Vintage drum sound

[mtjames]

I've been wondering about this for a while. How would you go about getting a kind of "oldies" sounding drum tone? The closest thing I could compare it to would be like The Zombies drums. It sounds almost kind of muted and subdued but not really muffled or anything... maybe some reverb... hard to describe. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, let me know.

 

[tmix]

When I think "oldies" I think Big Band type stuff, which was never close miced, but I think if it is vintage pop stuff like in the late sixties early seventies people were often using only the top head and then on top of that using a thicker upper head like an Evans hydraulic head to keep down the ring, although a few moongels on the heads would probably do the same.

I THINK that is the sound you are describing.

Tom

 

[Bigsnake00]

TMIX,
do you know of any stores in the DFW area that sell vintage recording equipment, like reel to reels....thanks

 

[tmix]

Not off hand, sorry!
From time to time I see studios offloading old analogue tape decks, but I don't know of a store (besides maybe a rental place) that might sell.

tom

 

[Tim Brown]

You don't neede vintage gear to get that kind of sound, but you have to think about the kind of stuff that they had.


For 50's and early 60's sounds:
i.e., For the toms use thin coated heads top and bottom, and tune them up high.

They typically used one, and sometimes 2 mic's to mic the drumkit (a room mic, and maybe a kick mic - but the kick would have been mic'ed out in front of the kick perhaps with a bunch of blamkets touching the solid front head.

For late 60's and early 70's - the Evans Oilhead is a definite need.
Why? Because they would cover the top heads with duct tape.
Listen to those tracks - they have no attack on the toms. A regular modern head will give you a lot of attack - so you either have to use an evans Oilhead - which has less attack, or cover the heads with duct tape, or a towel.

Again - a lot of these recordings were made with a room mic - NOT an overhead. They kept some distance between the mic's and the drums back then.

 

[dr.colossus]

i've got a photo of the "animals" in the studio, and it looks like just one ribbon mic 20-24" directly above the snare (about level with the drummers chin)... there may be another mic at the bass drum, but its a little hard to tell because somebodys arse is in the way....

edit: i don't think they had any typical "rules" in the old days as we do now. i am certain tracks were limitedto probably only one, with no real stereo consideration other than perhaps for effect not spatial realism, ie: snare completely left rest of the kit right etc. perhaps tune everything up a little higher than you would like.

and wear a suit, your ac/dc t-shirt will NOT work for that vintage sound