Where´s the key for a modern sound

[TamaSabian]

Where´s the key to a modern sound

Since I was a child I´ve been listening music from 60´s to 70´s, very classic sound. Right know after some years of playing music I´ve been changing and opening my mind to other kind of music, bands like Incubus, Foo Fighters, DMB, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Audioslave really blew me out.
As a drummer I´m involved in two projects one with a blues band and the other with alternative/pop/rock band (80´s-90´s sound). I´ve been doing some recording at home with both bands and I have realize that I can´t get this "modern rock" sound, I always sound classic. Don´t know if my drum kit is the problem, maybe the way I mix the tracks, the influence I have, or whatever. I have had the opportunity to compare the sound of both bands and I think that my drum sound fits with the blues band. The "modern rock" band is a whole different thing, is hard for me to get a fresh sound not a vintage one.

Do you know where I can find some answers to that??.


Thanks
TS

 

[chessrock]

Try playing in a lively room (wood floors, high ceilings, non-parallel surfaces) and use lots of compression and limiting.

How you tune your drums has a lot to do with it. You want lots of beater click on the bass drum, and the snare should be tuned so as to resonate more than you're probably used to. You don't want anything to just go "ping" and then die out. Thonk is the operative term, I believe. You want to tune everything so it has maximum "thonk."

"Thwap" is another good one. It's all about the thonk and the thwap, come to think of it. This as opposed to the traditional "snap" and "bippity-bap" that you might be used to, moreless, in the classic Rock genre. I'm jusk pulling this stuff out of my ass as I type, by the way, which is kind of fun. You could even combine the two to make sort of a Thwonk sound. That would be ideal.

Use heads with a more aggressive sound -- tune them to sound even more aggressive for maximum thonk and thwap factor. Oh, and beat the shit out of them, too, when you play. That's kind of key. If you do that, you can actually get away with skipping the other things I just mentioned.

 

[TamaSabian]

Thanks chess, you always have a prompt response.
I agree with you about how my kit should sound in order to achieve this not too classic sound.
Starting with the tools I have to mic the bd, I´m having a hard trying to pull a thinner kick sound out of a Pro25. I boost, and I mean seriously boost about 2-3khz freqs, then cut around 400, but it´s always a little thick. My snare is not a great one, I´m looking for a Ludwig Maple, hopefully I could buy it soon. This could bring me a whole different scenario.
Another thing I´m not so sure about is adding compression to the OH´s, when I do that I get close to this vintage sound, maybe the settings I use are causing that. BTW I´m tracking & mixing with SONAR 3, and using Waves 4 plugins and Sonitus fx, then "mastering" with Izotope Ozone 3.
Finally working with the blues band is easier to me, all the members know how to play, how they sound, things like that. With the other band is different, I have to setup guitarrist sound, and he really doesn´t sound and play very well, it´s kind of weird because three of us are in both bands

TS

 

[chessrock]

I´m having a hard trying to pull a thinner kick sound out of a Pro25. I boost, and I mean seriously boost about 2-3khz freqs, then cut around 400, but it´s always a little thick.

You should pull out a spectrum analyzer sometime and find out where the low end is on your kick. My guess is you probably have too much going on below 70 hz. You might try a low-cut and sweep accroos the low freq's untill you get to where it sounds tighter without losing the crucial feq's in the low end. Just basically get rid of the excess rumble and crap.

You are sticking heavy, thick, blankets inside your kick and using only a hard wooden or plastic beater, right?

Good.

My snare is not a great one, I´m looking for a Ludwig Maple, hopefully I could buy it soon. This could bring me a whole different scenario.

Snares seem to be all about heads and tuning. I don't know the first thing about it, because I'm not a drummer. But the guys who come in here and get great snare sounds are always the ones who spend hours meticulously tuning, and they can tell you all about the different heads and what they all sound like. Boring shit to most people , but one less thing you have to worry about.

Another thing I´m not so sure about is adding compression to the OH´s, when I do that I get close to this vintage sound, maybe the settings I use are causing that.

I think what you need to do is try limiting rather than compressing. Smooshing I believe is the operative term they use nowadays. Yes, you want to violently smoosh or "squash" your drum tracks. Pull out the Waves L1 or L2 and keep pulling the threshold down further and further until you get desired smooshing effect.

 

[TexRoadkill]

Classic drum sounds are easy because they are usually shitty. You just throw a mic in the room and go. For a modern drum sound you need a tight kit, good sounding room and usually a lot of close miked and gated drums.