Topic: Thin Lizzy snare drum sound

[Jerome West]

  I would like to have that Thin Lizzy snare drum sound. Does anyone know what snare Brian Downey played or how I can duplicate that sound?

[donelk]

Maybe a Ludwig Supra or metal Rogers Powertone?

[Joe]

To supplement any subsequent, comprehensive replies from those who were there or nearby....

Assuming a constant of the snare used on the Jailbreak album, that's one of those sounds that's more reliant on how the drum is dampened, firstly, and then where the drum is struck...and even how it's mic'ed and compressed, if at all.

If someone said, "Joe, gimme that sound acoustically with what you have", I would take my Supra 400, make sure it has a medium tension on both heads with tightish snares, and then gaffer a wad of tissue on the side on the rim. that being done, i would consistently strike the drum halfway between the center of the head and the rim, off that area of head covered underneath by the snares, though this might vary as the wind. I don't think I would hit the rim, and the butt end of the stick would be used.

I saw in an interview where he played Hayman and Gretsch, mostly...this doesn't help much.

EDIT: Now, let's examine the facts:

 ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMFYs3gfgis#

The Hayman kicks are visible. The snare is definitely a 5-ish and metal. He's using the tip of the stick, whether or not he is rimshotting is anyone's guess, but he's certainly letting the stick fly up. The snare is higher than I remembered.

These live "performances" aren't always accurate, but I haven't seen anything to the contrary that we're seeing anything that would be too different than in the studio...now, assuming that's him in the studio, which...shoot, I'm just having fun then, in which case.

[Tim van de Ven]

To supplement any subsequent, comprehensive replies from those who were there or nearby....

Assuming a constant of the snare used on the Jailbreak album, that's one of those sounds that's more reliant on how the drum is dampened, firstly, and then where the drum is struck...and even how it's mic'ed and compressed, if at all.

If someone said, "Joe, gimme that sound acoustically with what you have", I would take my Supra 400, make sure it has a medium tension on both heads with tightish snares, and then gaffer a wad of tissue on the side on the rim. that being done, i would consistently strike the drum halfway between the center of the head and the rim, off that area of head covered underneath by the snares, though this might vary as the wind. I don't think I would hit the rim, and the butt end of the stick would be used.

I saw in an interview where he played Hayman and Gretsch, mostly...this doesn't help much.

EDIT: Now, let's examine the facts:

 ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMFYs3gfgis#

The Hayman kicks are visible. The snare is definitely a 5-ish and metal. He's using the tip of the stick, whether or not he is rimshotting is anyone's guess, but he's certainly letting the stick fly up. The snare is higher than I remembered.

These live "performances" aren't always accurate, but I haven't seen anything to the contrary that we're seeing anything that would be too different than in the studio...now, assuming that's him in the studio, which...shoot, I'm just having fun then, in which case.

They are miming to the studio track, so it's not going to give a ton of actual performance information.

[Joe]

Yeah, hence my last sentence:

These live "performances" aren't always accurate, but I haven't seen anything to the contrary that we're seeing anything that would be too different than in the studio...now, assuming that's him in the studio, which...shoot, I'm just having fun then, in which case.

with the word performances being quoted so as to acknowledge that this was, in fact, a mime-job.

And, yeah, he looks like he's playing like he usually might, to my eye. But I think my analysis of such a basic, albeit signature sound, will end about there.

[Tim van de Ven]

Yeah, hence my last sentence:

with the word performances being quoted so as to acknowledge that this was, in fact, a mime-job.

And, yeah, he looks like he's playing like he usually might, to my eye. But I think my analysis of such a basic, albeit signature sound, will end about there.

An actual live video would be somewhat more useful. Also, in a lot of studio recordings, it's difficult to tell if the gear was his, or was the studio's gear. Another thing to consider; folks have spoken of the snare sound on AC/DC's album "Back in Black". On another forum, the engineer for that session spoke of Mutt Lange's use of a pitch-shifter on the snare drum to fatten it up. So for thirty years, there were drummers out there trying to "get that sound" without knowing this secret.

[Joe]

The thing is, I tried to acknowledge all of that: that it's not live, whether it's the same equipment, even the same drummer. And, I posted with the understanding that perhaps the very individuals involved would show up.

The end of it is, can we do better? Yes. But while I am a perpetual student, I'm also no beginner. Between this and, say, a live performance of The Buckinghams off The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, I think we have a more accurate representation of the actual tune with this miming. But this is about the drum sound. All that's left to do is wait for someone who was there.