Love this place !!


On a lap top the bass is non-existent so maybe a bad example... :O(

Jim

 

[Papanate]

Hey folks, I'm sure folks will roll there eyes at another post like this, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. One of the things I've always liked about Danial Lanois' recordings is the atmosphere and ' air' around all the instruments. I especially like what he does on kicks at times where it sounds so low, but with no attack. Is he doing something magical to a regular kick drum or is it actually a synth ?? Even broke out my trust Boss-DR-770 to see if it had one of those big orchestra style bass drums but nada....I have VERY limited gear that's from the 90's so I doubt I have the tech. to do it... so I guess I'm just wanting to learn for now... I'll include a link of just one song I've heard him do this on. Maybe just cut it really low and drench it in reverb ?? Thank you for any info I can squirrel away for a later day !! Love this place !!

On a lap top the bass is non-existent so maybe a bad example... :O(

First off the arrangement is such that you don’t have to put a lot of attack on the kick drum to get through - second their is a reasonable amount of bass on the track - and he’s got the instruments pretty much separated by frequencies - some of that is the arrangement and some of that is EQing - which is mostly subtractive instead of additive - except the vocals which seem to me to have boosted the EQ.

Listen to the other tracks on the album - they are mixed the same way - nothing is boosted - a lot of the tracks use subtractive eq them.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

You can almost hear the bass drum head flapping.
I'd say tune it as low as it will go, and use a soft beater.
Thats's my 2c.

 

[TascamJimi]

Thanks for the suggestions !!
@Slouching Raymond , I use a small , el-cheapo e kit I just picked up a couple of Months ago so... unfortunately I can't try that.... but I CAN try to de-tune a kick on the DR-770. Never thought of that.... Thanks for that !!

@Papanate , I'm just getting back into recording after a 25 year break and I'm not really familiar with the term ' subtractive eq'. Can you explain that one ? Does that mean turning pots ( I still have pots on my recorder ! ) in the negative direction ? That would be a first for me as I'm always cranking the pots up ( > Right ) !!
I apologize for not really knowing a lot of the terminology today, but I learn something with every question asked and time spent perusing the forums !
Jim

 

[TalismanRich]

You've got it. It's very common to start bumping up the highs and lows trying to get a sound you like.

Subtractive EQ is simply doing a cut instead of a boost. The idea is to keep the character of the track mostly intact, and remove offending frequencies that might be causing issues. For example, if you record acoustic guitar and get too much "boom" from the body, find the peaky low area and reduce it rather than trying to pump up the high frequencies.

It also lets you keep instruments from battling in the same area. Bass guitar and kick drum are a very common situation where you have instruments fighting each other.

 

[rob aylestone]

Is that even a kick? A big tom, played with a damper, quietly, and a compressor to give it a longer decay might work?

 

[Papanate]

@Papanate , I'm just getting back into recording after a 25 year break and I'm not really familiar with the term ' subtractive eq'. Can you explain that one ? Does that mean turning pots ( I still have pots on my recorder ! ) in the negative direction ? That would be a first for me as I'm always cranking the pots up ( > Right ) !!
I apologize for not really knowing a lot of the terminology today, but I learn something with every question asked and time spent perusing the forums !

What @TalismanRich said!

 

[Papanate]

Is that even a kick? A big tom, played with a damper, quietly, and a compressor to give it a longer decay might work?

The drums on Wrecking Ball were played by Larry Mullen Jr. interesting enough - he is credited with Drums and Hand Drums - It might be a hand drum due the subdued sound - but it could be a kick drum tuned low and slightly flabby.

 

[TascamJimi]

THANKS to everyone with such good advice !!! I ended up d-tuning the lowest bass I had in the DR-770, compressed the heck out of it, and drenched it in reverb to kill the attack. Not perfect...but nothing I do is so.... it worked just fine....
And another thanks for the 'subtractive eq' explanation... going to have to try that sometime...
Thanks again !!