I'm looking for an 80's drum sound.

basheer400 · Joined: Sep 08, 2006 Posts: 3 Location: IL

Hi

I'm looking for an 80's drum sound.
the best I can describe this drum sound is: "drums that sound like thunder".

the same drum sound used in the following song:
http://geocities.com/u_shefi/the_cars-drive.mp3

I've tried a few drum machines but I got from those are standard "real" drum sound and all kind of freaky electronic sound.
I've tried playing with the Tom Tom or Snare sound, giving it a lot of reverb and playing with the attack and pitch but I just can't get it.

I have VST and can buy a certain VSTi if needed, I just need to find that sound, but basically all I need is a sample of one beat.

basheer400 · Joined: Sep 08, 2006 Posts: 3 Location: IL

the avove probably doesn't work by now, here is the video clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LErWi4CVWOo

bigtex · Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject:

My guess would be to use the kind of gear in use at the time, or at least try to emulate it. Probably 8-bit drum samples run thruogh an 8-bit or 12-bit digital reverb. Gated reverb, especially, was popular for drum sounds in the 80s.

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:49 pm Post subject:

I had a quick listen and my gut reaction was that it's a "ballad" snare.
You can find 2 of them (tunable) on an Alesis SR16 or a Soundfont of it. They have a longer decay than the one the Cars used, but I'd put it through an EQ and then a Gate if you want to get it closer anyway.
While you're there check out the last drum in the SR16. It's called Impact. If you triggered both at the same time and then EQ/Gated I reckon it would be almost spot on.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:50 am Post subject:

Drive was first released on the Heartbeat City LP from 1984 (?). It was produced by Robert John Mutt Lange. It soon became a major hit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A486489

The snare has been snuffed with some serious reverb and then gated. I reckon there might be some compression in here too and the untreated signal is possibly mixed with the wet signal as well. There seems to be a tad EQ on here too but I am not sure this is pre or post the reverb. Actually, I tend to think it was EQed some BOTH pre and post.. or rather off the tape that is.

As for budget devices with drumsamples, a lot of the sounds were clones of sounds made popular on recent hits.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:52 am Post subject:

It was not unusual to try the "1176 all buttons mode" on both snares and other drums. The "1176 all buttons mode" was also great for beefing up synthesized drums and sampled hits.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:57 am Post subject:

For some really "high end" authentic 80s sounds, try to google the PPG Waveterm samples collection. It should be downloadable from somewhere on the net, I am sure. There will be many drum hits in there as well as other stuff.
Trivia: I have recently found several tapes with my own tweaks on the PPG Waveterm samples. I might put together a collection of those sounds some day. Very Happy

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:16 am Post subject:

OK, here is a collection of some approx. 100 PPG Waveterm drum/perc sounds from the original Waveterm Sound Library.

Today these are laughable and embarassing, but with a little oldstyle processing you will suddenly recognize signature sounds from several well known hit records.

This was state of the art at the time. ( Approx 1984 )

Waveterm perc samples.zip

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Waveterm perc samples.zip

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1.81 MB

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opg · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:46 am Post subject:

hey thanks - there were some nice toms and rides I liked in that collection.

Alexander · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:47 am Post subject:

Great!

I like the sound of those samples, there's a lot of energy in some of them!

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:11 am Post subject:

I should try to make some sense of the old tapes. I have a lot of these perc samples and other PPG sounds processed with all kinds of old analog gear. Some day.. Cool

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:25 am Post subject:

Here are some more of those original Waveterm sounds.

More Waveterm perc sounds.zip

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More Waveterm perc sounds.zip

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Kassen · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:24 pm Post subject:

I have no idea if this is the case here, but at the time it was quite common to edit tape.. you know.. using scissors.. Some would even experiemnt with layering effects from two different r2r decks and then record this on a third.. and then process the new sound.
At best the ghosting could sound like a compressed and EQed version of the snare that has been piped through an old plate reverb. However, at the time the first fairly decent digital reverbs were on the market and some of the presets could indeed sound like the "ghostlayer" you are hearing here.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:37 pm Post subject:

As for the actual song, Drive by The Cars ( and the song is credited to Ric Ocasek ), I remember well that at the time I was shocked by how stale and disgustingly cheap the production sounded. I found it truly incredible that it was possible in 1984 to abuse synths and studio equipment to that extreme.
The song itself is awfully good, but that was indeed yet another good reason for a contract on that Mutt character. The band itself was quite promising and the material was mostly consistently good. The Cars was all about talent.

Another g talented band was Ultravox. Personally I like the pre-Midge Ure era. The "new" Ultravox at least managed to pull off one promising album ( Rage In Eden ).

I recommend reading this interview with Warren Cann. His story is interesting and quite telling, and there are some cute details about their production methods. The famous Brian Eno "sheep" story is in there too.

http://www.discog.info/ultravox-interview.html

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:29 pm Post subject:

Thanks heaps for the link to that interview Stein!
I've always loved old (and some new) Ultravox, and John Foxx's solo electronic stuff. I regard him as one of the grandfathers (uncles maybe) of electronic music. Great to get some more background on those times.
I actually really like the kind of production you get on that Cars track, and those Ultravox albums (eg Vienna) when it's listened to in context. Sure if there was no other production style out there, I'd go completely insane, but I'd say the same for just about any style. That one certainly had it's place, and epitomizes a sound I grew up with, and am very sentimental about.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:03 pm Post subject:

Actually, I learned to cope with the early 80s sound. In general, the big acts were worst ones. The leser acts and odd stuff that was supposedly planned to sound current and hip often turned out to be offbeat and innovative.
As for Ultravox, I did see them live when they toured with the Vienna/Rage In Eden material. A great concert.

Consider something like this one:

King - Love and Pride

Musically it is all over over the place. It is both a typical early 80s crooner fest and a wonderful mess. And then someone figured out adding a touch of beat street mania would sell the product better. Pretty cute. Very Happy

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject:

Well.. why not.. prepare your nostrils for yet another 80s sniff

more King..

King - Alone Without You

King - Hold My Hand Now

King - The Taste of Your Tears

King - Torture

Very Happy

And then we have stuff like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQNC-SLG3lo

Anyways, yes.. I was there.. I even bought my german motorbike jacket at the Marx Lenin shop in Kensington Market. Hmm.. that would be 1984 I think. Yup... I confess..

elektro80 · Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject:

That said, the stuff I listened to when I was in my early teens was mostly likethis and this .. and a lot of this Shocked

and then some of stuff like this

I guess I really needed to get that leather jacket at Marx Lenin

Antimon · Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:34 am Post subject:

I like a lot of 80s stuff that, when you listen to it today, sounds a bit like teenagers with new gear that they overuse, or just produced not like everyone else, seemingly a bit unprofessional. A little bit too much reverb, delay or flanger guitar. China Crisis and Cocteau Twins spring to mind, for some reason. Sometimes a "good" production just makes my brain switch off.

/Stefan

basheer400 · Joined: Sep 08, 2006 Posts: 3 Location: IL

elektro80 · Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:53 pm Post subject:

You will get there eventually.
I cannot promise you that any of the Waveterm samples are just what you need.. but they are what was once thought of as state of art early 80s stuff. Very Happy

The PPG Waveterm predates most of the off the shelf samplers and I guess it is a kind of European take on an affordable Fairlight. These samples are from the PPG Waveterm sound library.

http://www.synthmuseum.com/ppg/ppgwterm01.html

And yes.. I bought all my PPG gear factory new back then. Shocked

Sanity returned around 1996 I think. Laughing

elektro80 · Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:56 pm Post subject:

Anyways, these samples were extremely popular back then.

Keep in mind that you will need compressor/gate sidechaining. The sidechaining bit was incredibly popular.