Lets talk Nordstrom for a moment

[guitarguru777]

I have a band coming into the studio next week and the main thing they are going for is the "I Killed The Prom Queen" Tom sound, personally I feel they are a bit too HUGE, but that's what the band whats and that's what I am going to attempt to give them.

Anyone have any insight other then TONS OF THICK REVERB and TUNE HEM REALLY LOW to get that HUGE tom sound they have? I have been doing some reading up on Nordstrom and his techniques but I have not found anything that specifically references this bands and the toms in particular.

Any insight would be helpful...

Thanks

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

I have positively nothing to say that can help you... but, and call me crazy, I feel like those drums, and that album in general, was recorded outside, at night, on the top of a mountain in sweden, while it's snowing, and only during a full moon.

that's what it sounds like to me, haha

 

[guitarguru777]

HAHAHA ... I hear ya man.

I don't think I have EVER heard bigger toms in my life. Its FUCKING INSANE how HUGE they are. I mean granted Nordstrom has always had some pretty beefy and thick toms but those things are fucking nuts. Its like they used fucking tympani drums recorded in a cave infested with Gregorian monks....lol

 

[JeffTD]

Have the drummer get clear Emperor heads and really emphasize that point - they sound awesome, period, but will let you tune them as low as needed for that rolling thunder.

Also note that it might not be an insanely thick verb, but rather a dark one - that entire album is coated in it!

 

[guitarguru777]

Unforunately the only thing I have as a reference is 128 mp3's ..... wish I had higher quality. I just don't think if I order it I will have the CD in time.

 

[greyskull]

someone here will know...

 

[gabriel g.]

Didnt listen to that CD in ages.
But if I remember correctly it sounded extremly sampled.

Maybe make samples of the toms in your bathroom

 

[Mattayus]

Maybe make samples of the toms in your bathroom

Haha yeah man, I was going to say - usually huge toms are the result of a lot of room. It hit me one day after fucking with room mic levels on a project (the guy wanted a real Vinnie Paul vibe), the more "air" the toms had, the bigger they sounded period. With the close-mic'd track coming up behind for the impact/attack they just sound fucking enormous! So yeah maybe sample the toms somewhere really roomy first, then track drums in your normal area afterwards? I'm not the most experienced recording engineer but it's just a thought!

 

[RedDog]

Find and kill a werewolf, skin him and hang him from pure silver meat hooks 6 feet above your toms.
Take the powdered left testicle of a silverback gorrilla and shake it around the kit with a salt shaker made from two turtleshells killed by a spear made from cannibal bones and harvested on the amazon river.
Summon the demon Leviathan to lend his hand to tune the drums.
Finally, smear lamb's blood on the shells and pepper them with shark teeth.

Abandon all hope for an afterlife and record.

That's how I do it, anyway.

Go find a big reflective-ass room and sample the kit.

 

[DeclanWhite]

TONS OF THICK REVERB and TUNE HEM REALLY LOW

thats all i got really. apart from yeah, try really reverby rooms? maybe a mix of both.

that album is bro0tal apart from kinda sounding a litle rough in parts

 

[Tommy Gun]

If you can get a good room mic going man, sidechain the toms to it, like you would do to get a BIGASS snare, black album style. I'd probably end up blending in some Echo Boy and Decapitator too, but that would be because I can't help myself.

 

[the decline]

Darkest hour-hidden hands of a sadist nation. Another similiar killer production from nordstrom

 

[guitarguru777]

Ya starting this next Sunday and been doing TONS of tests this week. Havent quite got it yet, but I am sure I will get it by then

 

[mmmatthew]

If you arent able to achieve it naturally, Sturgis has some great samples of some massively big sounding toms for sale on his site. "Detuned Series" I think they are called.

 

[mmmatthew]

Didnt listen to that CD in ages.
But if I remember correctly it sounded extremly sampled.

Hmmm not really man, fairly natural sounding to my ears actually.

 

[DeclanWhite]

^lol

 

[mmmatthew]

^lol

Yes, i am sure that there is plenty of sample augmentation/blends, or perhaps all the drums are fully replaced...However, it is done tastefully and they are mixed in well, so the end product does not sound at all "ridiculously sample replaced."

In fact, Ive never heard ANYTHING come out of studio Fredman that sounds nasty sample replaced, and I would expect most knowledgeable people of modern metal production to agree with me on that.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Actually Nordstrom hasn't done as much sample replacement as you might think on his albums. He's got a good drum room and he likes to get the sound he wants from the kit. The Darkest Hour record mentioned above is a perfect example. The drums on that record are all natural.

 

[Jaymz]

Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia...that is all

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I had luck getting a very successful nordstromish mix by doing the following:

-Group all drums
-Add verb to drums, but keep it in the midrange
-Take a good cut out of the midrange on the drum bus
-Guitars will fill in the gap, but be sure to low pass them

So you lose a bit of the midrange on the drums, but by doing that you can increase the room verb without cluttering up the mids on guitars and vox. This turned out to be a great mix for me and got me noticed enough to get my foot in the door.