The Ramones

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solaris0031

New member
Attempting to get a sound similar to The Ramones.
(Failed once so far, going to try again)

Here's what i've thought of so far:
It seems like they must be cutting a lot of the high frequencies on everything? if so, would this be a product of the recording equipment used, or purposeful?

It seems like they gated their drums quite a bit. Am I right? if so, what technique would/was involved with this? as an example, listen to the crash cymbal on Blitzkrieg bop. It just stops.
Thats gating right? how do you gate it so that it doesnt just cut off, it fades real fast like ti does on their stuff....i've been messing around with my gate, and it seems to just chop the sounds...looking to get a softer cut

The snare sounds like its mostly snare sound and not much attack at all. Could this be done by mic'ing the bottom of the snare?

The floor tom doesnt have any ring to it (i.e. in Blitzkrieg Bop). is this some sort of gating? method of tuning the drums? damping (inside or on heads)?

The guitar doesnt sound like it has ANY lows to it. Its super loud in the mix, yet it doesnt drown the other stuff out...? how?

The vocals sorta sound like they are double tracked. Correct?

The bass (especially when you hear it solo) has a feel that i can only put to words as "rubber band-ish". whats that all about? turning down the tone on the bass itself? playing technique? eq?


so what do you think?
 
Word is that the drums were tracked in a huge auditorium with two pianos next to it with bricks on the sustain pedals and mics as far as 100' feet away. This is straight from the producer's mouth.
 
Damn, that is coooooool if it's true!! In fact, it's pretty cool even if it's not. Now I have to go buy an auditorium, 2 pianos, and a bunch of bricks.
 
There's a whole paragraph about it in the book "Behind the Glass" which are a series of interviews with about 30 famous record producers. Amazing book and a must-read for any aspiring AE.
 
solaris0031 said:
It seems like they gated their drums quite a bit. Am I right? if so, what technique would/was involved with this? as an example, listen to the crash cymbal on Blitzkrieg bop. It just stops.
Thats gating right? how do you gate it so that it doesnt just cut off, it fades real fast like ti does on their stuff....i've been messing around with my gate, and it seems to just chop the sounds...looking to get a softer cut
?
Click to expand...

Not sure about the rest of it, but you can easily choke the cymbal crashes by putting a volume envelope on the appropriate drum track(s)
 
solaris0031 said:
The guitar doesnt sound like it has ANY lows to it. Its super loud in the mix, yet it doesnt drown the other stuff out...? how?

The bass (especially when you hear it solo) has a feel that i can only put to words as "rubber band-ish". whats that all about? turning down the tone on the bass itself? playing technique? eq?
Click to expand...

In the Ramones Anthology, one of them says Johnny dimed the controls on his Marshalls. I haven't looked close enough to see if they were 4 input non-masters or 2 input master volumes. And of course, the Mosrite with P90's probably helps trim the low end as well.

Bass looks like a P-bass into SVT stacks in the photos. The sound is probably an SVT which is keeping up with cranked Marshall stacks.
 
Dimmed = hi end of the EQ was taken down

I suggest you get a good set of cans on and listen to the mix again. The bass is panned way over one side and the guitar the other, this leaves a huge space in the middle for the drums and vocal
 
Mr. Solaris,...

catch a bunch of my Ramones covers here:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/davemania/singles

Ramones songs,... maybe not the Ramones "sound" in the context of your question, but fun, nonetheless. All done with drums, bass, ACOUSTIC guitar, vocals and hand percussion,... in a basic, roots-y style, traditional arrangements and mixed to MONO.

Thanx, & have fun!!

/DA
 
A word about Ramones music,...

my opinion,... is that they did not do fancy (guitar) leads or drum fills,... just the most basic and hard hitting stuff. Unembellished, but powerful and solid. It's live, fun, energetic and somewhat raw music, but the (original 4) albums themselves were alway engineered beautifully, in (what sounds like) a minimalist fashion.

I've never read a technical text on the recording of the Ramones. I've read a few bio's, & have listened to their albums and recordings, almost nonstop, since I was a teenager. I'm a huge & eternal fan of the Ramones.

I have read that they got studio guys to do some of the more lyrical little solos, that you'll find on some Ramones records. (Heh. I said "records").

What I've said, what I've played, the Ramones, and Ramones music is open to interpretation & YMMV. :eek: :confused: ;)
 
solaris0031 said:
pardon my ignorance. what does "dimed" mean? like turned them all up to 10?
Click to expand...

Sorry for two posts in a row... in the old days "dimed" with a long "i" as in "dime-dh" meant putting everything on "10"... unless you could turn it to "11" which of course would be "1 louder".

Peace.
 
Like someone else said, the guitar and bass were panned completely to seperate sides of the mix, so there is just bass in one speaker and just guitar in the other. Which might be what lets the guitar sound so loud without cutting across anything else much.
 
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