Mixing Toms : Tips Anyone ?

[Stupid American Pig]

Not really mixing advice, but if someone could tell me how to get the toms sound that Phil spector got on plastic ono band and imagine I would make a track with toms as the only instrument

I hear ya. Detailed, but not hyped. The remastered version of those records are a stunning revelation, and boy, does "Gimme Some Truth" sound as relevant and contemporary today as it did more than 30 years ago.

I'd start with a ribbon mic, but I don't know for sure what mics Spector used. I do know that the Geoff Emerick used the Coles 4038 mics for overheads (and from what I can tell from session photos) dynamics for close-micing the drums....

Helps to have Ringo, Alan White, Jim keltner....

the remasters are absolutely fantastic sounding. Honestly, I think the fidelity of those remasters is better than just about any recent recording I have heard. I like the present but understated treble and the overall punchiness of the recording. Plus it is not squashed to all hell like todays recordings. Those albums have a "dark" sound to them that I wish I could replicate..

[MickGael]

the remasters are absolutely fantastic sounding. Honestly, I think the fidelity of those remasters is better than just about any recent recording I have heard. I like the present but understated treble and the overall punchiness of the recording. Plus it is not squashed to all hell like todays recordings. Those albums have a "dark" sound to them that I wish I could replicate..

Boy, I could not agree more!

I can't help but notice how the overall quality of recordings has declined as the ease and variety of tools has increased.

Call me an old fart, but I have been recording and making music since 1977. I have come to the conclusion there is absolutely no replacement for having to work at getting a good sound with less. I think the effort - and the craft - shows.

[herodotus]

Have you tried extreme panning? The big problem with toms is that they interfere WITH EACH OTHER. Sometimes panning away from each other (e.g. hi tom at .500 and low tom at -.500) will do the trick.

[herodotus]

the remasters are absolutely fantastic sounding. Honestly, I think the fidelity of those remasters is better than just about any recent recording I have heard. I like the present but understated treble and the overall punchiness of the recording. Plus it is not squashed to all hell like todays recordings. Those albums have a "dark" sound to them that I wish I could replicate..

Boy, I could not agree more!

I can't help but notice how the overall quality of recordings has declined as the ease and variety of tools has increased.

Call me an old fart, but I have been recording and making music since 1977. I have come to the conclusion there is absolutely no replacement for having to work at getting a good sound with less. I think the effort - and the craft - shows.

Another old fart here. All I really seem to want to hear these days is from the pre-digital era. I personally think that tape is overrated (and, more than that, overpriced), but paradoxically, all of my favorite recordings these days seem to employ it.

Maybe it is, as you point out, that "there is absolutely no replacement for having to work at getting a good sound with less". Maybe it is just that people took more time. Maybe engineers were more skilled. But whatever it is I have really been grooving on all of the prog-rock/heavy rock stuff from the early 70s. esp. Zeppelin, Yes, and King Crimson (not to mention the Yardbirds, Blind Faith, Cream, etc.). The recordings have so much more life and presence. I listened to some Tool right after some Zeppelin the other day and the contrast was positively painful.