Amy Winehouse's One-Mic "Rehab" Drum Sound | What's That Sound? Ep.4

[@rt-uh6mt]

3:08 raw drum sound vs 5:18 with Pultec EQ vs 6:12 with tape saturation vs 7:30 with 33609 parallel compression plus additional EQ and samples

[@jules8159]

You’re a god

[@naymapalo]

🙌🏽

[@Johnnybananass-_]

Daptone's studio drum recording usually uses 3 drum mics, An SH55 on kick, a 57 between a condensor over the drummer's shoulder, the same step when I worked with the Daptone's live . running backline

[@jm_lb]

there's also a key element for achieving this sound, which the engineer didn't mention... the player. Jessica totally nailed it

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

totally

[@stevebanning902]

give us a break simp

[@outernational]

HOMER STEINWEISS

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

@@outernational 1000%

[@emilsunter3596]

Agreed! She’s got chops! Very powerful pocket player! Keep inspiring us Jessica!

[@Merlincat007]

No mention of the spring reverb? That's a pretty big part of the sound.

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

agree

[@nikolaisliwerski]

Same thoughts

[@UnseenEternalStudios]

Well they can’t reveal the secret sauce.

[@brenttaylor4618]

Not trying to be snarky but I’m sure it’s plate not spring.

[@samoht77]

Exactly

[@Intaminator]

I'm not even a drummer, but man, that was an interesting video. As a bedroom guitarist it's kinda mindblowing to see how much you can add to the vibe of a recording in post.

[@joekennick71]

Same here! i honestly came here so i could record my own drums with minimal money spent on mics

[@StandbyCymbalist]

you could also do that on the way in if you don't have commitment issues.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

@@StandbyCymbalist I love committing. It's the brave thing to do. Also saves a lot of hemming and hawing. Get it down and move along.

[@ScottFairley]

@@joekennick71 If you can't record it with an SM57, question if it's worth recording at all.

[@louislouis5290]

y’all are legends for actually bringing back Amy to do the drumming ❤

[@atgred]

Drums Neve 33609 compressor, Waves Q4 Paragraphic Equaliser, Empirical Labs Distressor, Fairchild compressor, spring reverb "I loved having the drums on one mono track, because there are no radical choices to make and you get the backing track balanced quickly, but I did spend quite a long time adding bass drums and snare samples [on the tracks called 'Ilk1', 'B11' and 'SRKc'] using Sound Replacer. I use the 'B11' bass drum sound in many of my mixes, it's a sound I put together. There's only so much you can do with one drum track, but I would have brightened it up to get as much of the snare on the track as possible. I did not worry too much about the low end, because I knew that would come from the samples. I also had to make sure that the mid-range was clear, because there's a lot of brass on the track, which almost plays the rhythm as well. So a lot of EQ'ing is about creating space. "All the drums were on a subgroup that went to bus 3 and 4 on the Neve, which went to a Neve 33609 compressor and a Prism EQ. I also used one side of a Fairchild on the original drums as an insert. Some things, like the samples, did not go to bus 3 and 4, which is why I had two bass-drum samples. One bassdrum sample went to bus 3 and 4, and B11 went to bus 1 and 2, the main mix bus. So I could hit the Neve compressor pretty hard, with a very quick release, keep B11 clean, and balance the two bassdrum sounds. Digidesign's Smack compressor was used to add drive to the bass track during the chorus only. Digidesign's Smack compressor was used to add drive to the bass track during the chorus only. "The Waves Q4 EQ was about taking out unwanted spikes. This is exactly the same principle as with the Q10 used on Amy's voice. With one drum track you have little flexibility, and you can see that the Q's on the Q4 are all at maximum. I'm cutting at 155, 218 and 423Hz. These frequencies are really close together, and you'd be amazed what the track would sound like without them. 423 is the lower end of the snare, it probably had a honk in it. "I also used a Distressor, which has a nice setting called British Mode, which gives you real bite. It's not a matter of nuking or slamming the drums with the Distressor, and again similar to Amy's vocals, I sent this to a Fairchild, which just glues it together. Apart from the spring reverb, which I recorded back in [to the track called 'rhsR'], there were no other effects on the drums. I had the drum spring on a separate fader and was riding it. You can hear on the track that the drum track is dryer in the verses, while the reverb comes right up in the chorus and the bridge. There are a lot of spring reverbs on this track, which contributes to the retro feel. I'm not a big fan of digital reverbs anyway. Some of the spring reverbs would have been recorded at the Dap Kings' studio, and some I added here in London."

[@yebwulebdullah]

Probably just an incredible room, incredible drummer, incredible mic, incredible gear, incredible processing, incredible take, as always, the secret is everything

[@citadelasoundproduction9412]

You don't really need a specially good room and microphone for this. And not some amazing gear, you don't need these compressors, tapes... Any distortion, EQ and compressor will do. But, yes, you need an incredible drummer.

[@third_ear]

Soundgarden's Superunknown has an absolutely divine snare sound that I'd love to see tackled

[@rolandmdill]

There are some very extensive interviews with Michael Beinhorn who produced the album on the Produce Like A Pro youtube channel, gives you a pretty good insight how he created that drum sound. And yes, it is certainly one of the greatest drum sounds ever!

[@User-jk8wq]

Greg Kepplinger 14x8 snare made from a huge piece of old pipe I believe! As the guy above me said, Produce Like a Pro has an awesome video with Michael Beinhorn about the song. Definitely give it a watch

[@jingleskhanaudioproductions]

@@rolandmdill i saw that and it blew my mind when Michael said no additional treatments were done. just the studio sound we hear is on the record

[@rolandmdill]

@@jingleskhanaudioproductions yes that is incredibly good engineering!

[@alvaro.makes.music1]

I'd love to know how the snare on Meshuggah's Nothing album (1st version) got recorded. Thinking of Stengah, or Glints Collide

[@amplifier2]

„Samples on the kick and the snare“ - so that‘s the „one mic trick“.

[@Sunkenballs12]

The sound in the video is a complete drum sound its self.

[@citadelasoundproduction9412]

I'm willing to bet these samples play a minimal role in the character of sound. They are probably just used to add some punch and consistency for the mix. The character comes from all the things they're talking about above.

[@japmn1]

Yeah, I do one mic all the time and as soon as he said samples I was like... "COWARDS!" JK.

[@RhettShull]

I love these videos so much.

[@liamlafortune2907]

Agreed, Imma try this later lol

[@usagi2988]

I... LOVE these videos (along with the Sound Recipe videos). So incredibly useful for recording technique ideas!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Brilliant. Thanks for the walk through.

[@benjaminrooker6528]

Hey love your channel Alex!

[@simongarrettmusic]

Great video(s) - really useful information and ideas that can be applied to any budget

[@Fitzliputzli23]

Finally! The Rehab-drum-sound is the closest reproduction of the late 60s "motownesque" drum sound i've ever heard. I am after this for years. I kept on trying and asking people without much result. Now you guys pretty much nailed it!

[@mattragan1142]

Love the drum sound on that song, and it is THE one that has always jumped out at me as "best sounding on my car stereo", with it's ability to retain such character despite competition from road noise etc. Really appreciate this video! And a free sample pack included??!! Super cool, thanks!!

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

from my memory daptone studio has the engineer gabe roth's old car speakers in the control room as a second monitor set and that's where it was recorded. may be wrong on that cuz i havent watched their studio tour for a lot of years but yeh

[@feezo]

The way you explain everything in a way that anyone from beginners to experts can understand is great. Most people using this type of gear explain everything in the most complicated way possible

[@placardismo]

Great video rvrb! Would love to see videos on Warpaint, Flaming Lips and King Gizzard maybe! Greetings from Argentina!

[@SteakMusic]

Such a great video! Would love to see a What’s That Sound video that attempts to capture Abe Cunningham’s drum sound in White Pony. Love the sound of the kit (and playing) in Digital Bath.

[@Reverb]

Ah, that's a great idea. We'll check it out and see what we can do. Thanks!

[@satellitesv03]

Omg yes

[@bcornels]

Second that! It's exactly what the North Star for drums is for me. Abe is a real player.

[@MrJackrockerman]

Abe ❤️🙌

[@evanlinsey]

this was great! would have loved to have seen the EQ/parallel compression/sample stuff in as much detail as the recording/processing :)

[@foxdropp]

Totally agree!

[@OnDaBeatBoy]

true it sounded like the other 50% of the sound!

[@Boleskinebeatz]

Nice video… Years ago out of frustration with what Butch Vig calls the “papery rattle” that you get from micing a snare drum underneath we spend an evening trying different approaches. I got the drummer to play and an engineer friend of mine to hold the snare bottom mic in his hand and put it anywhere they wanted, there was no control room window so I couldn’t see what they were doing. After 15 to 20 minutes I suddenly shouted stop! The killer “under snare“ position turned out to be right at the side of the drum. I’ve pretty much used it ever since both in the studio and live. Of course that tends to confuse people who assume it’s in the wrong place and often try to move it. Did that with a well-known band at a festival in the UK and their Backline guy who was a particular brand of idiot and had been a pain all day made my monitor engineer move it even though he explained that’s where it was for the soundcheck. The mic got moved and the snare sound disappeared down the toilet, I’d handed over to the band’s engineer at that point.. he just couldn’t work out why his snare didn’t sound as good as mine earlier in the day. Try it.. it’s a top tip.

[@LateNightMessages]

would there be any way for you to record a small video to demonstrate this technique!

[@djentlover]

What angle did that microphone have? Was it pointing at the center, or the edge across, or the edge close to it?

[@fm694]

Met Bob Clearmountain at a seminar a few years back. I’m still fascinated by his drum sound for Summer of 69.

[@brandonmshrock]

Thank you! I'm setting up a drum kit for my church this week and I basically only have SM57s to work with so I'm totally trying this micing technique!

[@mrnitin6057]

I have the same mic, the Shure SM57. I always liked the beat sound of the Rehab song. It's captivating. It reminded me of the beat from the Motown song - Will you still love me tomorrow - The Shirelles

[@matthewlegermusic]

This was really sick, would love to see more of these!

[@OB-LA]

I almost didn't believe the title at first! I've pulled some great drum sounds with a three mic setup (kick & crossed overheads) but I'm super excited to try this out at some point as well. Great video!

[@0riole11]

This was recorded by one of my favorite producer/engineers, Gabriel Roth. Have a listen to his work on Sharon Jones' albums (all of them) and Booker T. Jones' "Road from Memphis"

[@Sharkbate211]

I love the fact he chases what sounds good directly at the source as a group, like if a trumpet is too loud, instead of turning it down or moving mic positions, he just asks then to move back

[@tdrum21]

Love the vintage/authentic sound he gets from those groups but in his own modern way. Great groups. Saw Sharon Jones live, they were amazing of course. Soul Revue style show 👌🏽🔥

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

@@Sharkbate211 this happened to me a few weeks back. i was wondering why my tambourines (shaking 8th notes and striking the hand on beat 3) were way too loud on the third beat. i was trying to compress it loads and it still wasnt taming that strike enough. someone goes "why dont you just turn 90degrees to the left so the strike is furthest from the mic". a big learning moment

[@andersingram]

feel like this kind of drum sound is one of his signatures ... i.e. something like how long do I have to wait ...

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

@@andersingram love that record. for me its always that little guitar run inbetween sharon's vocals that im listening for. cute.but yeh i think they did that whole album maybe on 8 tracks..

[@Jackson-ms8zs]

Love this series. And such an impressive sound for one mic.

[@eDWICHt]

This was freakin' great on all levels, thanks so much!

[@VicenteMalave]

Thank you, these videos are always great, and I'm inspired to go to my studio and try this tonight! Great job, great video - tight editing, great sound, easy to follow. Can't wait to see more of these.

[@KASTET-cx6uv]

One more proof that expensive gear is cool but you still can produce great music using good old 57! Thank you!

[@GloveBunniesVideos]

What a great series! Thanks, Reverb.

[@ekcrisp1]

girl is low key killing it with the groove

[@niqulusviii987]

Plus she has great looking arms too!

[@moerahman6749]

The drummer has crazy skills.

[@mathack97]

Would have loved to see how the samples were added to the sound. How did you trigger them separately with only one drum mic available?

[@tophergonzales6778]

I'm guessing they were programmed in by hand.

[@lisetteblogs]

Not a drummer, just a huge Amy fan. This was so cool to watch! Great job!

[@monfronoriginal]

Homer steinweiss and Nick Movshon might be my favorite rhythm section of the 2010s. Honorable mention Leon Michels.

[@francoisdefrance4024]

Great video, GREAT sounding drums, great free sample pack... Awesome job, thank you very much !

[@bass6309]

This is fantastic and inspiring. Jessica rocks!

[@TheLotionInTheBasket]

i'd totally enjoy a breakdown of the ringo starr towel drumkit used in the get back documentary

[@intense0excellent]

A great video AND a sample pack. This is why I stay sub'd to Reverb, you all rock!

[@PatrickNorris10]

I’d love to hear you break down the drums on Punisher and Stranger in the Alps. They sound so cinematic and huge even though they’re played so sparingly.

[@bradleyduer]

Steve Jordan's snare on "Assassin" by John Mayer and Sean Kinney's kit on the Alice in Chains Unplugged recordings (No Excuses in particular) are two of my favorite sounds ever.

[@indoorpark6577]

Did they not mention the insane amount of spring reverb that is on the final product or did I miss it? Is the reverb from the samples they added. Kinda strange how the video is so detailed up until a certain point and then they just gloss over the final steps

[@OI-ui4sq]

If you listen to the iso track it sounds nothing like what they did just totally off

[@shortymcsteve]

Yeah I was wondering when they were going to mention that. Like you said, seems so weird not to mention this for such a detailed how-to video.

[@schance1666]

Killer! How about Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" drum sound - my favorite!

[@the72u7h4]

I love room mics vs having every single drum and cymbal mic'd up. I love me some mics in the corner and some overhead. I really like this one 57 sitting on the kit and just bombing it with mass eq and it sounds amazing.

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

it almost always sounds better to my ears also. it works for some technical genres but for vibey music, less mics and a great drummer / room is always cool

[@ahmetcangokceer]

"If you dig what you hear" I dig what I hear while thats written on the intro :)

[@johnkaplun9619]

Great video! I'm recording to 8 track tape so rather that try mixing a bunch of mics down in phase by myself with the monitors in the same room, I'm gonna try this with a 55

[@brunosilviomartins]

Thank you for the freebie!!

[@jingleskhanaudioproductions]

you 2 are so cool :) thanks for that elaborate breakdown!

[@groovy2shoes]

Love this video! Amazing job breaking it down! You all do such great work. Though you guys really should credit the original team that made it happen - they deserve a shout out for sure

[@joeschlicht]

I hear a spring reverb in there too. Nice.

[@abelstypewriters]

Love this. So straight forward.

[@xdoctorblindx]

Really enjoyed this!

[@johnsonqjohnson]

I would love to hear Alex VH's drum sound from the fair warning album - break down

[@geoffcowan2384]

Excellent job! I bet this is similar to how Lenny Kravitz tracked some of his drum stuff.

[@mistergrooveman1018]

Good job, à lot of fun and work ! Thanks !!

[@jjvillafanemusic]

I love everything you guys have been putting out. I can't get enough of it! It'd be amazing if you guys could breakdown the drum sound of The Steps by HAIM..!

[@AmyWinehouse.914]

One of the all time greatest drummers was Ronnie Tutt who sadly died last year. Ironically he was born on the exact same day as my dad 12th March 38. On Amy's Rehab the drums were played by Homer Steinweiss but in the video you see Nathen Allen who played live with Amy from time to time.Others who played drums for Amy were Frank Tontoh, Troy Miller, Questlove and producer Salaam Remi who played on some songs but not live. Salaam produced half the Rehab album, the Frank album and some on the Hidden treasures album. There's even some footage of Amy on drums..... but she's certainly not playing them as they're meant to be played .

[@jetyler3400]

Never realized how similar the drum part is to the Monster Mash drum part...thks for that.

[@jean-pierrerobert9327]

Hi Reverb! I would love to see you work on the fantastic drum part of "Long Long Long" from The Beatles' White Album.

[@stevegrantley4588]

Great work 👍

[@gustavoviveros8394]

Enjoy it so much!!!! Thank you 👍🏻

[@LeonStax]

Excellent vid. Any idea how many snare strands there are on the wires on the acrolite? Thanks. Always love to hear the stuff from the Daptone crew. Please get Homer Steinweiss on to talk about his drums... For hours...

[@raimundoarriagada3779]

There's a blog/video about "Daptone Records" and how they record that album. Really awesome sound and techniques from that Label/Studio :))

[@tomburton8645]

I'd love to see you guys try and take on the Amen break. Also, Sissy Strutt by The Meters.

[@davidhamilton7780]

And great playing. Thanks!

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

should really credit the studio, engineer and drummer which off the top of my head is daptone, gabriel roth, homer steinweiss. the 55 in that position is the home technique of that group of musicians. also reverb is a big part of the snare sound for me and could have been spoken about. aside from that loved this video thanks for putting it together x. for anyone who got this far in this comment, for an inbetween of 2" tape and a plugin, you can roll with a RND542 or something like the Kush Audio Fatso for hardware tape emulators.

[@lautaronahuelperuccajover7455]

Dude! This is amazing!

[@the_adam_gallant]

Great job on this vid. Others in the same vein would be: Vulpeck, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Keep 'em comin'.

[@freddiefl0wers]

very cool!

[@donovanbrett9285]

Flaming lips - a race for the prize drum sound would be cool!

[@debralynnpaxton5238]

LOVE the fact that you're using analogue/2-" tape ❤ Love the smell of the tape on the machine in the studio. ❤ Sweet memories of being with my Dad in the recording studios out in Hollywood, CA and Nashville, TN. ❤

[@leonalexandre1451]

I'd love to know how to get dilla sound

[@joermnyc]

Love how it’s the opposite of what most people think for setting up around drums, “we need to put mics on everything and somehow hope to isolate them from each other” (thinking of the rumored recording of something by Joy Division (or New Order?) where the lunatic producer made the drummer play each piece of his kit separately in isolation and then it was reassembled into a drum track later on. Also rumors that he put the drum kit and drummer on the roof for a track, and then forgot the poor guy was up there.)

[@alejandromagallan7506]

QOTSA did this with Dave Grohl on Songs for the Deaf, can’t argue with the results on the record but it certainly doesn’t seem like the most efficient process lol

[@jacksonallen5667]

@@alejandromagallan7506The only part that was played separately on that QOTSA album was the cymbals.

[@nedim_guitar]

This is really cool!!

[@THXBeats]

Great video! Where's the sample pack?

[@thecaveofthedead]

I loved that. I'd like to see a breakdown of the Rolling Stones late 1960s Olympic Studios drum sound. I'm a bit of a novice. I can find pics of the two mic setup. But much of it is still a mystery. The kick drum sounds like a leather suitcase being hit with a cricket bat. Would love to know how to get that drum sound.

[@Boleskinebeatz]

For the Stones in that era at Olympic I’m guessing that would be the classic Glynn Johns three mic technique which is pretty easy to find online

[@kale.online]

Jessica is such a gem ✌️

[@buhlir]

Awesome! How about Bonhams drum sound on Good times bad times! I have been perplexed by how they got the exact sonic quality of that song and really that record. would be awesome to see how you guys would tackle that.

[@christopantz]

oh my god this is a godsend

[@seventeendegree]

The Ronettes - Be My Baby …has quite a unique sound. I wonder if it got a special treatment by Phil Spector. Great video by the way!

[@mrufino1]

Lots of echo, recorded in mono. Probably a kick mic and overhead. Great player (Hal Blaine). All of the musicians were tracking together in the room, so a lot of mic bleed too. I agree 100%, Great sounding song and arrangement! I know Brian Wilson says it’s his favorite song of all time.

[@Hepnotical]

Yeah, from what I recall they used a Sony C37 tube condenser for the overhead at Gold Star. And then yep, lots of bleed into other mics in the room, with the final important ingredient being copious amounts of reverb from their echo chamber down in the basement. If you’re not familiar, that’s just a big empty reverberant room(usually completely tiled) with a speaker at one end and a mic at the other. Send what you want reverb on through the speaker then mix in the wet sound of the mic down there with the original track. That sure was a great sounding chamber they had!

[@iansmirna5183]

The EQ part is impressive. I wish we could see the diagram to figure out in a blink what frequencies are boosted/tackled.

[@DanielS10291]

i boosted at 60hz, using a 57 in the same place, in a treated room and into a neve 511, but i have nowhere near the same level of bass - so i would also love to see the eq graph!

[@BobSchoepenjr]

Masters at Work!

[@ryank5115]

Was not expecting the combination of tape machine and drum samples.

[@danbronson]

What’s the reverb used? Sounds great!

[@SIAVRDADH]

Thanks for putting this all together, appreciate the insights. So as you suggested here it goes, I’m curious about the difference in 808’s and 909’s?

[@RiffHarvester]

How about Phil Colins' drum sound from "In The Air Tonight"?

[@Y0_ltr]

So amazing to have such a good take with only a SM57 :D I'm wondering if there were a spring reverb added in post production or if it was natural...

[@GeoZero]

Amazing!

[@sph33_]

Nice. Hopefully the sample pack works with the op-1?

[@BatarajaHarahap]

And of course still with adding some samples

[@ryecean9896]

The sample download doesn’t work for me on my MacBook which is a shame as the drums sound great. Doesn’t appear to be a zip file. I click on it and it says the document “Modern-Retro Drum Sample Pack in the style of “ could not be opened. The file isn’t in the correct format. The file might be corrupted, truncated, or in a an unexpected format. Any help would be appreciated thanks 🙏

[@Reverb]

Interesting-not sure what the issue could be. If you haven't tried already, deleting your first download and re-downloading might work. If it doesn't, feel free to email [e-mail] and we can work it out.

[@dizzyvibe]

Very nice video, wich bpm is the loop?

[@DanielS10291]

Can we do steve albini - surfer rosa/pod?

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Can we please have a step-by-step "before and after"?

[@piggycity]

Can you do a “whats that sound” for Hallelujah from the Drumetrics Hertz-EP. Thank you!

[@stevenluna3756]

damnnn , I thought I could achieve this sound at my home studio but once I heard that tape machine..... yaa i don't think this sound is possible without the tape machine.

[@MG-vo7is]

This was cool.

[@JohnBogansky]

Can you tackle the snare sounds from "It's Too Late To Turn Back Now" from Cornelius Brothers and "I'm Your Puppet" from James and Bobby Purify? Both are smackin' 70s Motown snare sounds.