How E.L.O. Slowed Down Drums to Create "Don't Bring Me Down" | What's That Sound? EP 13

"Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra has some of the most iconic drum sounds ever produced but could it be they are actually just drums taken from another track, slowed down and looped? In this edition of What's That Sound, Jessica & Noam test that theory. How close did they get?
Download our FREE sample pack for this episode and more: bit.ly/3nOuzKt
Find all the gear we used in this video on Reverb: bit.ly/3ykgE4i
#whatsthatsound #elo #dontbringmedown #reverb #drums #recording #jefflynne
Recorded at Rax Trax Recording. Engineered by Noam Wallenberg.
www.raxtrax.com/
www.noamwallenberg.com/

[@Reverb]

Download these ELO-style drum loops-normal-speed and slowed-down-along with a lot of other great sample packs from our previous videos here: bit.ly/3nOuzKt

[@chronomatt6990]

They story goes that the band’s core musicians had left the studio after ELO’s Discovery sessions were finished when ELO’s mastermind, Jeff Lynne (writer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, singer, producer), decided the album needed a final song that rocked. So, he wrote and fully performed “Don’t Bring Me Down” on his own. Since regular drummer Bev Bevan wasn't around, he took the drums from side 2’s third track, “On The Run,” and altered/looped them. It also explains why the song didn't have their typical signature strings backing -- the contracted orchestra had long left. “Don't Bring Me Down” was the first ELO hit without strings, and their biggest American chart topper. Lynne would later duplicate this process on their future top 10 hit “Hold On Tight” from the Time album.

[@scottdreher8122]

Cool. Then this use of another tracks drums fits. Jeff Lynne is one of the masters of our time. Great video gang!

[@Paul-dw2cl]

@ChronoMATT - Thank you, internet friend

[@Lance37a]

Thanks for the info, I guess it was the beginning of the end for the strings, Lynne knew he could have hit songs without them.

[@glenesis]

Thanks for sharing! Bev's playing the same disco beat in track 1, Shine a Little Love, I'd thought it was that, hehe

[@heavyheadrecords]

They are a few bars of the song On the run, but slowed down, put at low playback speed and copied many times, as many times as the song lasts.

[@CalendulaF]

Jeff: “You know what sounds cool? - When you bring the tape speed down.” Tape: “Don’t bring me down!”

[@RicCrouch]

Hey, that’s really funny because the name of the song is…. Wait…. Never mind….

[@jonautry]

The craziest part of this joke is that the Tape Op’s name was actually…BRUCE 😳

[@RicCrouch]

@@jonautry And yet, Bruce DID in fact “bring him down.” :)

[@russellflagg8519]

But Jeff misheard his name and thought it was "Groos". It all worked out though, because the rest of the world misheard Jeff and thought he sang "Bruce!".

[@jonautry]

@@russellflagg8519 Rheinhold Mack claims it was Bruce originally…but because of the tape op, not Aussies. (I added the last part.)

[@rjkral]

ANY breakdown of what Jeff Lynne / ELO did to achieve their magnificent sound deserves my full attention! Great video guys!!

[@fredsavage4925]

She absolutely nailed the loping push-pull feel of that drum track.

[@Robertthewren]

She's amazing tbh. One of my fave KZbin drummers

[@Strigulino]

ELO is the soundtrack of my childhood. So underrated. Another drummer I’d like to see featured is Ian Mosley of Marillion. Amazing drummer IMHO.

[@claudevieaul1465]

+1 on Ian Mosley, combined with Pete Trewavas he makes a unique, steady and very versatile rhythm section!

[@MrJoeydrms]

How can you NOT mention Uber engineer / producer MACK who recorded and mixed this and so many other great songs. MACK went from creating this drum sound to “ Another one bites the dust “ a year later to “ the Stroke “ by Billy Squier a year after that. My dream would be to interview THAT guy.

[@robertmack7116]

Reinhold Mack.

[@MrJoeydrms]

@@robertmack7116 yes I’m a very big fan - sorry I did not mention his first name when I was heaping praise on him

[@DoubleSupercool]

Ahhhhh, that Billy Squier connection makes sense. Definitely a similar vibe on those drums.

[@rekindle]

I didn't;t know about this engineer - but he's immortal for recording and mixing the tracks you list - did he do "Big Beat" too?

[@MrJoeydrms]

@@rekindle no that was engineer producer eddy offord - I highly recommend looking into Reinhold Mack and the studio he did a lot of his work out of ( including all the ELO hits he worked on ) MUSICLAND Studio in Munich Germany which was Giorgio Moroders studio. It is closed now and has been ripped out but if you’ve ever wondered where “ Mr.Blue Sky “ or “ Crazy little Thing Called Love “ was cut that’s where.

[@Gruuvin1]

The drummer's timing is all over the place

[@SGBassplayer]

Solid. This song came out when I was 12 and to this day I still think it’s the best rock and roll song of all time.

[@HiGlowie]

Jeff Lynne will always be one of my favorite.

[@XanaduFan98]

This series is so great, please keep them coming. Give me that LCD Soundsystem breakdown

[@Slurkz]

This track blew me away as a kid. Great to see the appreciation in this video and to finally know how these incredible drums were recorded.💜

[@glenesis]

OMG, its "Shine a Little Love" slowed down? I can't believe I never noticed in 43 years! Great detective work :)

[@tomisgood]

I think it's actually "on the run". I literally just wrote a whole rant about how annoying I find it that they didn't just name the song lol. They also incorrectly refer to it as "the song before it on the album" which it isn't. That would be "wishing" which is considerably slower than don't bring me down. If anything you thinking it was "Shine a little love" only reinforces how stupid it is of them not to include the name of the song in their video. They did ALL this research and work into finding out how the drum sound was made, only to put out a video where someone could walk away with the wrong idea. It's like making an intricate heist plan to pull off the perfect flawless bank robbery but then forgetting to include the banks address.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Bev Bevan plus Mack = awesome

[@_OopsieDaisies]

yay I got my wish from the last video! yall rule thank you for all your hard work researching and recreating iconic sounds while showing us how to do it :)

[@jsolethedj]

Niceeeeeeee!!!!! Love that drum break!

[@ConglomerationCat]

Okay, this was SUPER well done. Nice breakdown all together... Makes me feel really good to know we're still digging deep into these kinds of gems.

[@roscoechance5155]

This is a dynamite series, keep the episodes coming!

[@zmix]

Something to consider when micing the shell of the snare drum: The shell then becomes the loudest aspect of the drum. Listen carefully around 4:50 - notice that when she hits the rim of the drum in the opening flam and then on beat 2 of the second measure there is a very loud and pronounced "sidestick" timbre, and it's louder than the center struck snare hits. Once you become aware of it you can't un-hear it. Even in the final sound it sticks out (check it out just after 7:54 and again at 8:00 )

[@ArthurStone]

Thanks. Be interesting to hear breakdowns of Gaucho/or Nightfly where drums and drum machines were used together. Best :D

[@PeterYiffin]

I second this!

[@RogerHeathers]

@@PeterYiffin I third this

[@nigelvonshredman]

@@RogerHeathers I forth this

[@bigmichael2765]

YES

[@user-cj4fu8qq9b]

@@nigelvonshredman i tritone this

[@psiklops71]

The drum track is in fact a tape loop, coming from "On the Run" looped and slowed down

[@origamimambo545]

Since Jeff is a big fan of the Beatles, the inspiration for the drum sound is obvious.

[@masonianbund]

I love these videos so much. As a “lets just record fun stuff with friends” kind of guy, having tricks like this makes the good times even gooder

[@JoshTurnerGuitar]

Man, I just really love these videos!!

[@leethium6982]

please do a Martin Hannett video with that typical drum sound. some ESG, Joy Division obviously. you just need a good harmonizer/delay

[@jonathanbyrdmusic]

That tiny breath Jessica puts before the downbeat is SO funky, and exactly right.

[@beatarcheologzt]

I was thinking the same thing

[@indigocotton4187]

Is that what makes it feel slightly out of time but it isn’t? Kinda jarring?

[@robacdc1977]

@@indigocotton4187 THAT is what people talk about as feel. Slightly before or slightly after the beat makes the whole arrangement breathe better

[@vinny142]

@@indigocotton4187 "Is that what makes it feel slightly out of time but it isn’t? Kinda jarring?" Yes. Essentially it is out of time and that can be very jarring because it sounds identical to a player who is simply not that good.

[@vinny142]

@@robacdc1977 "Slightly before or slightly after the beat makes the whole arrangement breathe better" Key phrase being "the whole arrangement". We can't hear the rest here so it just sounds like she's a bad drummer.

[@andymassingham]

I STILL hear Ringo’s drum intro to Sgt. Pepper Reprise whenever Don’t Bring Me Down begins.

[@bradarmstrong3952]

Really fun and interesting! Explains the real punch and unique flavor of Don't Bring Me Down

[@connorkeogh5149]

These two are awesome. I love this series.

[@Jenisonc]

Love ELO. Great stuff!

[@jeroenfigee]

I got spotify and this video to A-B and the cool thing is ... Your sound is wayyy better ! 🙂

[@tedster405]

Cool video, folks…during that bit at the end, I felt like I should launch into the reprise of “Sgt.,Pepper”

[@TimKaseyMythHealer]

Interesting factoid about ELO. The guy behind the band was once the start and stop tape machine operator for the Beatles. If you watch the Beatles movie on the Disney Channel they make mention of this. I believe he was an assistant all through many other recordings before he ended up doing his own thing. I would imagine he picked up on all the tricks used, watching the hit song writers/producers.

[@jcomm120]

Still luv this song, one of my middle school faves, thanks for this fascinating analysis!!!!

[@TheTjoconnor]

I knew there were shenanigans on this track

[@LanceHall]

The Beatles "Rain" from April 1966 had a radically slowed down backing track.

[@jayrussell3796]

What a grand channel !! I love learning this stuff, especially from old school. Thanks. Got my subscription. Can't wait to see all the new stuff ! I'd like to hear you try the guitar in Spirit In the Sky ! Maybe even Crimson and Clover ?

[@alexanderguesthistorical7842]

I never knew it was slowed down! Cool.

[@hethaerto1]

I love it!

[@mortonschmorton5249]

These videos are so sick. Please never stop doing then

[@zikandgroovefr]

I love this sound when I started to learn drum as a kid. Great video and thank you guys!

[@csjames69]

Love to hear Bruce Gary’s drumming on My Sharona and the flam technique.

[@jhughs3]

Parka stuffed into the kick drum... you are my people!

[@naimusic362]

Greetings from Liverpool England!! First time I’ve tuned in here and wow, that remake of DBMD is really great so well done guys, Love the legendary ELO & Jeff Lynne❤️😎👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@mathumphreys]

Good work, that was fun and interesting.

[@mjdwyer3266]

The drum track they used was from the song “On the Run”

[@rinosphere]

Awesome. Any hints on the compressor you used? Would love to hear your take on Lee Perry's Black Ark studio - esp the hihats. I suspect he slowed the tape too.

[@eDWICHt]

That was awesome! Love me some fun fact history stuff!

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

Very interesting video! Concerning studio tech, The Cure's 'A Forrest' comes to mind. I remember reading somewhere that the drum recording techniques in that song were rather non-standard. Would love to see it replicated.

[@Merlincat007]

Cool! I do think you can get most of this kinda sound on the drum kit side with loosened snare wires and bigger hihats

[@manupbritain5232]

The second I heard the snare I can hear that affect being used by so many classic greats. It sounds just like Fleetwood Mac.

[@robertstewart239]

Amazing how creative they had to be back in the seventies, but it proves that where there's a will there's a way. Queen's Prophet Song is another example. Brian May said they literally had miles of tape running round the studio, on top of cupboards and desks and all over the floor to get the overdubs right. As for Don't Bring Me Down, a little bit of a disappointment. I always imagined Bev Bevan knocking away at the drums with all his might, giving it his all rather than a slowed down version of On the Run. Not mentioned in the video, but I also always imagined him slamming down his sticks in exhaustion at the very end. Now they tell me that sound was actually a recording of a fire door bouncing shut. Awww! But Discovery is still one of my all-time favourite albums. I spent Christmas 1979 and New Year in hospital with appendicitis. When I got home, the first thing I did was listen to Discovery and Mike Oldfield Exposed. A bit high brow for a boy of 13, but there you go!

[@thepofmeister]

Superb!

[@Sadsoft]

This breakdown is great but this song really brings me down

[@JohanSegeborn]

Great video!

[@jonathanbyrdmusic]

This is great. Jessica is an incredibly versatile drummer. Inspiring all around.

[@nicoguarini28]

Anyone else think of Priest's "Living after midnight", when listening to that drumbeat slowed down?

[@macronencer]

My siblings and I had this record when it came out, and I think it might very possibly have been the one we played loudest on our parents' stereo when they were out :)

[@infamousT]

Uncanny! Well done!

[@petermaffei8687]

What compressor was used on the final drum mix? Felt like he hit the “now make this awesome” button at the very end lol

[@justinromani1806]

Yeah, I definitely wish they gave detail on the eq and compression they did.

[@RocknJazzer]

He said it was a 1176 set super compressed

[@emtfireman813]

At the beginning, as you were showing the sound of each mic, I kept getting the song, "Fortunate Son" running through my head.

[@garyjlandeck]

Loved this one! Thanks for putting it together. Those mics, tho...$$😳

[@morioh6505]

Please do disorder by joy division

[@cloneroom]

I have actually never watched this series before......hooked I always loved the drums in that song ......brilliant.

[@tenacioustravis]

Very close but ELO's snare when struck has an element of sound like one of those bang snaps fireworks that you throw on the ground to me. Subscribing.

[@BobSchoepenjr]

Great job, never knew this although I saw ELO at Wembley’s….

[@blaster-zy7xx]

I kept waiting for the guitar to start playing the first four descending notes.

[@bazza5699]

which track is it taken from.. cos the track before don't bring me down is 'wishin' which is a ballad.. do you mean 'on the run'?

[@eden-xf2rf]

would be nice to see the EQ and Compressor settings you added to the slowed drums at the end

[@pizzagogo6151]

I know nothing about drum but it surprises me manufacturers havnt come up a a slightly better technical solution beyond “ stuffing a bunch of random jackets” into the kick drum😅

[@m00n1]

New ACOUSTIJACKET. Crisper highs and deeper lows!!! $599.

[@SteveOuimette]

Sounds fantastic. Loved this song for my entire life and it's always fun to hear recreations. Jeff Lynne is a master and you did it proud. You didn't slow down the video too, did you? Did you just have Jessica play along with the slowed performance after the fact?

[@steveglover6411]

I think it’s more likely On The Run (that has the same beat only faster) and not the track before which is Wishing.

[@sam-no5qb]

very cool, I want to see EQ and compression too though!

[@b.powell3480]

Interesting video !

[@PhilipvanderMatten]

I thought that it was also the case that he didn't use the Dolby A when played back.

[@rekindle]

When you use that varispeed technique in Pro Tools - using Elastic Audio, is that actually running the sample clock speed slower or doing some kind of pitch shifting? I know you can drop Pro Tools to half speed for playback or recording and it does that with no loss of quality or any of the side effects of pitch shifting and time stretch... I had a DAW in the 90s called Soundscape and it had a varispeed control exactly like a tape machine but I've never seen that on another DAW.

[@stephenjohnson7519]

Very good 👍

[@tomisgood]

ON THE RUN - That's the name of the song the drums were like taken from. I have no idea why you wouldn't just say the name of the song somewhere in the video or in the description. I had to scrub through the entire album looking for the drum beat because you literally refer to it as "another song" EVERY TIME it's referenced. Not sure why you wouldn't just say the name of the song, almost felt intentional. Maybe I'm alone in this, but It's like nails on a chalkboard to me that in a video with so much detail and information like this you would repeatedly omit such an obvious and interesting detail. SUPER ANNOYING!

[@Street-shitter]

“We’re like taken from”……. Or just taken from. Spazzie🤡🤛🏻

[@jayall00]

This was amazing to see. For years I've been trying to figure out everything that went into Bev Bevan's kit, from the cymbals he used to the snare sound (there's not much info out there). This one was unique, probably cause bev wasn't in the scene. I always thought he used Avedis A hi hats. Does anyone know if the dark K's in this video were used in other albums?

[@oblitafier]

He keeps saying they, when he should be saying Jeff Lynne. E.L.O. IS Jeff Lynne, including the production. The man is a genius. Makes me wonder why they didn’t just ask him.

[@sewerfruit5638]

omg ELO invented the slowed + reverb genre!!

[@PassengerPigeonsLE]

I think this sort of technique was used by the engineer on that album, Mack, quite a bit. Shows up in later ELO (Time) as well as Spark’s two albums they recorded with him (Whomp, and Angst in My Pants). The Sparks examples are pretty blatant, with “Angst in my Pants” and “Upstairs” using the exact same hyper-compressed drum loop on two different albums.

[@JemmyJoeAGoGo]

Okay, but how did you get the video slowed down to match the tempo shift. Having x amount of frames percent rarely match’s up the granular changes of audio time stretching. I’ve had a lot of difficulties with that.

[@Reverb]

"I synced the full-speed video and audio, then I lined it up with the slowed-down audio (matching the first hit on each), and then I rate-stretched the full-speed video/audio in tandem until both of the audio waveforms were lined up. It took a little bit of finessing but it synced relatively easily. I'm sure I could've calculated it based on the BPM shift, but I'm not very math oriented." - John (the Editor)

[@stevem-h3562]

BRRRRRUUUUCE!!!!

[@ryanevans795]

Grooooos

[@morpher44]

very cool.

[@aaronanderson9141]

What were your compressor settings that really brought the whole track to life on the final mix? Thanks for another great video!

[@allgonewrongful]

My question as well.

[@reneelyons6836]

Is the drum beat from the song "On the run Again"? Just wondering

[@daftdoggo7662]

I would love to know how to get a snare drum sound like the one on Bowie’s Low??????? Seems impossible to attain

[@bengterikeriksson325]

I'm not a drummer and certainly not a studio producer But i "heard somewhere" that MAC used a second base drum.microphone on the flor att a certain distance from.the first that laid together should have made that astonishing crash sound that i think did not come front in this decompose.

[@noiselabproject9659]

Not particularly an ELO fan but always loved this tune since it was released when I was a kid, so that`s how they did that ..... and ah so that`s what ticks`n`samples means in ProTools ....... I`ll remember that

[@acb9896]

Bev Bevan is/was totally under rated.

[@ROOKTABULA]

I BLASTED that track over and over when it came out. It was like speed in my system. (not that I've done speed). I wish I was able to feel the kind of electricity that music used to create in me when I was young.

[@marcofioravanti4176]

Thanks, awesome - sounds great! Just..two small things I´m hearing in the original: Hihats are accented a bit more on the kicks. Drums are pitched down a tad lower, to my ears.

[@garywatson3778]

That U87 you're using as an OH looks like it's seen some things and been some places. It has obviously been well 'loved.'

[@UCS0608]

2:06 The loop is from the song "On the run" from the same album.

[@TomasiAkimeta]

yeah, my most absolute favorite snare sound in the world is a low tuned Ludwig Supralite. Just sounds so good to me

[@MrStupidHead]

I like the "been in the studio for 2 days straight and the coke boy hasn't gotten here yet, but is it light out yet?" stylish look.

[@rickya3877]

Great stuff...love me some ELO!

[@robertl.6919]

We used to record Drums at 30 ips on our 24 track Otari and then put it back at 15 ips with Dolby SR for the rest of the overdubs. Crazy sound... But you need a solid fast drummer to pull this out...

[@pa2kas]

This technique is far from groundbraking for the time (1979) - During the late 60s Zappa was combining material taken from completely unrelated tracks (even from other albums!) and played them back in different speeds - You can hear it for example in "nine types of industrial pollution" from uncle meat. The Beatles are also using slowed down drums in "I'm only sleeping" in 1966 (!).