For all the drummers and percussionists

[Montauk6]

I just heard a snippet of "Sweet Neocon" on Mike Webb's show. The words didn't resonate much because the clip was so brief but what stood out as is the case with all Stones songs since, maybe, "Honky Tonk Women" on, is Charlie Watts' snare which has a distinctive, hard-to-put-in-words-you'd-have-to-hear-it-to-know-what-I'm-talking-about ring to it.

My question is what comprises that Sound with drummers? Is it in how the stick is held, how hard the drum is struck, the location of the strike on the drum head? Like, if you take one snare drum and pass them along various drummers, you might get results such as the following.

Stewart Copeland: very staccato, sounds almost like a rim shot
Phil Collins: like a low cymbal crash or the hit as the hi-hat is opening
Stevie Wonder: very heavy, sounds like he's using mallets
Ringo Starr: has the feel of a burlap sack full of dropping on a wood floor

And they all sound fantastic, so besides that they have different techniques, what is it ABOUT the technique that makes it different?

If that makes any sense.

[hickman1937]

1. Driving home tonight I heard an old song that was

mostly drum, with a bass. Ten Years After at Woodstock. Most of the song is a drum, with a little bass. No big clash of cymbals at the end either. Who is that guy?

[ET Awful]

2. Not a drummer, but I can name two things that make a huge difference

The choice of stick itself . . . there are a number of different sizes and head types for sticks, everyone has different preferences in what they use.

Second, the drum heads have a huge impact on the sound, there are lots of different types of heads that give lots of different sounds.

Then, you combine those with, as you said, different styles of playing and you end up with unique sounds.

[ladjf]

3. The design and construction of the drum, the properties of the

sticks, where on the head the stick struck, the stick velocity, the humidity, the tension of the head, the material of the head, the acoustic qualities of the environment in which the drum is hit are the major factors in determining the sound of a drum hit.

In general, a thin, tightly tuned, metal snare drum , hit fairly close to the edge will produce a crisp, dry, sharp response.

[gmoney]

4. Don't forget the miking and mixing

The type of microphone used to record, placement, plus what the producers decide to do with the signal in the EQ and mixing board and such. Loads of variables... guess that's why the good producers make the big money. It ain't just as simple as sayin' "More cowbell."

I do know that other musicians bitch about just how long producers spend on getting just the right drum sound -- in most cases, it's really important to the success of a recording.

But then again, on one of Elvis Presley's recordings, I seem to recall that the drummer was slapping a cardboard box! And just think of the amazing sounds some of those street performers get out of a five-gallon plastic bucket and a couple of cheap drumsticks. Ya gotta have heart, too!