Gated Reverb on Drums-- Maybe not so Dumb & Dated After

[Gregg Juke]

A while back there was a thread here about drum sounds in the 80's, something like "Gated Reverb: What were they thinking?"

While I admit that GV, and the reverse reverb thing, on the wrong drums, the wrong tune, and in the wrong hands can sound whack, I think I just had an epiphany/re-awakening as to why it became so big in the first place (pun intended). Listen to Genesis' "Abacab." It sounds to me like there is gated verb on the snare underneath some added ("regular") reverb. There is definitely more than a touch of "room" on the kick and snare, and of course, Phil Collins became well-known as the "gated reverb tom tom man."

But really, listen to the drums. Freagin' MONSTER drum sound, and to me (maybe it's just my ears; I came up in the 80's, and unnatural drum sounds aren't necessarily "weird" to me), they sound great today too. Makes me want to experiment...

GJ

[Jitters]

That's the cycle, right? Something exiting and new gets overused and abused until it's reviled and eventually ends up just another tool in the box. Gate 'em up!

[Snarl 12/8]

Back in the 80's, my next door neighbor's band cut an album and they used gated reverb on just the kick of one song. It sounded (sounds) killer, IMO. Big, explodey sound.

[vvv]

FWIW, I pretty much hate gate reverb drums in cans and sometimes on the home stereo, but damn! they can sound good in the truck.

But there are records I love, especially stuff with the paisely-underground vibe that today I just can't listen to, ex., some Dream Syndicate, Long Ryders, etc.

And those bands are faves of mine.

It's not so bad with other stuff, ex., Prince, but still ...

Upon reflection, I admit I'm convoluting gated with 80's digital verb.

But yep, properly done, it's a great tool, and that "in the Air 2nite" is definitely special.

[drumsound]

To correct one thing: The Phil Collins sound is NOT gated reverb. It is the studio talkback mic compressor on an SSL. It's a mic in the live room with hypercompression for the musicians to talk to the engineer between takes. On a Peter Gabriel session, when Eno was on a "NO CYMBALS phase when Phil Collins was on the session he played something and the totally exploded sound was deemed cool and thus routed to a take of the multitrack. The lack of cymbals was the key to the sound. The compressor would make cymbals totally unusable.

--carry on

[Gregg Juke]

Hmmm. Interesting.

Who was on the "no cymbals kick" first, I wonder, Fripp or Eno?

GJ

[rhythm ranch]

Don't forget Peter Gabriel in the no cymbals camp: e.g. Shock the Monkey

[brew]

To correct one thing: The Phil Collins sound is NOT gated reverb.

It's true Phil or Peter discovered the SSL listen mic drum sound. In The Air Tonight, etc.

But still, PC clearly has gated reverb on many of his drums as well. He recorded hundreds of songs, it's not all SSL listen mic!

I think Phil Collins' was the gated reverb taste maker. ABACAB is great. I love the drums on Easy Lover too (George Massenburg). Pretty much all his drums have great groove and space to me. I love laying back on the cymbals. Hot Snakes Suicide Invoice is another great one for this reason.

[drumsound]

]Hmmm. Interesting.

Who was on the "no cymbals kick" first, I wonder, Fripp or Eno?

GJ

I think they were all kind of conspiring at that time...

Don't forget Peter Gabriel in the no cymbals camp: e.g. Shock the Monkey

As stated above

To correct one thing: The Phil Collins sound is NOT gated reverb.

It's true Phil or Peter discovered the SSL listen mic drum sound. In The Air Tonight, etc.

But still, PC clearly has gated reverb on many of his drums as well. He recorded hundreds of songs, it's not all SSL listen mic!

I think Phil Collins' was the gated reverb taste maker. ABACAB is great. I love the drums on Easy Lover too (George Massenburg). Pretty much all his drums have great groove and space to me. I love laying back on the cymbals. Hot Snakes Suicide Invoice is another great one for this reason.

A big part of the sound is Phil's drums and how he plays them. He plays (played) concert toms, and they are a totally different bag for sure. And I'm sure gated 'verb was used on recordings on which he played. BUT, as state "that sound" as it was referred to in Tape Op, the PG sound, the In the Air Tonight sound, is not gated reverb.

[Brett Siler]

Didn't that compressed room mic have a gate on it too? I thought thats what he said in a TapeOp interview a few years ago....

Anyway, man I love fake verb in the right context. Old shoegazer stuff, some new wave and dark wave stuff, old school black metal and death metal. The fake grainy washy reverb is part of the sound for those genres that I have come to love. Yeah, on a indie rock band it's probably not gonna work but for some stuff it's great!

That said my favorite verbs are usually just my room (either live or chambered), or spring reverb.

[losthighway]

I like this kind of stuff in two different contexts.

1.) Overtly stylized, in your face. Presented as "Here is an effect".

2.) Artfully hidden. A sense of depth or roominess that may or may not be a real room.

I've been trying to avoid what's in between as much as possible lately.

[Snarl 12/8]

I'm pretty sure the tone I referred to was actually a gated reverb chamber return. Which might have been what made it sound so warm and punchy. Sometimes I gate my room mic if I want a ridiculously huge sound that still has a bit of definition.

[MichaelAlan]

Immediately went to Spotify for that Genesis song... Im not hearin the gate, but I did follow a rabbit trail to a classic, Another day in Paradise. (just phil of course) The gated verb is awesomely obvious... the gate just shuts off on the snare after every hit... I think the drums on Paul Simon's "Call me Al" are amazing and theyre gated to hell!

[Dominick Costanzo]

Hmmm. Interesting.

Who was on the "no cymbals kick" first, I wonder, Fripp or Eno?

GJ

Maureen Tucker, Brian Wilson

[vvv]

Ever see that VU DVD with Tucker's odd drum set?