The Sound of Drums on PJ records......

spoonworld

Is it just me or does Adam Kasper/Brenden o' Brien just know how to mic up a drumset! I LOVE the sound of the drums on all PJ records, this may be something many people overlook, but the sound of the drums add a WHOLE lot to the vibe of the song. I think my favorite PJ record in terms of recording quality/sound/general vibe would have to be "VS." Every song on that album just sounds great.....any comments?!?!?

ms219209

Excellent topic... For me, the best drum recordings are on "Riot Act." They continue to blow me away; very pure and organic sounding, very close and intimate, not overdriven. There's still power and energy, but also lots of subtle texture and precision that truly demonstrate what a wonderful drummer Matt Cameron is. Instead of taking their usual seat in the back of the room, the drums on this record find a place in the audible foreground, striking a beautiful balance. Dynamic, clean, and refreshing, the drum recordings on Riot Act are to my ears like cold water on a hot day to my mouth.

dimitrispearljam

i like them in avocado alot.

MichaelMcKevin

Definitely have to agree. I personally love the drums on Binaural... Insignificance especially.

Matt uses Yamaha Birch Custom drums, which are said to be the most recorded drums in the business. Birch shells have excellent recording qualities, and Yamaha has a reputation for making the best shells out there. Add that to some great studio engineering, and the results can be heard on any PJ album Matt has played on.

PatrickBateman

ms219209 wrote:

Excellent topic... For me, the best drum recordings are on "Riot Act." They continue to blow me away; very pure and organic sounding, very close and intimate, not overdriven. There's still power and energy, but also lots of subtle texture and precision that truly demonstrate what a wonderful drummer Matt Cameron is. Instead of taking their usual seat in the back of the room, the drums on this record find a place in the audible foreground, striking a beautiful balance. Dynamic, clean, and refreshing, the drum recordings on Riot Act are to my ears like cold water on a hot day to my mouth.

First thing I thought of when I read the title (Riot Act) Right from "Cant keep" on.....

spoonworld

ms219209 wrote:

Excellent topic... For me, the best drum recordings are on "Riot Act." They continue to blow me away; very pure and organic sounding, very close and intimate, not overdriven. There's still power and energy, but also lots of subtle texture and precision that truly demonstrate what a wonderful drummer Matt Cameron is. Instead of taking their usual seat in the back of the room, the drums on this record find a place in the audible foreground, striking a beautiful balance. Dynamic, clean, and refreshing, the drum recordings on Riot Act are to my ears like cold water on a hot day to my mouth.

MichaelMcKevin wrote:

Definitely have to agree. I personally love the drums on Binaural... Insignificance especially.

Matt uses Yamaha Birch Custom drums, which are said to be the most recorded drums in the business. Birch shells have excellent recording qualities, and Yamaha has a reputation for making the best shells out there. Add that to some great studio engineering, and the results can be heard on any PJ album Matt has played on.

Well, Matt Cameron is just a beast when it come to playing anyway. He is one of the most musical rock drummers out of any today, and the best part is that he rarely shows off his chops, but when he does it's like, "What the hell just happened?" lol My favorite drum sound from Matt though was from Supernknown back with Soundgarden, I LOVE the drum sound on Superunknown, actually Superunknown is probably my favorite album of all time, but that's for another forum, haha. Riot Act is a great record, and I defintely agree with the organic part for sure, the whole record has this organic vibe to it, like your sitting in the room with them as their playing it, which it seems that's how they record most of their album anyway.

12345AGNST1

I also love the subtleties on riot act. 1/2 full has some amazing drumming that you really gotta listen for.

spoonworld

12345AGNST1 wrote:

I also love the subtleties on riot act. 1/2 full has some amazing drumming that you really gotta listen for.

I think every PJ record has great drumming that is unique and fits so well with the style of the song, like on Yield, I can't imagine another drummer playing on that record besides Jack Irons, what he does just fits amazingly well, but the same goes for any record Matt has played on, and especially Dave

spoonworld

NickGMusic wrote:

12345AGNST1 wrote:

I also love the subtleties on riot act. 1/2 full has some amazing drumming that you really gotta listen for.

I think every PJ record has great drumming that is unique and fits so well with the style of the song, like on Yield, I can't imagine another drummer playing on that record besides Jack Irons, what he does just fits amazingly well, but the same goes for any record Matt has played on, and especially Dave

I like the way Dave tunes his drums, he's got a snare that smacks you in the face

spoonworld

Anybody agree with me that the drum sound that you hear on most modern rock recordings of today suck? It sounds like fake ass in a cold room.

ScrapeMySky

NickGMusic wrote:

Anybody agree with me that the drum sound that you hear on most modern rock recordings of today suck? It sounds like fake ass in a cold room.

+1 !

CJMST3K

NickGMusic wrote:

12345AGNST1 wrote:

I also love the subtleties on riot act. 1/2 full has some amazing drumming that you really gotta listen for.

I think every PJ record has great drumming that is unique and fits so well with the style of the song, like on Yield, I can't imagine another drummer playing on that record besides Jack Irons, what he does just fits amazingly well, but the same goes for any record Matt has played on, and especially Dave

Me too. PJ has adapted their studio sound to suit the drummer they're with at that time.

That said, I think Backspacer has some of the best sound overall for any album, including drums and vocals, but now I'm gonna have to give them a listen.

spoonworld

I think it's crazy how the sound of drums on records change DRASTICALLY from like 1989 to 1990, it's like you listen to G n' R, and then Nirvana on Nevermind and it's crazy how much of a difference there is, with the guitars and everything else as well. Nirvana, PJ, Soundgarden, and many others just came out with this completely raw sound that was just so nasty it was good, and completely changed the way music sounds today,...in my opinion lol. Any comments?

CJMST3K

NickGMusic wrote:

I think it's crazy how the sound of drums on records change DRASTICALLY from like 1989 to 1990, it's like you listen to G n' R, and then Nirvana on Nevermind and it's crazy how much of a difference there is, with the guitars and everything else as well. Nirvana, PJ, Soundgarden, and many others just came out with this completely raw sound that was just so nasty it was good, and completely changed the way music sounds today,...in my opinion lol. Any comments?

I like it when drums sound like drums. When recording in a studio with tons of soundproofing, and gating every drum hit, it becomes too homogenized. When you record and capture the natural resonance of the drums, and a few mics in random areas of the room to capture natural decay, it makes it sound so much more organic.

Drums should have some bite to them. Backspacer has a good amount of bite on the drums.

dimitrispearljam

in berlin the drums is the best i ever listen..

iron_lion

Yeah, what do you guys say about Dave's drums on Go???...oh it's so killer man, like woooooooa fuels me up to face the day... or night XD

spoonworld

iron_lion wrote:

Yeah, what do you guys say about Dave's drums on Go???...oh it's so killer man, like woooooooa fuels me up to face the day... or night XD

Killer song, such a heavy song, kicks you in the face...anything off the V.s. album to me is killer, I love the whole vibe I get while listening to V.s, a vibe that is almost unmatched by anything but that album and maybe Superunknown from SG....those two albums are the type of albums you HAVE to listen to from start to finish, just cause that's way it's suppose to be, lol.

iron_lion

hhahaha yeah man i totally dig it that way too, superunknown it's the shit too and Dirt from Alice In Chains???? powerrr
i can't think of any other band today that puts out records with that drive and art quality, not that i know of...and i'm always hungry for it
let me check superunknown, haven't heard that in a while

spoonworld

iron_lion wrote:

hhahaha yeah man i totally dig it that way too, superunknown it's the shit too and Dirt from Alice In Chains???? powerrr
i can't think of any other band today that puts out records with that drive and art quality, not that i know of...and i'm always hungry for it
let me check superunknown, haven't heard that in a while

Yeah man Superunknown is the shit, and I know what you mean about being hungry for it dude! I actually write songs myself, and am signed to an indie label right now, in the process of recording my first album, if you'd like, on my myspace there is demos of these songs that I've done at my house, and I really try to infuse that energy/vibe from the 90's into as many songs as I can, I'd like to see what you think dude.

www.myspace.com/nickgraymusic

Let me know what you think man, or add me if you'd like

iron_lion

Cool stuff man! you got it going there ...already added you as a friend, my band is called Ritual Habitual (yep like Jane's A. record hehe), and it's in spanish, check it out
Salut

jonesjc14

I like it when drums sound like drums. When recording in a studio with tons of soundproofing, and gating every drum hit, it becomes too homogenized. When you record and capture the natural resonance of the drums, and a few mics in random areas of the room to capture natural decay, it makes it sound so much more organic.

Drums should have some bite to them. Backspacer has a good amount of bite on the drums.

I agree. That's partly why I enjoy Yield so much. I think Irons was a great match for Pearl Jam. Nothing negative, but I always thought something wasn't right with Matt playing - he is a great drummer either way though.

spoonworld

jonesjc14 wrote:

I like it when drums sound like drums. When recording in a studio with tons of soundproofing, and gating every drum hit, it becomes too homogenized. When you record and capture the natural resonance of the drums, and a few mics in random areas of the room to capture natural decay, it makes it sound so much more organic.

Drums should have some bite to them. Backspacer has a good amount of bite on the drums.

I agree. That's partly why I enjoy Yield so much. I think Irons was a great match for Pearl Jam. Nothing negative, but I always thought something wasn't right with Matt playing - he is a great drummer either way though.

Yeah I somewhat agree,...he's like perfect with Soundgarden, and you would think that they would adapt well together (him and the PJ bunch), but I don't know,...something's not jiving right

CJMST3K

NickGMusic wrote:

jonesjc14 wrote:

I like it when drums sound like drums. When recording in a studio with tons of soundproofing, and gating every drum hit, it becomes too homogenized. When you record and capture the natural resonance of the drums, and a few mics in random areas of the room to capture natural decay, it makes it sound so much more organic.

Drums should have some bite to them. Backspacer has a good amount of bite on the drums.

I agree. That's partly why I enjoy Yield so much. I think Irons was a great match for Pearl Jam. Nothing negative, but I always thought something wasn't right with Matt playing - he is a great drummer either way though.

Yeah I somewhat agree,...he's like perfect with Soundgarden, and you would think that they would adapt well together (him and the PJ bunch), but I don't know,...something's not jiving right

I think on most of the early stuff it's not jiving, but I think on the latter music that he's been involved with, particularly Backspacer, it was finally an album built around Matt's strengths.

Matt said in his recent interview with Drum Magazine that Backspacer is the best Pearl Jam record. I disagree with him on that (I mean, come on) but it definitely is the best PJ record with Matt playing drums on.