Lo-Fi Drum Sound HOW????

[mattasbob]

Hey all, I've been having a poor time trying to get some of that sweet lo-fi drum sound. I have read many posts, on distorting and eqing and compession ideas but mine never have a smooth quality, I can make really wicked erxtreme sounding things but what I am really after is that smooth intro lo-fi sound that so many poeple use, for example a couple tracks on John Mayer's "room for squares" (by John Alagia who is a monster IMHO) had short intros with a very thin distant kit sound, that's what I am trrying to get closer to. Any thoughts???

Thanks in advance!

[AjD]

Take the room mic(s) (or front of kit), squash with a compressor/plug-in, eq to kill the hi's and some of the lows. You got it. More squashing/more emphasized mids = more lo-fi (as it's commonly perceived these days, at least).

If you haven't recorded the drums yet, you could also try doing the same as above (minus most of the eq'ing) using a really cheap microphone over the drums. Any cheap mic could work well here - if the microphone's made of plastic, that's a good sign . Or try an old built-in boom box mic (Buddy Miller style, but even more el-cheapo!).

Final method - reamp the drum submix thu a little guitar amp - 6" speakers are great for this. Mic at the edge of the cone for even more mid-rangey goodness. Throw a decent stereo pair well out into the room for some ambience, and distance as well - a big reflective room works well for this.

Haven't heard the John Mayer stuff, so these are just some general tips - one of them is bound to work fairly well, depending what you're after. Maybe someone familiar with the exact Mayer chain can chime in too.

Adam
drawingroom

[mattasbob]

That definitely sounds more like what I am looking for, thanks Adam

[7rojo7]

Convert it to 8 bit and reimport it to your session. use the filters on your sampler, not an eq. try using a fill from a different tempo and speed it up slow it down, repitch it, warp it.

[JonCraig]

try bussing sources to an aux w/ a bit destroyer, a la D-FI, Lo-Fi, Cosmonaut voice, etc., and/or the Alesis Bittrman. Lots of drastic compression & EQ.

On a purely aesthetic note, it helps to create contrast within the mix by combining different sorts of sounds. Destroy the acoustic guitar, but make the drums sound pristine, or vice versa. Track the vocal clean, then buss it out to a guitar amp. automate the relative levels, and you can do cool things like ride the amp level up going into a chorus to create more energy.

that all said, a lot of people don't "get" the whole lo-fi thing. make sure you're doing it tastefully, and ask yourself, "why do i want to destroy this? what role does creative distortion (or insert your favorite word here) play in this production?"

John Vanderslice is a great example of how creative use of extreme distortion/compression/eq, etc., when combined with other, great sounding elements, can make for a more interesting overall production. His next-to-most-recent album, "Cellar Door" should be a listening requirement before anyone starts to play around w/ lo-fi.

--jon

[AjD]

Speaking of aesthetics, am I the only one who's more than a little tired of the "lo-fi-drums- for-a-couple-bars" production technique?

When people listen to our recordings in 20-30 years, methinks this will be one of the the *key* sonic signatures that will make our recordings sound "dated." (Think gated snare on '80s stuff - it will be like hearing that.) I realize this sort of "lo-fi pause" was once the oeuvre of the creative indie set (and was used to cool effect on all sorts of late '80s and '90s stuff), but now - with people like Britney, et al. using this like crazy - it sure sounds 'over' to me.

Also, apologies to the original poster if this seems vaguely like a thread-crap. I hate it when the only thought is a negative one, so here's a more proactive comment: why not try something different, but still using, the lo-fi thing (Vanderslice is a great reference, btw)?

Shit - I'd love to hear a song that uses lo-fi drums almost entirely, but then breaks down for a bar or two in the middle with some huge-sounding hi-fidelity drum track. And then... back to lo-fi. Hearing that, I think I'd fall over laughing with glee (a good thing in this case).

Adam
drawingroom

[Fredrik]

Originally Posted by boogie woogie

The thing is just to collect sounds until you have a good library. I only have a few meg of sound all together but thats enough for me.

Man I agree totaly with this! It can be a burden to have 180 GB of drumsounds, I´d´rather have a few very personalised that has been proven to be effective in the mix. Later to expand the possibilities it´s easy to get the desired results by using tunig and ADSR´s.

I´m trying to get hold of a s950 myself BTW I had a 900 but sold it about a year ago.

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by AjD

Speaking of aesthetics, am I the only one who's more than a little tired of the "lo-fi-drums- for-a-couple-bars" production technique?

i agree 100%. i would like to draw a line of seperation between that sort of "let's bandlimit the bridge with the waves AM radio preset", and the sort of alternate production style (such as john vanderslice that i referenced in my eariler post).

i absolutely agree that the cheesy 4 bars of crap sound thing will embarass us in 10 years (if not sooner).

--jon

[AjD]

Listen to portis head or dj shadow to see a true collage of genius.

Too true... those artists come by the "lo-fi drum loop" aesthetic honestly. It's their playground. (Dj Shadow's 'Endtroducing' is a modern classic of the genre, as far as I'm concerned.)

I'm more referring to the modern rock and top 40 acts that "incorporate" a couple seconds of break-beats and/or lo-fi for 'flavor' (read: instant street cred). Grates my teeth every time. Example: When Springsteen (yes, Springsteen! He's a treasure & a genius, but even with him!) dropped into a beatbox for a couple seconds on the title track of his most recent Devils & Dust disc. Totally unnecessary. That guy shouldn't even be using a click-track. I cringed.

Adam

[u b k]

kudos to boogie and jon and AjD for great posts. also, as was already mentioned, varispeed is your friend. pitch shifting things down the classic way, even just a little, has a huge effect on the mood of a recording. the brain knows when something isn't quite right, and the sound of air moving slower than it naturally should certainly qualifies.

old plate and spring reverbs are excellent for that murky distant darkness. reamping on shit speakers in a small bathroom or closet or a car is great for that muffled claustrophobia.

so if it isn't already apparent, and if you're not already thinking, try to shift your mindset away from tone, eq, effects, and whatnot, and flip to the other side of your brain which hears mood and atmosphere. listen to the effect of the knobs and boxes from that place, listen to your muse with that set of ears, take your inspiration from that consciousness. it's a subtle shift, but it yields big rewards.


gregoire
del ubik

[mattasbob]

Wow, I wasn't expecting so many posts, thanks everyone lots of good ideas here!!! As with an earlier post I do agree that the lo-fi intro in a pop/rock tune has been overdone but if my client wants it they get it, so I want to be sure I can make it as solid as possible for them.

[djui5]

Originally Posted by AjD

Speaking of aesthetics, am I the only one who's more than a little tired of the "lo-fi-drums- for-a-couple-bars" production technique?

What about the telephone/megaphone vocals?

It's on every f'n song.

There is a time and place people. Sierously.

[AjD]

What about the telephone/megaphone vocals? It's on every f'n song

Exactly. This is the stuff that will sound dated once the current "music era" passes into history. Not that that's not a reason to do it, but go into it with your eyes (& ears) wide open.

(Now I'll officially thread hi-jack: we got telephone style vocals. and the momentary lo-fi drum break. What other common techniques today will sound "dated" in 10 years? sure, we're guessing - but it's fun!)

Adam

[Fredrik]

The telephone shit is already dated


dfegad telephonefx


Its always like this, someone does something new and interesting and later a bunch of people who dont have any ideas copy this until its unusable.

Check out the film, same phenomenon, the quentin tarrantino ripoff so watered down and god damn tiresome, no substance.

[severe]

SansAmp


Hardware or Software

[w2w]

This is easy: Just try getting "Good" sounding drums,and they will for sure sound like crap!!

[button]

Originally Posted by mattasbob

Hey all, I've been having a poor time trying to get some of that sweet lo-fi drum sound.

Well mattasob ... every reply has assumed you are using sampled loops from vinyl or whatever, rather than recording live. Is that so?

If you are using samples, I suggest:
Send the audio into a room over loudspeakers, put a mic behind the loudspeakers, facing the same way as the rear of their enclosures. Compress this excessively.

This also works if you are recording a live drummer ... although sometimes it's better to aim the mic at the drummer's back.

I think you will find that the simple technique of re-recording a sample via room mics will give a lot more originality and flexibility than any amount of plugins.

[mattasbob]

Thanks, I am creating this sound using tracks from a live multi-tracked session. I've just been reading all the other posts and taking what's relevant to me, as I'm sure other things within this post may be of interest to others.

[BradG]

Okay, here it is, my second biggest mix secret and it will cost you less than a cheap plug-in. Get one of those Marshall "Mini-amps" and put it on a send with a 57 right in the center of the speaker. It will sound great on everything. I use it on kick and snare even when just getting normal drum sounds to get 'em to punch. Great for vocals and bass too. Way better than a Sans Amp. Move the mic back for a different sound.