Drum sound on ADKOT

[DLR Bridge]

Not sure if this has been discussed exclusively or just here and there in some of the song review threads, but after my first real listen all the way through on a decent car system (I've been I-Poding it all this time) I have to say, that Shanks did one hell of a job with Al's sound! The snare has such a perfectly warm tone/ring to it. It actually sounds a bit like the snare on Hear About It Later from Oakland '81, especially during the solo on Stay Frosty. I remember back in the day, trying to figure out what Ed meant when he said the tone he was chasing was that of his brothers snare. Well dammit if somebody didn't capture that beautifully sweet sound on record! Ed and Al mesh like never before.

I'm curious to know what Roth Army drummers and non-drummers alike think of Al's sound on ADKOT. Al's playing is tremendous as usual, but I don't think he's ever sounded better.

[Terry]

Think the best overall drum sound was probably on the Fair Warning album, although the way the cymbals were mic'd on 1984...they really stand out on that record.

Far as ADKOT goes, I'd say the drums resonate with the classic Van Halen sound...the overall mix of ADKOT is a bit muddy at times, though. Sometimes to the point where the mix isn't really doing justice to what the band are actually playing.

[DLR Bridge]

...the overall mix of ADKOT is a bit muddy at times, though. Sometimes to the point where the mix isn't really doing justice to what the band are actually playing.

I hear that, too. Things are overly compressed and digital these days. Too bad things aren't as analog as they used to be.

[katina]

I hear that, too. Things are overly compressed and digital these days. Too bad things aren't as analog as they used to be.

I am not a musician, and I agree with you.

[guwapo_rocker]

I like the drum sound but I have issues with the production. There are times when Al

hits the bell on the cymbal that are just piercing and should have been toned down. I can't

remember the songs off hand but will post the next time I hear it.

[ELVIS]

Think the best overall drum sound was probably on the Fair Warning album, although the way the cymbals were mic'd on 1984...they really stand out on that record.

Far as ADKOT goes, I'd say the drums resonate with the classic Van Halen sound...the overall mix of ADKOT is a bit muddy at times, though. Sometimes to the point where the mix isn't really doing justice to what the band are actually playing.

Listen to it in mono...

[vandeleur]

its defo the production .... its geared for a particular medium ...what i mean is when i listen to the disc in the car blood and fire is great etc but the ride ( drummers help me out here .... which way did ya come in etc etc ) is way over the top in the chorus but its not on my ipphone or on my stereo .... and its not the car stereo its certain things seems to max at times and its the ride/cymbals in blood and fire that stick out for me .

[guwapo_rocker]

its the ride/cymbals in blood and fire that stick out for me .

That may be what I was thinking of.

[Etienne]

Far as ADKOT goes, I'd say the drums resonate with the classic Van Halen sound...the overall mix of ADKOT is a bit muddy at times, though. Sometimes to the point where the mix isn't really doing justice to what the band are actually playing.

Exactly. Every time a lot is going on in the mix, it gets muddy, and the drums and the whole mix lose transparency. I blame the mastering process for that.

I hear that, too. Things are overly compressed and digital these days. Too bad things aren't as analog as they used to be.

Here's a very interesting documentary from Bob Katz about this subject:

[kwame k]

Great example, Etienne!

The mastering process really kills a good CD nowadays. The big trend for decades was processing the fuck out of the mix to gain loudness and compressing the balls out of the mix to get it everything equal in the mix.....for radio, mp3's and CD's. The point that they miss is, music is about subtleties, the ebb and flow of instruments. Most music has those subtleties and not everything cranked to 10.

As far as ADKOT goes the drum sounds are great.....crisp, yet warm classic Al snare, toms have tonality to them and don't sound like he's hitting cardboard boxes, bass drum has a great bottom end but enough top end to make it punch, his Hi Hats sounds are in phase, and the cymbals are recorded properly so you can hear the bell/crown clear and precise.

Considering how things are mastered today it's a solid B effort.

I agree with what others have said.....best sounding drums since FW, as far as the six-pack goes.

The only other album that has a better drum tone was the Van Hagar one produced by Andy Johns, at least I remember it sounding great.....haven't heard it in years.

[Etienne]

Andy Johns?



Joe Satriani's The Extremist is co-produced and co-mixed by Andy Johns.

[kwame k]

Yep, love that guy's engineering and production!

I've seen that vid of him explaining drum sounds before, classic!

He's done Zep, the Stones and a million other great band's.....greatest albums!

[DLR Bridge]

I remember reading that that guy accidentally recorded over some of Hagar's vocal tracks on F.U.C.K. Hahaha! Maybe it was no accident! Yeah, that guy can mic a drum kit, no doubt.

[neuralfraud]

the only real comparison we'll see is whether the VINYL sounds different from the CD.. based on the supposed "We mastered just for vinyl because it is the shiznit" - which is horse shit, imho.

Has anyone gotten their vinyl yet??!!

[ELVIS]

"We mastered just for vinyl because it is the shiznit" - which is horse shit, imho.

That's not horse shit...

If you put the CD version od ADKOT on vinyl, the needle would jump off the record...

[neuralfraud]

Well we've already hammered this nail a dozen times...It's not because cd's suck because they're not ANALOG, it's because they deliberately mutilated it in mastering. If anyone wanted a fake ass reason to damn cd's to the same fate as past mediums, I guess they've found it. No; in comparison, anything on vinyl would have to sound better, they wouldn't be physically able to replicate the cd master. This whole line of "mastered for vinyl" is bullshit. If they'd mastered it properly to begin with they wouldn't need a "vinyl version" so to speak

[Terry]

Exactly. Every time a lot is going on in the mix, it gets muddy, and the drums and the whole mix lose transparency. I blame the mastering process for that.



Here's a very interesting documentary from Bob Katz about this subject:

Take Fair Warning, by way of contrast.

Each instrument had space in the mix, and the nuances of each instrument could be heard...even able to distinguish everything reasonably well when the tracks are being played loud.

With ADKOT, the louder I crank it, the more mushy it sounds at times...certainly in comparison to FW.

I'm not quite saying ADKOT sounds shitty...I mean, short of digging up older recording equipment no contemporary album is gonna sound like an old analog recording. Part of the problem could be that the relative ease of digital recording makes it more tempting to overdub and fiddle around because it's easy and cheap to do so. I mean, in some ways the sparseness of ADKOT's production when thinking of the general sound quality of records being made today is refreshing.

Probably just too many years passing between 1984 and ADKOT and too much technology that it's still a bit jarring for me, in terms of what I think of CVH records sounding like...or what they 'should' sound like.