The sound of snares in early rock

[Rain]

To get a feel for other kinds of songs I may be asked to play at some point, I've been listening to rock from the 60's and 70's. It sounds to me that the snare is tuned higher than rock that came around later.

I'm still learning terminology, so is calling it higher correct? I mean, what I'm hearing is more of "snare" sound.

In any case, I wonder if this was they style back then or am I just hearing things?

[3DCreation]

Interesting. I just listened to Chicago's I'm A Man and some Steppenwolf then listened to Joe Bonamassa, Trapt and 12 Stones. The snares in the early stuff are definately tuned higher and tighter.

That said, it probably depends on the band.

[slinglander]

I think it was because they actually used the snares as snare drums vs today's timbale sound... IMO: There was a lot of ghost note use, buzz rolls etc. and not as much interest in just the "crack" sound so many are interested in today. So much so that I've wondered why kits are sold with 14" snares today!

[=^-..-^=]

Yeah, they were probably playing with the standard 14" X 5.5" metal snare drums more often, so the pitch would sound higher and less 'drummy' than a deeper snare, a smaller snare, or even a wood snare. The big snare sound these days is probably as much a product of the studio as the drum itself.

[MartyM]

back in the day...and I was apart of this snare sound...most of us drummers ( not all but most) came out of formal training in school drumming where we learned to tune..and yes snares were a little tighter..I cannot say I knew of one drummer that miced his drums back then..even in live playing. today it is totally different...but I think in a good way, drummers to get a better shake now. IMHO

[Pearl MCX Man]

I agree the most used snares back then where steel and tuned tight. The snares vibrating gave them a good sound compared to today's technology where everything has to sound like they would in the studio with the mics etc. Overtones and buzzes where the norm back in the 60-70's now it is considered a problem IMO

[Drumbledore]

Another thing you have to realise that prior to people like Ringo and The Beatles recording with people like George Martin, in the earliest days of rock music (think of drummers like D.J. Fontana with Elvis Presly and Jerry Allison with Buddy Holly, or Billy Gussack and Ralph Jones who had played or recorded with Bill Haley) most drummers were lucky to have at least one mic to record the whole kit, as was usually the case when record producers worked with jazz bands. So prior to close miking the kit, drums were, in a way, allowed to sound like drums. However, with the advent of recording techniques that George Martin and others were experimenting with, the ringy sound that was common, due to the fact that really you were playing 'live in the studio', became a disadvantage most likely because engineers and the equipment they were using at the time could not control a lot of the unwanted overtones that were causing problems when it came to laying down a rhythmic bed. So it was most likely George Martin might have said to Ringo "here, let's see what happens if we deaden the sound of your snare drum by laying a tea towel right on the head, maybe even loosen the tension of the lugs a bit and experiment with that sound" (and yes, they did do that on some recordings!) or other suggestions along the lines of "what kind of tonal control can we get if we remove your bass drum front head and put a towel or a pillow to deaden the sound a bit?" and found that doing that not only reduced the overtones caused by a live bass drum resonant head (obviously solving the problem by eliminating one cause) but also perhaps finding that the large deadened bass drum head now had a bit of punch and 'presence' on a tape track, so before you knew it, when others wanted to capture that better sound, well, they would have to obviously do the same thing in practice (remember, these were the days of very primitive 4 track recordings, 8 track when it came in later was seen as revolutionary....we have indeed come a long way since then!) and once you have several producers and artists using the same techniques, before you know it, what would have been seen as pioneering and different then became common recording practice.

And if that didn't happen, then we would have only heard one kind of snare sound going through the history of recording rock drums, instead of the myriad amounts that characterise certain periods and genres within rock, like the 80's 'gated snare', the 'Don Henley 70's cardboard box sounding' snare sound (a loose, heavily gaff-taped snare sound that was prevalent on a ton of Eagles recordings in the 70's, as another example), the 'John Bonham snare sound', the tight crisp snare sounds of drummers like Stewart Copeland of The Police or Bill Bruford with Yes and King Crimson, who were really recalling the snare sounds of jazz drummers that came before them, or as a complete contrast, the sound of synthesized snares with the advent of early electronic drums like Synares, Simmons, and other companies that blazed the trail that Roland, Yamaha, Alesis, ddrum and a number of other companies that then followed suit. (Not to mention that we sort of returned to 'natural' sounding acoustic kit sounds roughly around the grunge period, when bands and producers were getting tired of what they saw as the 'overproduced' recording techniques of the 80's rock and pop period.) The same thing goes for all aspects of kit sounds and options.....snares, bass drums, toms, the many types of cymbals out there, and so on and so on. And anyone who has either recorded, produced or played during those various times I mentioned will tell you, after a while 'everything that's old is new again'.....you start to see some old sound trends getting sampled or reproduced and recycled the more you learn about music and how it's made.

[Pearl MCX Man]

Wow Drumbledore that is quite a review very educational. Thanks

[harleytech51]

I agree the most used snares back then where steel and tuned tight. The snares vibrating gave them a good sound compared to today's technology where everything has to sound like they would in the studio with the mics etc. Overtones and buzzes where the norm back in the 60-70's now it is considered a problem IMO

Yep i ac cofirm this, i too pplayed back in the day and most snares were indeed steel, sometimes brass but not so many in wood...Snares were tuned tight and it wasni ubcomon to see Rock Bands using deeper snares, i personally saw several top Rock acts in the days of Free, Blodwyn Pig, Lizzy, etc using deep snare drums....

[Pearl MCX Man]

Yep i ac cofirm this, i too pplayed back in the day and most snares were indeed steel, sometimes brass but not so many in wood...Snares were tuned tight and it wasni ubcomon to see Rock Bands using deeper snares, i personally saw several top Rock acts in the days of Free, Blodwyn Pig, Lizzy, etc using deep snare drums....

Thanks it is always nice to hear that there are others on this site from my era 60-70's in my opinion where the best years of my life and music. I am happy to have been part of that wonderful era of Rock.

[harleytech51]

Thanks it is always nice to hear that there are others on this site from my era 60-70's in my opinion where the best years of my life and music. I am happy to have been part of that wonderful era of Rock.

Yes mate, i would have to agree with that...For me that era of late 60's/70's was a fantastic time for music, i loved those years...Ive a son of 27 whose grown up listening to the likes of Deep Purple, Lizzy etc , weve been to a good few concerts together and he so wishes he'd been around in those days, to coin his words "real musicians that played real music"....his first words to me at the first concert we attended together were " jeez..these old dudes really know how to play" (Deep Purple with the late Jon Lord).. He also attended many of my bands gigs from an early age.....I too am happy to have been part of that era in Rock....the days before Stadiums had replaced the "Proper Venues" where you could see the band up close and personal...not spend the night craning your neck at one of many large screens......What went wrong?? LOL....Rock on mate....

[Pearl MCX Man]

Yes mate, i would have to agree with that...For me that era of late 60's/70's was a fantastic time for music, i loved those years...Ive a son of 27 whose grown up listening to the likes of Deep Purple, Lizzy etc , weve been to a good few concerts together and he so wishes he'd been around in those days, to coin his words "real musicians that played real music"....his first words to me at the first concert we attended together were " jeez..these old dudes really know how to play" (Deep Purple with the late Jon Lord).. He also attended many of my bands gigs from an early age.....I too am happy to have been part of that era in Rock....the days before Stadiums had replaced the "Proper Venues" where you could see the band up close and personal...not spend the night craning your neck at one of many large screens......What went wrong?? LOL....Rock on mate....

Thanks Harley it is nice to hear that you and your son enjoy the same music. I agree with you the last concert I went to in 1986 was Rush and like you said it was crammed up, you could not get near the stage to have a peak at Neil Peart. I saw guys there pretending with fake Press cards push their way to the stage just to get close. No respect and hated that new Generation of self absorbed kids of today. Back in our days we had long hair and the only ones that had a shaved heads and tattoos where the NeoNazi now the only way to tell them apart from this new Generation is the suspenders and combat boots LOL How things change.

[Rain]

Thank you gentlemen for your responses. I love reading about your experiences when music was real - and the great explanations about the snare sound.

I'm of the same generation. But can only appreciate the music as a devote listener, not as a player. I'm kinda jealous of you who had the opportunity to experience it on such a level.

But I am kinda happy with myself that I could pick out the snare and the difference in the sound. Now I'm looking forward to playing the songs myself.

[slinky]

the recording equipment has changed over the years, analog to digital etc, could have something to do with it. It'd be fun to hear some of the classics recorded on todays equipment.

One of my favorite songs where I thought the drums sounded really cool is Humble Pie's "30 Days in the Hole" the kick sounds great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ZyKN8OzzO8s

[rickdrummer]

My first time in a studio was in a glassed in room stacked with cardboard boxes and 1 overhead mic.