Can someone back engineer this Bonham-esqe drum mix?! (BFD - Andy Johns)

[midisticks]

OK, so I've been revisiting an old BFD drum library (Andy Johns for BFD) which I haven't used in years but has now become my favourite for some reason (top tip: when you get sick of your current 'go to' sample libs try digging out your old abandoned ones - it's like getting a new product all over again). Anyway, I was checking out the original audio demos on the Platinum Samples website for some inspiration and came across a Bonham style mix which blew my mind.

It's 'Demo 4 - Bonzoesque' on this page ... check it out...
https://www.platinumsamples.com/AndyJohns.php

The problem is I cannot get even close to this mix and it's driving me crazy. This library always felt a bit hyped in the upper mids but that demo (which I never remember listening to before) is just killer and doesn't have any of that brittleness. But how??? I've tried all the usual parallel room (or entire drum bus) smashing, big verbs on the snare, smashing the OH's only .. all sorts ... but I can't get close whatever I do.

It feels like something special is being done to the kick and snare direct channels because they are much more beefy (kick) and thwacky (snare) than the raw samples... but at the same time it also feels like the mix is mostly coming from the distant mics (for example you can hear lots of room ambience and depth in the ride bell and tom fills).

Anyone care to have a stab at 'explaining' this kind of mix? It seems to be kit3 (a vistalite with 2002 cymbals) and you can also hear the same kit in Demo 9 which is much more like how it sounds unprocessed.

So basically my question is how do you get from the more natural sound of Demo 9 to the much more vibey sound of Demo 4? Eternally grateful for any helpful pointers!

[DarkStar]

Your best bet is to ask Platinum Samples if they can help you out with any additional info.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Can't help on the samples, but this -

top tip: when you get sick of your current 'go to' sample libs try digging out your old abandoned ones - it's like getting a new product all over again

- is dead on advice.

I'd also add that samples/instruments that sounded lifeless/wrong/both in the past are worth revisiting whenever you get hold of new FX because they can sometimes add the special ingredient you were missing.

[midisticks]

Your best bet is to ask Platinum Samples if they can help you out with any additional info.

Yeah, it's just that it's such an old product and PS don't seem to be a particularly active developer these days ... plus I remember Rail had to answer so many (occasionally stupid) questions back in the day that he shouldn't have to deal with this one - possibly the stupidest of them all! (I mean it's hardly tech support is it?)

But if I get no joy from anyone else I'll go and badger him

[DarkStar]

I have often thought that demos should come with audio or MIDI clips and presets etc that allow the user to recreate the sound in the comfort of their own homes and get a much better insight into the software.

[digitalboytn]

Platinum Samples released some great drum libraries...

I have most of them,but my favourite is the one from Joe Barressi...

An oldie but a real goodie

[jancivil]

A go-to for me recently has been "Drive" in the legacy folder in the FX. For beefing up, maybe in an Aux channel parallel.

I don't have this particular library. If it's not in the presets, you don't know it isn't outboard or what. I mix more inside BFD than I used to because of a couple of modi operandi, but you are probably already talking about them. Albeit unsure about the word "smashing", I automate input gain to compressors and so forth.