- Apr 20, 2005
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I've recently been asked to produce a retro Heavy Speed Metal band.
The idea is to find a good balance between a retro early 80's vibe and modern clarity which is a very interesting challenge in my book.
Reference names were thrown like Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Killers, Riot's Fire Down Under (some of my favorite albums ever so that's great), also later mid 80's German bands... etc
I've been giving a lot of thought to this and wanted to try to remove a tom reso head since it was a common practice in the 80's to have a better grasp at how it would influence the sound and see if it would give that retro vibe I'm after without committing me too much into something that would sound crappy.
Tought I would share the (unexpected AFAIC) results.
So this is a very old Tama Swingstar 13" tom from my personal kit. It's made of Luan, a cheap wood that was used on entry level kits in the early 80's. I think the whole kit sounds miles better than contemporary entry level Kits made of basswood or poplar.
Anyway...
First things first I recorded the Tom as it is with both Heads on, tuned to what I consider a normal tension for a 13".
I used a simple I5 that was laying around.
Nothing fancy. You can tell the top head is a bit used plus it's a pinstripe which I'm not very fond of but you get the idea.
Normal Tuning Reso Head On
Ok, that's average, nothing to write home about but useable, that's what I'd be normally going for for modern music, with probably a fresher head and a MD421 or a D2 and a slightly refined tuning.
Now removing the reso head:
Same Tuning Reso Head Off
Wow, hold on... That sounds really low, almost like a floor tom.
For shits and giggles, let's put the mic underneath, another common practice back in the days:
Same Tuning Mic Underneath
Fuuuuuck :zombie:
uke: That's horrible. Let's put thye mic back on top and tune the tom to what I expect from a 13"...
High tuning Reso Head off
More like it! It gives indeed a retro vibe without compromising the sound too much. I like it a lot actually.
Now let's compare the initial sound with samples blended in:
Reso Head On 50% samples blended In
Reso Head Off 50 % samples blended in
I think I prefer the Reso Head Off in this case. Might just be the tuning but the Reso Head On sounds a lot messier imo.
Opinions?
The idea is to find a good balance between a retro early 80's vibe and modern clarity which is a very interesting challenge in my book.
Reference names were thrown like Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Killers, Riot's Fire Down Under (some of my favorite albums ever so that's great), also later mid 80's German bands... etc
I've been giving a lot of thought to this and wanted to try to remove a tom reso head since it was a common practice in the 80's to have a better grasp at how it would influence the sound and see if it would give that retro vibe I'm after without committing me too much into something that would sound crappy.

Tought I would share the (unexpected AFAIC) results.
So this is a very old Tama Swingstar 13" tom from my personal kit. It's made of Luan, a cheap wood that was used on entry level kits in the early 80's. I think the whole kit sounds miles better than contemporary entry level Kits made of basswood or poplar.
Anyway...
First things first I recorded the Tom as it is with both Heads on, tuned to what I consider a normal tension for a 13".
I used a simple I5 that was laying around.
Nothing fancy. You can tell the top head is a bit used plus it's a pinstripe which I'm not very fond of but you get the idea.
Normal Tuning Reso Head On
Ok, that's average, nothing to write home about but useable, that's what I'd be normally going for for modern music, with probably a fresher head and a MD421 or a D2 and a slightly refined tuning.
Now removing the reso head:
Same Tuning Reso Head Off
Wow, hold on... That sounds really low, almost like a floor tom.
For shits and giggles, let's put the mic underneath, another common practice back in the days:
Same Tuning Mic Underneath
Fuuuuuck :zombie:

High tuning Reso Head off
More like it! It gives indeed a retro vibe without compromising the sound too much. I like it a lot actually.
Now let's compare the initial sound with samples blended in:
Reso Head On 50% samples blended In
Reso Head Off 50 % samples blended in
I think I prefer the Reso Head Off in this case. Might just be the tuning but the Reso Head On sounds a lot messier imo.
Opinions?