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

[fossiltooth]

I thought that giant gated reverbs had been back in style since at least 2003. (At least, that's when I started thinking they were cool.)

Gregg, now that you finally think they're rad too, maybe that means it's about time for them to start going on the wane again....





















(kidding, kidding. )

[Gregg Juke]

Justin, Wow. I...... Wow.

(With sad and dejected, but old and out-of-touch face, walks off screen like Billy Mummy in Lost in Space episode...)

GJ

[CraigS63]

I still like that first Power Station album, esp. "Some Like It Hot". Was there anything after that with louder, gate-i-er drums?

[Gregg Juke]

I dunno. Tony Thompson was the man, wasn't he? He out-Phil'ed Phil (probably because he had The Funk).

GJ

[Relyet]

Just had a happy accident involving gating.

Ended up having some issues with my 388 and had to send a mono mix to Logic. Copied the track a couple of times and we heavily gated and blended to taste.

Delicious. Sounds like a Brontosaurus marching through the city.

[floid]

Hmmm. Interesting.

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

GJ

Maureen Tucker, Brian Wilson

Lou Reed sez "cymbals eat guitar"

[mechanicalmastering]

I use gated reverbs ALL THE TIME! As far as I am concerned, the discovery of gated-reverb was conceived in the 80's, and it just so happens that, much like the excessive use of CGI in film, the practice got ran into the ground and eventually became a joke of itself. Don't underestimate the actual idea though, there are lots and lots of less obvious ways you can implement this very important and often-overlooked technique, just use your imagination! Reverb just gets in the way a lot, the clever use of gating reverb allows for a much bigger, cleaner, punchier, exciting and less-obtrusive sense of space and dimension IMHO. It also allows for less conflict with other, longer, "normal" verbs. I usually pre-delay the signal and sidechain the gate with the actual source, or perhaps even a completely different instrument altogether. NOT a dead practice at all. It's just another tool in the box.

[Burnt Ernie]

Used to use absurdly short ones for live FOH mixes. Fun playing with predelay,
and it lets you play with the envelope a bit. The Non linear programs on the old AMS units were cool,otherwise an old Microverb works almost as well.

[goose42]

After reading/watching up on Graceland (Classic Albums dvd rocks), and seeing how much doubling and layering went on to fatten things up, I want to learn how to be as subtle with it as Roy Halee. I've been listening to that record just about since I was born, and I never noticed that the "Boy in the Bubble" accordion was doubled until they soloed the two tracks on the DVD.

Tangentially related, the "We Are Young" single, with mostly just a layered vocal and a huge gated snare, gets on my nerves now. It's actually a good performance, a big contrast to the 48-tracks-thick arrangement of a lot of contemporary pop, and not a terrible song. But it sounds like it's trying real hard to "sound like 1985" and it's been beaten to death in the last few weeks.