Your favorite recorded Bass Drum



 
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Huw Owens said:
I take the general point that you're making, but just to be pedantic, there is a difference between electric and electronic: an electric guitar is an acoustic instrument, amplified electronically. The initial sound is produced the same way on an electric guitar as it is on an acoustic guitar - the strings are fretted & plucked, they vibrate & create a sound. The pickups & amplification are secondary to that initial sound. Whatever effects are added afterwards, the notes you play are created acoustically. You can even play an electric guitar completely acoustically, without & amp. It's quieter, but it's still a guitar.

In contrast, a drum pad is not producing the initial acoustic sound - it is simply a trigger for the electronics, which are the actual sound producing part of the system. Try to play a Simmons kit unplugged and all your "drums" sound exactly the same, like a table top.

Electric piano is broadly similar: you had stage pianos, like the Yamaha CP series, where hammers strike strings to make the sound, then the electrics deal with amplification; then there were electric pianos, like Rhodes or Wurlitzer, where the hammers struck metal bars instead of strings, but the sound production was still mechanical/acoustic, before electric amplification. (Modern digital pianos are electronic, just like a drum pad - the keys are simply triggers.



Of course not, it's an acoustic kit whether the mic's are there or not. That's my entire point: the difference between an acoustic sound that is amplified versus a sound which is entirely electronically generated.

(For the record, I'm not against you - I love some electronic drums : Bill Bruford took me on that particular journey. :) )

Anyway, back on topic...

Bonham had great sounds but I'd pick Good Times Bad Times or Since I've Been Loving You over Levee... as being less special effect & just great bass drum sound.

Moon's single headed sound is logic defying, and great.

For a change of style, Abba represent that dead studio sound better than almost anyone - the head engineer in the first studio I worked in would go on for hours about the bass drum on The Name Of The Game being the best drum sound anyone had ever recorded (personally I would add Stewart Copeland to that particular conversation ;) )

But I find it hard to get beyond the Blue Note, Rudy Van Gelder, etc jazz recordings of the 50's & on as being a pinnacle of recorded drum sounds, although in the present day Brian Blade represents that sound as well as anyone could.

:)
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I could have save you a lot of typing by just saying: of course I know the difference, but what I was getting at is the way you play the instrument not the way the sound is produced which is secondary. in the end drums electronic or acoustic are going to sound like drums and by the way, you can and I have done this, trigger a fully acoustic kit and the triggers would be used for more things than just triggering samples, for example you can eliminate microphones or create gates that open and close according to predetermined parameters, trigger lights and or video, etc. so that acoustic kit will still produce the same sound acoustically then whatever you decide to do with the triggers is secondary.
 
Iristone said:
The Simmons is 100% drum. The Linndrum is also pretty much drum, but the 808 is a bit percussion to me. By the "not drum" comment I was meaning the layered typewriter sound onto a synth bass note - it's more of an SFX than a percussion or drum.
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The original comment was referring to ekits vs acoustic kits of course if add drum machines and the like then no, those are not drums.
 
I think I've loved just about every kick drum I've ever heard on every recording I've ever heard.

I wish I was kidding, but I love them all. It's sort of like asking "What's the cutest puppy you've ever seen?" All of them. It'll always be all of them.
 
Even that triggered, clicking effect they use on modern metal?
Why oh why oh why did anyone decide that should be a thing? 😳
PorkPieGuy said:
I think I've loved just about every kick drum I've ever heard on every recording I've ever heard.

I wish I was kidding, but I love them all. It's sort of like asking "What's the cutest puppy you've ever seen?" All of them. It'll always be all of them.
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I realise this thread is about specific drum 'sound' - but, creatively, this to me is a bass drum used as the foundation, warmth and soul of a song.
Whatever the acoustic quality of the drum/ recording is - that's what I aspire to. ❤️
To my shame, I can't recall the drummer's name. 😳
 
Yamaha Rider said:
Even that triggered, clicking effect they use on modern metal?
Why oh why oh why did anyone decide that should be a thing? 😳
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If it fits the music, then I'm cool with it.
 
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors on their Pocket Full of Kryptonite . Aaron was using a Brady kit with a bass drum that just killed on all the tracks . His Brady piccolo sounds fantastic as well . I love that his bass drum is just not a dead thud - it has resonance and punch and is so full sounding .

 
RickP said:
Aaron Comess of the Spin Doctors on their Pocket Full of Kryptonite . Aaron was using a Brady kit with a bass drum that just killed on all the tracks . His Brady piccolo sounds fantastic as well . I love that his bass drum is just not a dead thud - it has resonance and punch and is so full sounding .

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They really nailed the drum sound on this album. Bass drum, snare, toms, all good. Loved it then, love it now.
 
Bonham, early Paice, and Mitch Mitchell come to mind. Nice double-headed no port tones muffled with felt strips. How bass drums were meant to sound IMO, although I can also appreciate the dry thump thing.
 
Huw Owens said:
Moon's single headed sound is logic defying, and great.
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It's not logic defying. A specifically tuned and dampened (or undampened) drum may not sound the best alone, but it may fit a certain mix very well.
One of my favourite drum tone is post-70's Keith Moon. According to Roger Taylor, Keith was a master at tuning drums. There's also the additional clarity from lack of dampening and bottom heads (though his double-headed toms still sound clear), and warmth from Premier mahogany shells and a recording technique that captures the room sound very well.
 
Rush-Moving Pictures record. There's something about that punchy woody sound that cuts on those tracks. I think Neil was playing Tama drums then.
 
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Living Dead Drummer said:
Inspired by doggyd69b's "favorite recorded snare" thread. What are some of your favorite bass drum sounds?
I've gotta say Neil's sound from the Moving Pictures album is up there for me. Now I was never a real huge Rush fan. I've always appreciated their status and talent, but it wasn't until I was much older that I started to enjoy their music. That being said, I've always thought Neil had a fantastic kick sound. Great attack to cut through the sound, but still warm and with a full bottom end.

What about you all?
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This popped up yesterday - and the bass drum blew me away.
Never heard it through headphones before - I heartily recommend it!

 
Dogman . The entire album has an excellent bass drum drum sound. Brendan O'Brien was the engineer & producer, using only Yammy NS-10 monitors (no sub). Pretty impressive!

bass drum.jpg
 
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