consistently great drum sound

Who would you say has a great drum sound 'consistently'? Now granted, this is usually not something that the drummer has very much control over, other than his 'touch', but I feel that some drummers still manage to sound better than others. I am NOT referring to their playing either, but just the tone and general sound of their drums 'on record'.

At the top of my list, I would say that Simon Phillips' drums have ALWAYS sounded impeccable. In the past, I thought that Bill Bruford and Phil Collins always sounded great too. Other drummers with consistently great recorded drum sounds would have to include Dave Weckl, Manu Katch?, Jeff Porcaro, Neil Peart, Phil Gould, Gary Husband, Billy Cobham, Charlie Watts....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 19, 2005 03:49 PM: Message edited by: drumming sort of person ]</font>

Funny enough, the only one I think gets a great sound all the time, no exceptions is Weckl.

I don't think anyone else cares as much as he does to be honest. Seems like he just makes the time for it every gig, no matter the size.

EDIT: Just saw you said on record. Hmm... I'd still say Weckl but as he's not really a session guy I don't know if that's what you mean. I guess were that the case I'd agree that they have no control over it so I couldn't guess. I'd also say a drummer in a band might have more control over the drum sound than a session guy just filling in. (e.g. Carter might have more say how his drums sound than Vinnie did or would care to have on the She-Daisy album)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 19, 2005 04:17 PM: Message edited by: Derek DeFields ]</font>

Yeah for live sound, I agree with Derek. I'm always impressed with Dave's sound. Even at the clinics, he'll start late if the sound isn't right. I appreciated his tutorial on mixing drum sounds on his latest videos. Another thing that impresses me is when Dave or Simon will ask the audience, if it sounds okay. So, they're not only concerned about how it sounds to their ears but also how the audience reacts to it.

I agree that all of the drummers above have great sounds... especially Weckl, his drums AND cymbals ALWAYS sound amazing... and i suspect he takes a lot of mids out of his tones.

Carter Beauford and Travis Barker are two more recent drummers who always have killer drum sounds... on and off record.

I think the trick comes down to the drums themselves, them tuning, then touch.

I agree on the weckl thing because a couple of years ago weckl do a clinic with my drumset in Puerto Rico (wich I have the clinic in MD, who thouse are intrested)) we where alone in the stadium and he always ask me is this sounding ok for the drummers in the seats? he was amazing he also tech me a couple of things about tuning and technical stuff we where alone for about 3 hours it was amazing, but his sound was unveliable...

Hey In_the_pocket, post that clinic!!! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Peter Erskine always impresses me. Even on lesser quality drums he still sounds amazing. I also saw Keith Carlock a couple days ago and he sounded amazing considering is was a massive clinic and not much preparation was done for sound.

Gosh, this is a tough one ... it can get mixed up with what you think is or isn't a good sound real quick, and is also going to be a function of how many cuts you have that drummer on and over what period.

Over the years, I think I would probably plump for Simon Phillips for "consistently good".

Until tomorrow, when I think about it again, and come up with someone different.

Quote:

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Originally posted by hanayalator:
Peter Erskine always impresses me.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh yeah! I forgot to mention Erskine. His drums ALWAYS sound great - on records AND live.

Derek,

I'm wit ya 100%. Weckl is just totally impecable as far as his sound is concerned. Whenever I tune, that's the sound I strive for. He obviously totally into it too, hence the instructional video...

I always dug Jeff's sound too, especially the snare on his video..

MP