Recreate Steve Gadd's Drum Sound From "AJA" By Steely Dan | Recreating Iconic Drum Sounds

[@GeoffBosco]

The STICK CLICK! Lol I always figured that was a little hiccup in an otherwise perfect performance that just happened to fall exactly in time. But it still needed to be there. lol

[@ajn465]

If I recall correctly, Steve Gadd had some drum Corps in his background and something like a stick click would be very much a part of his musical vocabulary

[@artcorvolet]

not a hiccup

[@GeoffBosco]

@@artcorvolet His wife is on record as quoting him saying it was a happy accident.

[@artcorvolet]

@@GeoffBosco link?

[@GeoffBosco]

@@artcorvolet I forgot where I found it. But I'll get you some sauce on that when I get minute.

[@joshuacervenkamusic327]

His drum solo in Aja is amazing. The outro solo to that song just grooves so much

[@drummersinger5324]

'd say far from amazing. Go listen to prime Tony Williams , Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham and learn something.

[@woodstockjon420]

@@drummersinger5324 snob much?🤔

[@drummersinger5324]

@@woodstockjon420 Ballsless mUzak lover much?

[@drummersinger5324]

@@woodstockjon420 Snob? Nah. Realist

[@federruchi6147]

@@drummersinger5324 snob

[@ThomZek]

Well, this is spot on once again. You guys are incredibly dedicated to what you're doing and it's a real pleasure each time a video comes out on your channel. Oh and Pascal is a FREAKING good drummer !

[@pascal_thielen]

Thank you so much!

[@JoaquinCorreaDrums]

This guy is a genius. I mean well know Gadd is a genius but the guy here doing the covers seems to be able to play anything. He is amazing.

[@gearoiddom]

I was blown away by the replication.

[@shanemacpherson4877]

When I started this video, I thought "There's no way he's doing the solo." Boy, was I wrong. Amazing work.

[@demonicsweaters]

I love that tom sound. People are far too worried about sustain these days when it doesn't really complement the music much unless in very specific situations.

[@Powerhauze]

I totally agree with you and honestly as a Live Sound engineer and Drum Tech I always LOL in my head when drummers show up with $5000 plus drum kits which they bought due to the amazing tone and sustain (they claim) and then out comes a bassdrum with an Evans Emad and this "weeks laundry" in muffling material so the poor thing sounds as dead as can be; No tone (at least not an articulated bass drum note), no sustain...🤔....and then during the sound check I am basically forced to gate and compress the toms till they almost sound dead as well🙈🙉.... The beauty of the 70's-80's signatures sound is the fact that you can mic the kit with two overheads and a kick mic and it Should sound great, as that is the sound you as the drummer hear🤷🏻‍♂️... at least that is what I hear behind the kit😉

[@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel]

But the Gadd sound has so much sustain, it is all about sustain….

[@johnsayre2038]

@@Powerhauze I hear ya. I'm a blue-collar musician, most of my gigs these days are Top 40 wedding/corporate jobs. For those gigs I use hydraulics on toms and put cotton balls inside. Band leader likes the sound so I'm keeping it. May even try no reso head. Never really understood the long sustain on toms concept but those are just my ears I guess. Hat tip to you audio engineers, a good one can save the day no doubt.

[@ofdrumsandchords]

​@@Powerhauze I try to have some consistency between the elements of the kit. I discussed that with a sound engineer (we were recording some jazz tunes), he said the main problem with rock drummers is they play too loud on the snare drum and hi-hat, and lack power with the bass drum. It's very difficult to balance their sound as the overheads take too much snare. Playing with the leg and burrying the beater doesn't help and kills the sound. Just a remark : the bass drum must also match the snare. 95% of time, you use these two drums together. You can use your bass drum melodically with the toms, or polyrythmically. Your average playing decides how you tune it.

[@ofdrumsandchords]

I was never a fan of Gadd's sound. Cobham, Phillips, Terri Lyne Carrington, these guys know how to tune a kit. What defines a drummer is his sound. Great drummers always had a great sound. Kenny Clarke's was classy, and you recognize instantly Elvin, DeJohnette or Daniel Humair (Swiss). I was very impressed by Mel Lewis, he conversed with the band and his unique sound was deep and resonant (I learned that he used calf skins). But if you don't like resonant drums, try Gavin Harrison. Phenomenal drummer, with a very personal sound.

[@Buddythunder1]

Excellent work. Really impressive. The sounds are spot on, and the playing is beautiful, and includes "that" stick-click!

[@eDWICHt]

I mean, the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover sound in the beginning already had me drop my jaw. Great job!

[@fheering]

Great video! Steve Gadd has been a long time inspiration for me. And AJA is one of the most iconic albums ever. I feel doubly happy for this video! Keep them coming, please.

[@ArtOfDrumming]

Thanks 🙏 will do 😊

[@fheering]

@@ArtOfDrumming 🤘🏻😄

[@geoffburton822]

Very good. Amazing to think that Steve played this track over 40 years ago, and it's still as fresh as the day it was born. Great rendering, here. Thanks.

[@michaelcaplin8969]

The fact that you didn't use a single piece of equipment that Steve Gadd used for the recording (an old red sparkle Ludwig kit, and old 50's K cymbals) but STILL made it sound like the record is honestly really impressive. When seeing how you guys so deeply misjudged what Steve actually used for that recording, I was sceptical, but you guys nailed it :)

[@ArtOfDrumming]

That's the goal! We try to get the sound using what we have.

[@MarcosSilva-uv2jh]

His selection of cymbals is just amazing! I know that being his own drumset is meant as the highlight of the video, but those cymbals sound just to good.

[@jcsk8]

Gadd is my favourite drummer since I´ve started going deep into the drum study back in the 90´s. A "simple" kit, nothing fancy, no special effects, just pure talente and good taste. A master that demand a deep study.

[@timothycroke5307]

This is one of the best instructional videos about getting a specific drum sound I’ve ever seen. The drum and cymbal sounds were spot on. Extremely well done.

[@murep]

You totally nailed the sound perfectly. Great job, so impressive. What a thrill playing on HIS kit. Wow great.

[@Marreroortiz]

Pascal.... what an amazing drummer!

[@ickysticky3672]

I remember reading that the kit he used to record this song was actually a rented Ludwig. 13 14 16 22x14. Regardless, this video is beautifully done just like the rest of your content.

[@andreasbreitwieser1449]

There is somewhere a photo in the net of Gadds recording of Aja, using the studio's Ludwig Kit, sticking 6 or 7 sheets from the note stand over the hihat and the toms........and the legend says it was a first take, for Steve not even the main recording, just a try.......

[@ickysticky3672]

@@andreasbreitwieser1449 I also heard the sheet music was upside down. Wouldn’t be surprised!

[@theavenger3363]

@@ickysticky3672 One arm tied behind his back and blindfolded too .. 😁

[@bencousins4687]

The cymbals are also wrong. He was using cracked crashes as they also didn’t sustain.

[@andreasbreitwieser1449]

@@bencousins4687 legends over legends ;-), what about the stick click inside the fill? He probably wanted to check the stability of his drum sticks :-) ...... or did the stick break and he played the rest of the song only with one stick? and he didn't use a pedal for the bass drum, he played it with a cowboy boot.....

[@8194856]

Well done! Very well researched. Toms sound amazing, I would never have thought a single headed tom timp could sound like this. And well played Pascal.

[@danielhenrique2047]

Wow! Shout out to the perfect execution of the song, couldn't had be played any better!!

[@ken_wilkens]

Great video! Nailed Gadd’s Aja sound to a tee. Steve Gadd is definitely my all-time favorite drummer.

[@horsemount66]

I love the old Gaffa tape 'Tempo Taschentuch' muffling. A blast from the past, haha. Pascal, my hat is off to you - outstanding work!

[@pascal_thielen]

Thank you very much!

[@tmaddrummer]

Pascal, you are oh so very talented! I enjoyed each and every note that you played.... Thanks and Blessings!

[@MP-ju4ol]

Perfection! Great job Pascal. His, the man himself, his mix of cymbals, his approach to blending but expressing his individuality are unmatched. Well, there is Buddy Rich. Steve is a sweetheart and has created a legacy. His evolution of tuning, experimenting with chains on his cymbals, mixing different cymbal sounds on hi-hat is fun to hear. I knew Steve Gadd drumming (70’s) before I knew Steve Gadd (80’s and 2000’s beyond) iconic.

[@lenno1888]

This is WOW in so many ways. What a drummer!

[@drummermomcjs]

I grew up hearing Gadd. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover was played regularly on radios and I loved the Aja album. In high school it was one of my favorite albums. Gadd has an infectious groove and lots of syncopation and funk in his playing. His sticks are some of my favorite to play with. I have a couple pairs and it is one of the few artist sticks that I use. One great drummer indeed.

[@lovewords]

Great job “art of drumming “! Thank you so much for the hard hard work and dedication! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 This is priceless ❤

[@schoolofrockwhv]

Just beautiful! Keep on producing the best drumsound videos :)

[@alfkeh]

Wahnsinn, was ihr Euch für eine Mühe macht. Vielen Dank für das tolle Video und die Freude ein Steve Gadd Set zu hören!

[@ArtOfDrumming]

🙏

[@mata.yoguee]

Amazing as always! You should do Keith Carlock’s sound! 🙌🏻

[@ArtOfDrumming]

💯

[@RogierRJDonker]

This!🔥🔥🔥

[@montagne_74]

Incredible sound, all is perfect : play, sound, Groove. Respect !

[@therealeleusis]

You guys nailed it!! I love the sound of concert toms. I used to do the same paper towel folded and taped to the head trick. Now I know how to get that sound and those mics were perfect. Thanks so much. Hope to get this sound on my music some day.

[@bourgkul]

You nailed the solo! Amazing job. Yeah Gadd is one of the very best of all time. I always use Gadd brushes and I have an 18” Zildjian K custom session crash with his autograph. I am a Gaddophile.

[@PedroBellora]

Outstanding video, thanks a lot for sharing and congratulations for your fantastic work!!

[@strandednseattle]

Steve Gadd may be one of the best drummers but your abilities definitely shows your dedication, commitment, and mastering of percussion. Well done sir.

[@sturla75]

Love this series. Well produced and so much research going into each one. Keep up the great work.

[@ArtOfDrumming]

Thanks so much

[@anthonycousins1162]

Nice video and tribute to Dr. Steve Gadd. Pascal nailed Aja with the strictest attention to detail of the original recording. The RCs looked cool with the bottom heads removed, too!! 🥁🥁

[@kenjishimomiya136]

Great video. Your knowledge of sound equipment and technique in playing the drums is excellent.

[@theScienceLabLive]

Kudos. Using the signature sticks too. Subtle & nice touch.

[@elvin38]

Exact sound but all the most, great playing!!

[@Oneness100]

How can it? Gadd didn't use Yamaha drums on the recording,. he used a Gretsch bass drum and Pearl concert toms with Evan Hydraulic heads and a Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snare drum…. Plus, Steve Gadd put large strips of tape on his cymbals to deaden the sound.

[@scottclute8413]

Very well done, precise piece. THANK you Steve Hard, KZbin!!!!

[@edmundleung2098]

The thing with Gadd, the idea of playing music with drums was so manifested perfectly in his playing.

[@DaPhunk73]

Well done, even the famous rimhit in the solo is there ;-) The tom sound is spot on.

[@Powerhauze]

Excellent!!! The sound AND the playing👍🏻👍🏻! There is soooo much amazing music out there which is almost unknown to many of the younger ( and some older) musicians and with your amazing vídeos and efforts you guys are bringing that back to live! You guys are amazing and much appreciated!!!🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼. Thank you!

[@fw1421]

I was fortunate to have seen Steve Gadd when he toured with Eric Clapton. He was fantastic! Of course that was the tour that Billy Preston played Keyboards with them. Steve Gad is one of my favorite drummers,along with Carl Palmer.

[@spyrosmagliveras8851]

Really impressive job guys! Thank You for this great video.

[@drumtiptv6605]

Fantastic video all the way around. Great attention to detail and killer playing as well. Bravo!

[@PNW_Sportbike_Life]

Steely Dan was awesome, Steve Gadd is awesome, and you guys are also awesome!

[@RubenvanRoonDrumChannel]

Amazing drumming, sounds great!. It it nice to know that mr Gadd played this track on a rental kit, a Ludwig maple 5 piece 12,13,16,22...But you nailed the sound pretty close....!!!

[@nycdrummingstar]

Excellent, completely, excellent!

[@scottclute8413]

In 1977 when "Aja" was first released,in CA.that was the experience of a lifetime. And to hear that L.P.on a Marrantz stereo system with Bose 501 speakers made a huge impact on music.

[@carpballet]

Seriously, legend has it the Steve Gadd is the replicant that got away.

[@tomtownsend5009]

Yes, great sound and great playing, love the stick click

[@Beat-zk4fq]

As a Steve Gadd fan, I use Yamaha Recording Custom. There was no idea that Aja's drum sound was a single with a pinstripe head. It's a convincing sound! thank you very much!

[@LarsWSB]

My goodness you guys did an excellent job on this!

[@geralddrums]

Very very cool topic. I love Steve Gadd :-) !!!

[@flavioandresoaresbezerra3844]

Excelent video. Steve Gadd has been an influence for me and it was amazing watch the configuration of his set up.

[@billschwarz8659]

Awesome! Great work!

[@MixedByDotRob]

Great video! Great sound! Great playing! Thank you for this! :D

[@nielsklaver7469]

Magical. Great job!

[@jefftegenkamp8939]

Awesome! Would love to see a David Garibaldi sound video sometime . Gadd and Garibaldi are 2 of my favs!

[@batouttahell454]

I met garabaldi, guys a Jerk.

[@leeverrill]

Wow...nothing left to say..great job

[@Anand_KL]

Thank you for this great video.

[@tripprogers4814]

As a kid with a U.S. MARSHALL set in the 70's, I would throw a dense worn out feather pillow in my kick, and take old bed sheets and tear them in 3 inch wide strips and put them under the toms heads to deaden the sound to near perfection.. I had no idea what i was doing at 11 years old but it worked! I would sit in my bedroom and listen to Gadd on AJA til the stylus splintered on my record player and ruined the record!!

[@shadowsearcy]

As stated by Steve Gadd himself, at the kick-off event for the Zildjian K Custom Session release tour clinic, held in April of 2005 at Richardson High School in Dallas, Texas, in response to the “one take” question, Steve stated that there was a chart and that the ensemble rehearsed the song for some time before actually tracking it. They then tracked it twice and Don and Walter preferred the first take over the second which, as a result, is what was actually printed on to the production album. So there was no “psychic mind reading” or Steve “just showed up and instinctively knew what to play” involved. Steve went on to humbly state that this was why reading skills are so important and that he “simply did what any other professional drummer should be able to do.” Also, as stated elsewhere in these replies, the drum WERE NOT Yamaha Recording series drums because Yamaha Recording series drums DID NOT EXIST at that time. The drums were Ludwig drums equipped with EVANS HYDRAULIC heads and there were heads on both sides of at least one of the toms because you can hear the pitch bend in some of the fills. EVANS heads, at this time were made in Dodge City, Kansas and used a white ceramic ring, as opposed to aluminum, which had a tendency to form itself around, and to, the circumference of the drum. I have a couple of these in the size of 22” (blue) sitting in my shop. They are very dead and Neil Peart also used these heads for quite some time, most notably the MOVING PICTURES album until he switched over to Ludwig in the late 1980s. If you want to achieve that sound, the formula is real simple = EVANS Hydraulics on both sides of a two headed tom and, no, I’m not an endorser! Also, as pointed out elsewhere, these modern cymbals are NOT what Steve used because they also DID NOT EXIST either and were rumored to be K Zildjians produced in Istanbul, Turkey, not Boston, MA. There are photos of Steve using these cymbals with the split "K screened onto them most likely due tot he fact that he is an endorser and Zildjian wanted to get some advertising. While I like this video and I think that there is SOME good information here, this isn't close to the EXACT way this sound was achieved bit is merely one way of getting that sound. The misconceptions about this arise from the “prism” of what is available today with no regard to history of anything, as well what is seen in the ads of that popular, once great drum periodical who’s best days are sadly in the past. mikemccraw.com

[@s_a_willi]

Great job! Aja was my first introduction to steely Dan ! And Gadd!!

[@FrankFluker]

Spot on!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@M4RCM0NT31R0]

Oooohhh! This is gonna be good!

[@ruifaustino]

I like it very much. Great job.

[@m72415]

This series gets better and better! Love Gadd! Want Garibaldi! 😎

[@ArtOfDrumming]

Thanks so much - stay tuned

[@fabianperez5384]

Great job brother!!!

[@nickystucco]

Great Job Buddy!!!!

[@97Mizzo]

what the heck that was pretty much identical!!! astonishing

[@ArtOfDrumming]

Thanks Ollie 👍🏻

[@markallen351]

Great work guys , spot on ✊

[@Ash_Hudson]

Those cymbals are beautiful.

[@raymondkarlsson9794]

Great work and video!

[@robvriens8812]

Sounds so good. Great drumming

[@joeandrew5861]

Everything is AAAAAAAAAAWEEEESOME

[@eshepley]

When I took drum lessons as a kid, my drum teacher made me play 50 Ways as a warm up exercise to get your feel.

[@brockmannolaf7182]

Top! Sound UND Spiel! Chapeau!

[@sergiomora7660]

Outstanding ❤

[@Nate_Higgins]

Great job on the solo. Even got the stick click in there.

[@dugjay]

Nailed it!

[@ShlomoZOGelstein]

Excellent reproduction of Gadd's superior drumming. Pascal is right on the money.

[@MP-ju4ol]

Your recreation is bar none……..excellent!

[@MironJimiSopic]

Amazing performance... Even the stick click :D

[@fernandrum]

Excellent job!!!

[@alejandrocontreras3072]

Is there anything Pascal can’t play? Jesus, what a talent

[@ArtOfDrumming]

🙏👌

[@pascal_thielen]

Thank you!!

[@SONORSQ2guy]

Steve used a rental drum kit provided by SIR Los Angeles. Ludwig red sparkle 22/12/13/16. Steve used his own Ludwig Supraphonic 5x14 Zildjian cymbals. Remo clear CS Dot top clear Ambassador resonant side. Drums tuned low. Scottmoyer1357 KZbin was the drum tech that day on the session.

[@martinooo29]

Outstanding love it !!!!

[@adambrown8867]

There is a picture somewhere of Gadd playing at a session & his kit is surrounded by Sennhieser MD441s on everything.

[@adambrown8867]

...like a Beatles session & AKG D19s are everywhere.

[@giuseppecasa3574]

great drummer splendid execution

[@frederickbaugher8361]

The drum kit used on the song Aja was a Ludwig rental; most likely it came from SIR. The heads were Remo black dot. I don’t remember if the black dots came on the kit or if they were changed specifically for the song. Many years have passed Since I read the article about the Aja kit.

[@tomchrisfield7348]

To tell you the truth, all of the Steely Dan songs were so perfectly played and mixed everything just flows and you find yourself not really listening to any one instrument, at least I do.

[@MW-hm9ub]

Excellent excellent job.

[@murraytown4]

Well done!!!!

[@jimhardiman3836]

Great job all around.

[@TaylorJonesDrums]

Nailed!

[@drumpearl]

Great sound and great groove... did you guys chart Aja? It would be interesting to see the written parts.

[@gabrielecovottaformatore7877]

Fantastic👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@townspeoplewillpay7559]

Incredible