This kind of drum sound...

[DanielBeach]

Hi All,

Google Drive link below to a few seconds of a drum sound I'm trying to get close to.

I am using libraries, so either Logic Drummer or NI 80s drums, rather than real, but I'm trying to see if I can get this kind of very tight, "processed" sound, rather than sounding at all natural or live.

Am I hearing gated reverb on the snare? Is there even some reverb on the kick? And I have no idea what kind of compression or other ideas might help with getting somewhere near this.

It's from the early 90s, and is a stem split from a YouTube video, so obviously nowhere near a WAV file quality wise.

Any tips for me to try and experiment with would be very welcome!

Thanks,

Daniel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LSdTC0 ... sp=sharing

[The Elf]

My ears may be fooling me, but I think your example suggests a large reverb through a gate, as opposed to a 'gated reverb' or 'non-linear' preset, since I feel there's some bleed from the snare still decaying when the kick re-opens the gate.

The way to create this is the use a send from the kick and snare to a large (try a hall with short pre-delay) reverb. Place a noise gate over the reverb and key the noise gate to a second send from the kick and snare. Dial the sends to give you the volume of the reverb and a clean, reliable trigger from the kick and snare to open the gate. Sounds like the gate has a bit of release dialled in in your example.

You can afford to get fairly aggressive with compression on the kick and snare (attack set to allow the punch through and release set to hold the level down during the sustain/release), both to tighten them, and to provide a consistent gate trigger. A transient designer is another option, as is a clipper/saturation. Some DAWs (and plug-ins) will let you create MIDI from audio, and this is often a good option if your gate allows MIDI triggering.

It's often worth adding a compressor to the drum mix sub-group as a whole to help everything gel together, attack set to enhance the punch and release set to taste.

Use EQ to enhance the characteristics you like and reduce the characteristics you don't. With this type of sound I'll typically put filters ahead of the reverb to tame the highs/lows reaching the reverb, and maybe filters after the reverb to clean up the output.

[James Perrett]

The first thing I'd try is to get hold of an AMS RMX non linear impulse. That will give you the classic 80s drum sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSxDddRvMR0

uses an RMX impulse on the snare and toms. It was recorded in the 1980s but remained unfinished until last year.

[The Elf]

The first thing I'd try is to get hold of an AMS RMX non linear impulse. That will give you the classic 80s drum sound.

Up to a point...

Although that would produce a great sound, I do feel that part of the appeal of the example above is the snare bleed over the kick. That only comes from doing things the old way with a reverb and a gate.