Why can't I hear the drums anymore in today's music??!

[wing]

I noticed when listening to new mainstream music here and there to see what's going on in the music world that it, well, totally sucks simply from a production standpoint (I won't even go into how much the music usually sucks). I mean, I can barely ever hear the drums!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?? Every now and then a faint kick drum, and while you can hear a snare, it's just like these push of air that barely gets through the mix. I can't ever hear any tone of the drum, and hearing cymbals is almost impossible. Seriously, it's really hurting my ears. I don't even hear definition in bass or guitar anymore. It's just like this fuzzy mess of crap with a faint snare that shows up occasionally.

So what is it with this production trend? And What IS it that I'm hearing exactly? Is it...

A) They are overcompressing the crap out of the mixes
B) People just aren't mixing things right anymore, and mixes are never really opened up properly
C) It's how they're being tracked/mic'ed
D) How they're being mastered
E) All of the above

that is not a quiz with a wrong answer... I'm just trying to hear reasons as to why the modern production values are hurting my brain and making it impossible to hear drums and definition in instrumenets the way they should be heard!

[jca83]

i think a lot of crap started happening when "product" became the new term for "art".

[scarygroover]

any record in specific you are referring to?

[wing]

any record in specific you are referring to?

no... seriously, when i turn on the radio, almost ALL the stuff i hear on these "new music alternative" clear channel stations sounds this way. it's mostly in that hard rock and punk genre style. or pretty much all of today's new rock.


i'm not crazy, or worse-- deaf, am i?

[Mr. Dipity]

any record in specific you are referring to?

no... seriously, when i turn on the radio, almost ALL the stuff i hear on these "new music alternative" clear channel stations sounds this way. it's mostly in that hard rock and punk genre style. or pretty much all of today's new rock.

Good for them. Now go wash your ears out with soap. And write out one hundred times:

"I will not listen to crappy radio stations, when there is all this good music around."

And yes, they do swallow the drums. It's so you can hear the vocals and the guitar hook. But, they've always done that - it's nothing new.

[kdarr]

I hear the same thing, Wing, but only when I listen to the radio. When I listen to current mainstream stuff on my own, usually the drums are there just fine. I think that it's the combination of overcompressed mixes with the added layer of pretty extreme compression applied by the broadcasters. Basically, everything is so squashed by the time it hits your radio, the only thing you can hear is the vocals, which probably have the least amount of bandwidth of all the sounds involved. Cymbals are a wash, kick drum is gone (unless the drums are solo for a breakdown), guitars are just hash, snare is tiny.

Just one more reason to put out mixes that have some actual dynamics. So when they get squashed to fuck on the radio, they'll still be relatively listenable.

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[wing]

Good for them. Now go wash your ears out with soap. And write out one hundred times:

"I will not listen to crappy radio stations, when there is all this good music around."

Sometimes I check it out to see what's going on in the music world, or I *gasp* have friends that actually listen to that crap. But they are still good people.

And besides... it's not like we can escape this music for good... it's around us everywhere we go!

[wing]

Oh wait... and guys, I'm not talking just the radio. I buy these CD's personally and sleep with them.

[Electricide]

when was the last time a drummer of a mainstream alternative (oxymoron?) band made a name for himself? Who's the drummer for Staind? or for Three Doors Down? Anybody know without looking at allmusic?

Drummers aren't part of the musical creative process anymore. Even Ringo had some input. Guys like Phil Collins (vocals), Neal Peart (lyrics and ideas) Bill Bruford/Stewart Copland (distinctive sound) aren't around these days. Not in pop music.
It's even worse now that many pop artists don't even write their own songs...you think they're gonna let the drummer have a moment in the sun? Just sit there and play the damn part well enough to beat detective it.

BTW Wing, I'm gonna start a thread about you in off topic. check it out.

[marqueemoon]

I think they can be heard, but most of the time they're totally forgettable.

[thearnicasync]

I've kind of wondered it times whether or not it's the digital thing as well. just narrowing and burying everything in a mess of doubled guitars and cymbals in the choruses. god it stinks.

[Slider]

It's probably the lack of transients from brick wall limiting.

[wing]

Does anyone hear it too though? I feel like I'm crazy to be the only one who has really voiced anything on this...

[Spiderhead69]

Kill Ugly Radio.

It's the "I wanna be louder than the previous song" syndrome so that I stand out more...Too few of the mainstream releases care about sonic integrity.

[thearnicasync]

Does anyone hear it too though? I feel like I'm crazy to be the only one who has really voiced anything on this...

Isn't everyone chiming in to agree with you? I don't get it, but then again I never really have. Unless, do you mean as the discussion relates to drums specifically?

You've really opened a can of worms here, Wing.