It’s a bit of a meme among (some?) music producers that picking the right snare sound takes 12 hours and still ends up sounding like dogshit in a wet paper bag. This is more in the electronic / beatmaking circles as I understand, but I’m sure there might be some overlap with production involving live/acoustic drums as well.
So, I want to know some examples of snare drums that you love. Please try to describe why you are fond of it.
For me the one I think of first is the snare sound on Deftones’ album White Pony. It has such a satisfying crack paired with a big haunting room reverb. Example: Deftones - Digital Bath
I think I gravitate towards snare with some body to them, as in some lower mid-range. If I grab a regular 808 snare, I find I like to boost a bit of the 200-300hz-ish range to achieve that.
Some more examples off the top of my head: Blue Oyster Cult - I Love the Night
I also enjoy an oddball snare sound with character (at least I think it’s a (closed?) snare and not a tom) : Joy Division - She’s Lost Control
I’m glad you’re mine
Long red
Impeach
God made me funky
Hook n sling
and some others …
The snare sounds on White Pony are incredible. I remember reading that Abe Cunningham spent a lot of time experimenting with different snare sounds for each track and I love that kind of attention to detail.
My snare drum obssession is the snare on Isis’s album “Oceanic”. It’s perfect for the style: it’s boxy, and the mids and bass aren’t scooped out. The result is it sounds really full and big in the mix. I love it!
I just installed Superior Drummer 3 a month or so ago and am finding new “favorites” every time I open it. Right now the Snare Of The Day is a Tama 8x14 Maple. I’m for the most part using MIDI for the K & S parts of the kit, and the accents I’m playing on edrums I printed on my 3D printer. Those run though an Alesis D4 (which has some pretty nice drums in it by itself).
I also use Superior Drummer with an electronic kit as well. That Tama is cool!
But! A lot of times I’ll use my edrum kit but mic up a real snare. I’ve got a Mapex tomahawk snare that I’m in love with. I put a contact on it so I can get something for the SD overheads, but I record it dry as shit with a 57 then pop it in Sound City Studios and goddamn it sounds amazing. Like that is what a snare is supposed to sound like to me.
I know the tomahawk isn’t what people think of when they’re recording drums unless that’s all they have, but there’s something about it reamped in Sound City with another steel shell in the OH is just what it’s supposed to be to my ears.
I’m a guitarist, not a drummer, so anything drum related has taken a back seat to other areas. But I’m upping my game :D
Same, bud. My drum stuff is super basic. My bass stuff is too busy. And I’m a mediocre guitarist. But I’m having a blast doing it!
The one that goes tkchssh.
Hmmm…I’d add a little more compression.
There’s the snare from Digital Underground’s Humpty Dance, which consisted of a snare sample off an old funk/soul record with a handclap overlayed over it. Then everyone sampled it, and it filtered out through rap to 90s R&B-adjacent top-40 pop and got overexposed, though arguably not unfairly.
There’s the massive snare from Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy”. Apparently they recorded that in Prince’s studio, using one of his drum machines (a Linn/DMX-style one with an EPROM of low-bit-rate samples, I’m guessing) and then blew it out by overdriving the hell out of it.
And then there’s the 909 snare, which was all over house music when it broke the mainstream.
