GROHL DRUMS (queens of the stone age) DELICIOUS! let's talk!

[seriousbusinessmusic]

how nasty are grohl's drums on that queens of the stone age record? the sound is so tight and unique...super dry and close miked but still live and natural sounding. anyone have some insight into how they were recorded? any tricks? anyone think the sounds suck? if so, are you crazy?

[Meriphew]

You're right - the drums do sound great. The Foo's are one of the very few punk/pop bands out there who are making good music IMO.

[brakeshop]

Not to slight any engineers who worked on his stuff, but dave grohl sounds pretty excellent no matter who records him. He has that bonham thing going on where you know it sounds great in the room and the engineer just tries to figure out how to capture it. (although he's not the drummer on all the foo stuff)

[george walker's closet]

the drums and cymbals were tracked seperately. alot of the album was done live in the studio, so dave used electronic drum pads to trigger cymbal sounds during the recording, and later overdubbed them.
i use this technique all the time, and it works awesome. but i would imagine some drummers not wanting to overdub stuff.
the bonus dvd that came with songs for the deaf has some great studio footage, its worth checking out.

[Snarky]

I agree. That is one of the coolest sounding CD's ever. The drums are tits!!

[radiantbrian]

i personally can't stand that drum sound, not for the lack of room sound and dynamics, but the lack of shell resonance itself. sounds like a piccolo snare with a nerf ball taped to it to me. not to mention the mastering on that thing (i know, off topic)..

[Leopold]

IMHO I like the playing a lot but the drums sound small and really compressed, especially compared to the drums on the latest Killing Joke record (Grohl also played on that). I also think the mixing/panning is really cool, some songs the drums start in stereo and then once the rest of the instruments come in all of the drums shift to the left all of a sudden. I like that kinda stuff more than the tone of the drums. Looked up the Queens DVD and it sure looks like there's real cymbals on that kit but it's not the first itme i've heard that drums/cymbals were recorded seperately, is this in an interview somewhere?


-leopold

[george walker's closet]

i know the dvd shows that there are cymbals on the drums, but i read an interview with dave grohl that explained that the cymbals were done seperately, i cant remember what magazine it was unfortunately. i also just remember them showing grohl learning his parts, not actually recording. but i havent seen it in a while, so i could be wrong.

[chetatkinsdiet]

I love dave's playing and love qotsa too, but that new record just sounds like it's all sampled sounds to me. I bet he was triggering off his acoustic kit as well...just a guess.
later,
m

[the dice]

not to mention the mastering on that thing (i know, off topic)..

hey.

i think they knew what they were doing there.

they just cutted all the high out. but i am pretty sure it was a choice they made! and it gives a really special feeling to the album.

[pantone247]

IMHO I like the playing a lot but the drums sound small and really compressed, especially compared to the drums on the latest Killing Joke record (Grohl also played on that).

fucking a!

the drums on that Killing Joke record make the Queens record sound like the Langely school project. Andy Gill made that whole K.J. sounds so fucked up and harsh. Top record.

[wing]

the drums on that Killing Joke record make the Queens record sound like the Langely school project.

But the Langely school project is way more bad ass!

[radiantbrian]

not to mention the mastering on that thing (i know, off topic)..

hey.

i think they knew what they were doing there.

they just cutted all the high out. but i am pretty sure it was a choice they made! and it gives a really special feeling to the album.

i can respect an aesthetic decision like this, but the hyper-limiting is pretty unforgivable and makes the drums sound extra bad to me. i dunno, i tried listening to 'once you giveth' last night and it was just kinda dissapointing since it's such a great song.

[blameshifter]

i was really shocked at first by the drum tone. its so dry, it sounds like something out of the 70s. but i think its awesome that they went for that. everyone else is all about the room mic, myself included. they took a step back in time and did something different. i love it.

[concubine]

IMHO I like the playing a lot but the drums sound small and really compressed, especially compared to the drums on the latest Killing Joke record (Grohl also played on that). I also think the mixing/panning is really cool, some songs the drums start in stereo and then once the rest of the instruments come in all of the drums shift to the left all of a sudden. I like that kinda stuff more than the tone of the drums. Looked up the Queens DVD and it sure looks like there's real cymbals on that kit but it's not the first itme i've heard that drums/cymbals were recorded seperately, is this in an interview somewhere?


-leopold

Whoa! I know this is totally off-topic, but that's incredibly cool and thoroughly bizarre that Grohl would play on a Killing Joke record, given that Killing Joke sued Nirvana way back when for stealing the riff from Killing Joke's "Eighties." I'm a longtime fan of Killing Joke, though I haven't really been into anything they've done in the last 13 years or so. It's a little hard for me to imagine Grohl playing for Killing Joke, but then maybe it isn't.

Jeff