Wanted: 80's Style -Real- Snare (Low, Big)

Suntower · 3rd July 2009

Looking for snare lib with the 80's style sound in a KONTAKT SAMPLE LIBARY.

Lower pitched. Much fuller and 'snarey'. Examples: XTC's 'Dear God' is perfect. So is Tears For Fears 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'. Anything by Paul Young or Todd Rundgren from that period too. Sorry if those are a bit obscure nowadays, but it was pretty much -everywhere-. The sound was a bit like a parade drum from a fife/drum corp. Again: BIG sound and almost all snare.

From the 90's on, everything got higher, thinner and less snarey and now pretty much every lib I hear has that same 'tight' feel which I do NOT want.

Suggestions?

TIA,

---JC

Dr. Mordo · 3rd July 2009

It's all about tuning. Use 2-ply heads, tune the top head way down to almost floppy. Muffle it to the point of cardboard, then add gated reverb to taste.

I bet any 5 - 6.5 inch deep drum would work, you just might want to run the snares a bit looser on the shallower drum. The depth primarily affects the way the snares react to your strike. On a deeper drum, less force makes it to the snares, so you get less snare response. So to make a 5 inch drum sound like a 6.5, you run the snares looser to lessen the snare response a bit. It's not the exact same sound, but you can get close.

biggator6 · 3rd July 2009

Pretty sure the 80's saw the usual suspects on the snare stand.. lots of Supraphonic variations, steam-bent wood, regular old ply snares. Probably more of heads/tuning and how the snare was treated AFTER recording (effects, etc)

chrisso · 4th July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suntower

Again: BIG sound and almost all snare.

I think quite often that was a machine (especially Paul Young and Tears).
Fairlight, or some other drum machine or sample.

Suntower · 6th July 2009

Just updated topic. Wasn't clear enough that I am looking for a sample LIBRARY that I can trigger from e-drums. Everyone associates the 80's with drum machines and forget that it was also the age of huge -real- drum sounds.

Another example? The drums on Bowie's 'Let's Dance'. Or Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing'. THAT'S the snare I want.

Space Station · 6th July 2009

Have you tried the LinnDrum LM-2 snare?

chrisso · 7th July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suntower

Everyone associates the 80's with drum machines and forget that it was also the age of huge -real- drum sounds.

Err, I was there, playing drums in the studio.

Quote:

Another example? The drums on Bowie's 'Let's Dance'. Or Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing'. THAT'S the snare I want.

Both Omar Hakim on drums I think.
Check out Superior 2 - which works great for e-drums and features the studio engineering of Neil Dorfsman (who recorded Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing').
Toontrack®
Also, I'm sure Steven Slate has some very fat snare sounds.

Suntower · 7th July 2009

Omar was THE CAT.

Man, if I could play like -that-? Well, I probably wouldn't be here asking for that sound. :D

Anyhoo, I just took the tour of Superior 2 and was -very- pleasantly surprised. I had only heard it as DKFH in a bunch of 'metal' projects.

But the demos sound like just the ticket!

Very nice. Thanks again!

---JC

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisso

Err, I was there, playing drums in the studio.

Both Omar Hakim on drums I think.
Check out Superior 2 - which works great for e-drums and features the studio engineering of Neil Dorfsman (who recorded Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing').
Toontrack®
Also, I'm sure Steven Slate has some very fat snare sounds.

vonrichter · 7th July 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suntower

Looking for snare lib with the 80's style sound in a KONTAKT SAMPLE LIBARY.

Lower pitched. Much fuller and 'snarey'. Examples: XTC's 'Dear God' is perfect.

Mention "80's" and "snare" and all I can think of are huge gated reverbs!

The Dear God snare is a more timeless type of sound to me.

It probably has a bottom mic, and damping on the top, but with a bit of ring left. The snare tension is also pretty loose for a good sustain. Try to find snare libraries where you can adjust the bottom mic yourself. There is also a fairly "fat" (lowish) tuning on that song. You're right, it's hard to come by in sample libs.

There is an interview out there with the drummer, Prairie Prince, about Skylarking, but he only mentions the name of the exact snare used on most of the rest of the album, not the one on Dear God. Maybe it was the same snare, just tuned differently, and with looser snares.

The Tears For Fears snare you cited is a dry snare with a healthy dose of compression sustain letting the attack through, and plenty of reverb... the only thing I would call particularly 80's about it is the reverb send level. Another great song, BTW.

BTW, you might like the snare sounds on the Squeeze album Play.

Maybe Analogue Drums Snare City would have something workable... their site seems to be down at the moment so I could not check.

Steven Slate Drums might have a few suitable snares.

Space Station · 7th July 2009

I use a Noble & Cooley classic SS 8 x14 for that kind of sound from a real drum..I think the linnDrum snare sample is really good too..however i do remember bands using super deep marching snares in the early 80's...

Marty Long · 14th July 2009

check out the slate website and go to full mix demos, towards the end there is our Tommy Lee kit, with gated reverb included in the drumkit.. its a bit less 80s since its actually a real gated room.

But if you take any fat center hit snare and put some gated Yamaha verb on it, you're close..

Suntower · 15th July 2009

Thanks. None of the kits are -exactly- what I'm after OOTB, but I gotta say the LE seems like a heckuva deal and the 'Motley' kit does have a deeper tone.

I have one slightly snotty, slightly OT comment... You might wanna edit the Bonham demo... the one with the Light Up The Love That I Found beat. Some of the snare rolls have a bit o' that machine gun thing goin' on... and I don't mean like Jimi.

Sorry. But the rest of the demos sound GREAT and that just stuck out like a sore thumb. SORRY. I live for those sounds so I'm ultra picky.

(I may have to buy the thing now just to assuage some Catholic guilt.)

Cheers!

---JC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Long

check out the slate website and go to full mix demos, towards the end there is our Tommy Lee kit, with gated reverb included in the drumkit.. its a bit less 80s since its actually a real gated room.

But if you take any fat center hit snare and put some gated Yamaha verb on it, you're close..

Coldbricks · 20th July 2009

Mutt Lange was well known for putting snares through detuners and gates. Listen to the Pyromania album.

Suntower · 4th August 2009

FWIW: Ended up getting Superior 2 with the Nashville add-on lib. Exactly what I needed. Thanks to all.

3rd July 2009	#1
Suntower Gear nut Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Summer: Dublin, Winter: Seattle Posts: 83 Thread Starter	Wanted: 80's Style -Real- Snare LIBRARY (Low, Big) Looking for snare lib with the 80's style sound in a KONTAKT SAMPLE LIBARY. Lower pitched. Much fuller and 'snarey'. Examples: XTC's 'Dear God' is perfect. So is Tears For Fears 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love'. Anything by Paul Young or Todd Rundgren from that period too. Sorry if those are a bit obscure nowadays, but it was pretty much -everywhere-. The sound was a bit like a parade drum from a fife/drum corp. Again: BIG sound and almost all snare. From the 90's on, everything got higher, thinner and less snarey and now pretty much every lib I hear has that same 'tight' feel which I do NOT want. Suggestions? TIA, ---JC Last edited by Suntower; 6th July 2009 at 05:04 PM.. Reason: Poor Title Choice

14th July 2009	#11
Marty Long Gear maniac Joined: Sep 2008 Posts: 298	check out the slate website and go to full mix demos, towards the end there is our Tommy Lee kit, with gated reverb included in the drumkit.. its a bit less 80s since its actually a real gated room. But if you take any fat center hit snare and put some gated Yamaha verb on it, you're close.. __________________ Marty Long "who cares if it sounds good, its got a window that shows glowing tubes!!"

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3rd July 2009	#2
Dr. Mordo Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 766	It's all about tuning. Use 2-ply heads, tune the top head way down to almost floppy. Muffle it to the point of cardboard, then add gated reverb to taste. I bet any 5 - 6.5 inch deep drum would work, you just might want to run the snares a bit looser on the shallower drum. The depth primarily affects the way the snares react to your strike. On a deeper drum, less force makes it to the snares, so you get less snare response. So to make a 5 inch drum sound like a 6.5, you run the snares looser to lessen the snare response a bit. It's not the exact same sound, but you can get close.

3rd July 2009	#3
biggator6 Lives for gear Joined: May 2004 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 2,979	Pretty sure the 80's saw the usual suspects on the snare stand.. lots of Supraphonic variations, steam-bent wood, regular old ply snares. Probably more of heads/tuning and how the snare was treated AFTER recording (effects, etc)

6th July 2009	#5
Suntower Gear nut Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Summer: Dublin, Winter: Seattle Posts: 83 Thread Starter	Just updated topic. Wasn't clear enough that I am looking for a sample LIBRARY that I can trigger from e-drums. Everyone associates the 80's with drum machines and forget that it was also the age of huge -real- drum sounds. Another example? The drums on Bowie's 'Let's Dance'. Or Dire Straits 'Money For Nothing'. THAT'S the snare I want.

6th July 2009	#6
Space Station Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2004 Location: Chichester UK Posts: 3,022	Have you tried the LinnDrum LM-2 snare?

7th July 2009	#10
Space Station Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2004 Location: Chichester UK Posts: 3,022	I use a Noble & Cooley classic SS 8 x14 for that kind of sound from a real drum..I think the linnDrum snare sample is really good too..however i do remember bands using super deep marching snares in the early 80's...

20th July 2009	#13
Coldbricks Gear addict Joined: Dec 2007 Location: New York Posts: 362	Mutt Lange was well known for putting snares through detuners and gates. Listen to the Pyromania album.

4th August 2009	#14
Suntower Gear nut Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Summer: Dublin, Winter: Seattle Posts: 83 Thread Starter	FWIW: Ended up getting Superior 2 with the Nashville add-on lib. Exactly what I needed. Thanks to all.