Do you think drums in the '70s sounded warmer and thicker?

[Zietto]

eh?

[TomCTC]

Nah. They sounded pretty flat and had very little sustain, since no one was putting bottom skins on their toms back then.

[Dr.Picklebottom]

yes, idiot. all drums in that specific decade sounded warmer and thicker. its a fact. good topic, by the way.

[Dolf]

Well, they certainly weren't as punchy as modern recorded drums tend to sound.

[ItchyFingers]

If you haven't already seen it, check out "It Might Get Loud". There is a scene where Page takes the crew to the house they recorded "When the Levee Breaks". Apparently, Bonham played a drum set setup in this alcove beneath like three open floors of stairs and they miked it all the way up; its what gives that huge, warm, double-hit echo to the drum track. It got me thinking; I doubt people often record in cool places like that anymore.

[cantoXIII]

Well, they certainly weren't as punchy as modern recorded drums tend to sound.

 

 

they also weren't as triggered/cut/paste as modern drums.

[Dolf]

they also weren't as triggered/cut/paste as modern drums.

 

 

Exactly.

[Meriphew]

Considering that a lot of drums in the 70s were recorded to analog tape, in rooms that were dry and dead sounding, you'd expect them to sound warmer than todays drums.

[V]

Yeah, i usually try to make my drums sound as 70s as possible.

[CapnMarvel]

Considering how most of the drums you hear nowadays are either vintage studio kits or are samples from vintage kits, the drums you hear nowadays ARE the drums you heard in the 1970's.

Now, how they're recorded/mixed/mastered is something else entirely. I think the modern drum sound is 55 long tons of ass.

[RoboPimp]

everything was warmer and thicker in the 70s right down to the gigantic bushes on pussies

[Zietto]

Considering how most of the drums you hear nowadays are either vintage studio kits or are samples from vintage kits, the drums you hear nowadays ARE the drums you heard in the 1970's. Now, how they're recorded/mixed/mastered is something else entirely. I think the modern drum sound is 55 long tons of ass.

 

 

Today's drums are getting smaller, I wonder if in the 70s they sounded like that because they were bigger.

[iamthearm]

If you haven't already seen it, check out "It Might Get Loud". There is a scene where Page takes the crew to the house they recorded "When the Levee Breaks". Apparently, Bonham played a drum set setup in this alcove beneath like three open floors of stairs and they miked it all the way up; its what gives that huge, warm, double-hit echo to the drum track. It got me thinking; I doubt people often record in cool places like that anymore.

we tracked the instruments to my band's album live in a big house like that and used m160s up on the second floor of the stairwell for the ambient verb on the whole album.

[Gremson]

Warmer, Yes. Thicker, No.

[Small Stone]

badass Neve soundboards -> analog tape = teh warm tonez

[CapnMarvel]

Today's drums are getting smaller, I wonder if in the 70s they sounded like that because they were bigger.

 

 

No. It really was recording techniques like the big rooms, use of analog tape, tube compressors, lots of room miking, etc..

 

The 'dead', no-resonant head sound referenced above was the exception to that in the 70's - lots of early prog rock had that sound, the 'pitty pat' drum sound.

[big_cat]

dude we get it, modern music sucks and you wish it was the 70s.

[CapnMarvel]

Wide availability of fun drugs, loose women, no uncurable STDs, great vintage gear and fantastic bands playing for $8 every weekend?

Nah, I wouldn't want that at ALL.

[Improbus|Visio]

Nah. They sounded pretty flat and had very little sustain, since no one was putting bottom skins on their toms back then.

Billy wants a word with you.

[Kap'n]

They sounded more like actual drums.

[christianatl]

everything was warmer and thicker in the 70s right down to the gigantic bushes on pussies

 

 

Still the king.

[stratocaster202]

Considering how most of the drums you hear nowadays are either vintage studio kits or are samples from vintage kits, the drums you hear nowadays ARE the drums you heard in the 1970's. Now, how they're recorded/mixed/mastered is something else entirely. I think the modern drum sound is 55 long tons of ass.

 

 

This, mic placement on drums is insane (spent an hour at Berklee learning about this) in the 80s they began placing them closer to the actual drums, so the attack was captured more than the sound of the drums as a whole. Hence why older recordings have warmer drum sounds. Men At Work is a great example of the 80s sound, vs say the Rolling Stones.

[AnderMocs]

drum mic techniques have come leaps and bounds since the 70s.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Nah. They sounded pretty flat and had very little sustain, since no one was putting bottom skins on their toms back then.

 

 

And even the people who did tended to damp the heck out of the batter (top) heads with wallets, dish towels, sanitary pads, tape and so forth...

 

I personally prefer a bit more resonance, a bit more sustain than what was in vogue in the 70s. However, the general recording quality and tonal aesthetics of the era; the lack of overcompression on the mix / masters and the emphasis on the midrange (vs today's tendency for "boom and sizzle" with attenuated mids) and the use of analog tape did give instruments - including drums - a sound that some might call "warmer" or fuller.

[Phil O'Keefe]

BTW, I am kind of and at a few of the comments in this thread, but I don't want to on anyone...