Tuning Snare and toms

[Xombied]

Umm I know this is wierd but I really want to know how to tune my snares and toms so that it sounds like the 80s rock tone.. like the drum sounds for Winger, Great White, White Snake, Cheaptrick etc etc

[SpazApproved]

Get the thickest heads you can and you don't need to tighten them up.

What kind of kit do you have?
Do you have an old 80s' power size kit?

[late8]

Welcome to the forum Xombied! The "Big Hair" '80s sound you're seeking was created with a lot of studio effects that were added after the drum tracks were recorded, especially the snare. Here are some tuning and microphone tips written by Julien Tauban who founded a sample loop library company called "loops de la crème" in 2012. Tauben shares some tips on tuning the acoustic snare for the '80s sound, then he touches on a few digital mixing tricks to add to the snare track.

"Capture Fatter Snare Drums for a Typical 80s Vibe"

by Julien Tauban

"If you're in the studio and want to record an acoustic snare drum with an 80s approach, check these techniques out:

• tune the snare low, so that you get a snare that sounds a bit more like a tom, a bit softer.
  
  
• use light muffling to control the ring and make sure the snare doesn't 'sing'
  
  
• use proximity effect from dedicated microphones (shure SM57, sennheiser MD421 or beyerdynamic M88 were regularly used on snares back then)
  
  
• a lighter touch on the snare will bring better results. Also, avoid playing the rim (rim shots) to get a wider, less spiky attack.
  
  
• deeper snares, in wood or metal, with the snares not too tight, will be more suitable.
  
  
• place a microphone in your room (a LDC like a AKG 414, or a SDC like a neumann km183) to capture lots of ambience that will be useful when you're mixing.
  
  
• use a bright condenser mic for the bottom snares. I like to use AKG 451b, 414 or C3000b for this, but a lot of mics will work, as long as they have a pad to make sure they don't distort.
  
  
• for a change, point this mic to the side of the snare, you'll get a more balanced signal.

Post Production tips:

• Use gated digital reverb
  
  In your DAW, send a big amount of your snare drum to an auxiliary reverb. Most digital plugins will work well, and emulations of typical 80s digital reverbs (like the Lexicon 442) will bring even more authentic results. Choose a nice, long and rich preset, and turn down early reflections to get a smoother response. Then, add a gate after your reverb. Bring the gate attack all the way down, and lower the threshold. You can then fine-tune the hold and release parameter to shape the end of the snare sound.
  
  
• Process the sound heavily before it is sent to the reverb
  
  A great alternative to this gated reverb trick is to duplicate your snare track, and apply various amounts of compression, EQ, filters (...) to one of the tracks and use the reverb (+gate) at the end of this chain. The reverb is now used as insert, 100% wet, and you can blend in the raw, dry snare as you wish by simply controlling the volume of the first channel.
  
  
• Use parallel compression
  
  Again, this common drum-processing trick is usually achieved by duplicating your snare track. Use big amounts of compression or limiting on one of the tracks, and blend it lightly under the original signal to give it some weight or increase its sustain. It's fun to overdo the compression, or use high amounts of limiting, or even clipping and saturation. Engineers using SSL consoles pioneered this technique, and SSL offers a very cool free plugin emulation of the famous 'listen mic compressor', the LMC-1
  
  This trick will work with acoustic or electronic snare sounds, and you can even experiment with snares samples that already have reverb or room ambience, and use crazy amounts of EQ before the compressor.
  
  
  
• Add a gated white noise on top of the snare sound
  
  Again, this common drum-processing trick is usually achieved by duplicating your snare track. Use big amounts of compression or limiting on one of the tracks, and blend it lightly under the original signal to give it some weight or increase its sustain. It's fun to overdo the compression, or use high amounts of limiting, or even clipping and saturation. Engineers using SSL consoles pioneered this technique, and SSL offers a very cool free plugin emulation of the famous 'listen mic compressor', the LMC-1
  
  This trick will work with acoustic or electronic snare sounds, and you can even experiment with snares samples that already have reverb or room ambience, and use crazy amounts of EQ before the compressor.
  
  
  
  
• Layer various reverbs together
  
  You'll probably get better results using the gated verb technique with a clean digital reverb without early reflections. On top of this, I almost always send various amounts from the snare(s) and other drum elements to a much shorter, brighter and wider ambience (almost no tail).
  
  I'll often use an EQ before (and sometimes after) that reverb to precisely shape the sound. To do most fine adjustments on the reverb sound (length, width, amounts of sends, eq...), I'll turn that channel up (like +6 dB). When things are all set, I turn it back down.
  
  For 80s sounds, it's better to make sure this short ambience can be well heard, it's part of the vibe! (NB: For modern or drier productions, you can turn down the level of this reverb until you don't hear it anymore, and then move it up just a touch, so that it adds a subtle 3D effect without being obvious)
  
  
• Creative layering
  
  Some of the most memorable snare sounds of the 80s had actually not much in common with a normal snare drum. Whereas the 60s and 70s were most of the time all about capturing real sounds as faithfully as possible, the digital revolution of the 80s pushed the engineers, musicians and producers to use and abuse new tools, and compete against each other to create unheard, adventurous new sounds.
  
  Use short analog bleeps, electro claps, tom samples, cross-stick sounds, found sounds... The fun part starts when you use some of the techniques described above on these layers! For inspiration, read how engineer David Z created one of the most memorable snare sound of the 80s for Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy"
  

[SunDog]

Umm I know this is wierd but I really want to know how to tune my snares and toms so that it sounds like the 80s rock tone.. like the drum sounds for Winger, Great White, White Snake, Cheaptrick etc etc

How do get this sound? How do I get that sound? I want a "fat" snare sound (whatever the eff that is). How can I make my snare sound like the Billy Squier records (now why the hell would you do that!)? The answer is, you can't! It's that simple. If you don't understand why I'm saying this, then so much the more. Do not try to tune your drums to sound like a recording. You will never achieve your desired results. My guess is you can't hear past the processing to tell what the drum in these recordings actually sounds like anyway. Try making your snare sound good first. Trust me when I tell you, people who listen to you will appreciate this.

[crispycritters]

Pretty much the same as above.. If you want your toms to sound boxy try some Evans hydraulics or similar, maybe an Evans ST Dry for the snare tuned fairly low. This will probably have a result that approximates the sound you are after - but, just like Sundog said, it is unlikely you will ever successfully reproduce the exact sound as these recording use unfeasible amounts of studio wizardry that you will not achieve just by swapping heads.

One thing to consider is that muffling all resonance may sound good to you from the throne at home - but in a live situation this sound won't carry well over loud guitars etc and won't sound the same from an audience perspective (if you can be heard at all).

If you are currently just playing at home you could just buy a set of mylar damping rings (Evans e-rings?) to fit on the toms and snare that have a similar effect of killing all resonance - the good thing is they are dirt cheap and can be taken off in seconds

Edit:- Did I really recommend you buy Hydraulic batters for your toms - please don't! You'd get the same results playing the boxes your drums came in.

[Kevaruka]

Tune the snare bottom head tight, the batter head slack then put a tea towel on it.

[topdog63]

Take an old snare head, cut the rim off of it and just set it on top of your snare. Works like a e-ring but a little fatter sound

[late8]

If you want your toms to sound boxy try some Evans hydraulics or similar, maybe an Evans ST Dry for the snare tuned fairly low.

Good call. You can always start with an '80's kit with deep toms like this one and use Ebony Ambass for reso heads like Bobby Blotzer of Ratt did back in the '80s.

[longgun]

Good call. You can always start with an '80's kit with deep toms like this one and use Ebony Ambass for reso heads like Bobby Blotzer of Ratt did back in the '80s.

Man, I used to drool over those drums............I would look at the catalogs for hours...............still do, but now it's online!

[slinky]

^^^ same here Butch, I wanted one of those 4 spurred Ludwig bass drums so bad... kinda miss those days before all this online business.

Loved all the 80's snares but never liked the low tuning on my own snares. Bobby Chouinard r.i.p. from Billy Squire and many others was mentioned, man I thought his drums and cymbals sounded so cool on those Squire recordings. Great drummer imo

one of my favs here

[Xombied]

Thanks everyone. Sorry could reply. Exams :3 Yes I will be trying all the above suggestions

[longgun]

^^^ same here Butch, I wanted one of those 4 spurred Ludwig bass drums so bad... kinda miss those days before all this online business.

Loved all the 80's snares but never liked the low tuning on my own snares. Bobby Chouinard r.i.p. from Billy Squire and many others was mentioned, man I thought his drums and cymbals sounded so cool on those Squire recordings. Great drummer imo

one of my favs here

Here's a cool video of him

[inthpktplayer]

How do get this sound? How do I get that sound? I want a "fat" snare sound (whatever the eff that is). How can I make my snare sound like the Billy Squier records (now why the hell would you do that!)? The answer is, you can't! It's that simple. If you don't understand why I'm saying this, then so much the more. Do not try to tune your drums to sound like a recording. You will never achieve your desired results. My guess is you can't hear past the processing to tell what the drum in these recordings actually sounds like anyway. Try making your snare sound good first. Trust me when I tell you, people who listen to you will appreciate this.

/\ This

[slinky]

Here's a cool video of him

pretty cool video, never seen it before. Thanks for posting it Butch