Everyone always seems to be moving forward in music. New ideas are being brought to the table every day in the music business. Technology changes, things become digitalized. People replace live drummers with machines. But what about when we want to bring it back? I thought it’d be a good idea to take a minute and look back to what has worked in the past and use it today. Drum tracks for the future, using the tricks of the trade from the past. Good idea? I thought so.

Sometimes I get sound alike projects where customers are looking for the old sounds of the sixties. As a producer, I have to go into the studio and set up the kit to get that “old sound”. Here are tricks I have found to work to get that 60’s drum sound:

1. I use my Rogers Dyna-Sonic snare drum that captures that old sound
2. I use two condenser mics as left and right overheads and a SM57 in front of bass drum
3. I try to make the drums sound as natural as possible and capture that sound

Apart from the miking and placement of the drums, the performance from the drummer was different back then. Players from the past used different playing techniques. In most cases, old drummers used more snare drums and the hits were less aggressive than the drums of today and more prevalent. The ride cymbal wasn’t as heavy as today’s cymbals.

Check out some drum tracks from the past. References are a must when you’re about to record drums. Experiment with your setup and listen back to your recording.