Carlock's bass drum sound

[Juan Expósito]

I put my headphones and listen to his sound here and... wow.
Open, clean, big, clear...awesome.
This is the sound (or very similar) that I get from him every time I listen to Keith in DVDs and live performances in youtube.

Just in case I didn´t use the verb "get" correctly.
I meant that, about his "open-dirty" sound...: the video-sound example I posted is the sound I always hear from Keith...(I didn´t see him play live/in person)
I didn´t mean that every time I listen to keith, I go to my drum room and set my drums/sound like him...

But his snare/bassdrum combos are contagious...

In that video all the drum set sounds GREAT but the snare sound is BEAUTIFUL.

I have shortened and written some of his rhythms to 1-2 bars grooves, just to get them and improvise on them...are INFECTIOUS.

[MRhet]

It's kind of an odd snare set-up -- does it work for anyone else?

Steve Smith and Buddy Rich come to mind, who angled their snares away from them, I'm sure there's some other cats out there too just can't think of any at the moment.

I kind of meant around here.

I know Buddy Rich tilted his snare, but I don't remember it being that extreme. I think I tried it years ago -- copying someone I suppose. Then I went to tilting it up in the front. Now I keep it fairly flat -- it just seems easier. On the other hand . . .

[Rodge]

But sometimes he plays with a sound closed, like on Oz's "Ice Pick" (I love that song !!!) or with Steely Dan on studio.

[Christopher]

it's kind of an odd snare set-up -- does it work for anyone else?

Not only does Keith keep his snare tilted to the right, he tilts his floor toms away and to the right too. (see pic)





I had the pleasure of seeing him at the MD Fest. I was in the balcony, just about right over top of him. Very cool view of the kit from up there.

One thing that nomsgmusic touched on earlier is how Keith sometimes “uses” the openness of his kick to regulate note length. He will sometimes play a note and then rest the beater on the head to produce shorter notes, and then strike hard and get away immediately for longer ones. Real musical sounding kick patterns come out of him when he does it.

[samnmax203]

It's kind of an odd snare set-up -- does it work for anyone else?

Steve Smith and Buddy Rich come to mind, who angled their snares away from them, I'm sure there's some other cats out there too just can't think of any at the moment.

I kind of meant around here.

I know Buddy Rich tilted his snare, but I don't remember it being that extreme. I think I tried it years ago -- copying someone I suppose. Then I went to tilting it up in the front. Now I keep it fairly flat -- it just seems easier. On the other hand . . .

MRhet- I have one of those toothless tama snare stands, and when one of my guitarists was helping me setup they didn't tighten the stand well enough. Over the course of the set the snare started to lean more and more forward. When I went on break I casually looked back at my set and thought my snare angle looked ridiculous and quickly fixed it for the next set. I noticed the snare felt different and I reset it to the forward leaning position. I started to get more control over the snare than normal both physically and tonally. Also I sit rather high so the the combination of the two really came together for me. All I can say is try it a couple times and see how it fits you!

[Tom Reschke]

It's kind of an odd snare set-up -- does it work for anyone else?

Steve Smith and Buddy Rich come to mind, who angled their snares away from them, I'm sure there's some other cats out there too just can't think of any at the moment.

I kind of meant around here.

I know Buddy Rich tilted his snare, but I don't remember it being that extreme. I think I tried it years ago -- copying someone I suppose. Then I went to tilting it up in the front. Now I keep it fairly flat -- it just seems easier. On the other hand . . .

I play that way. The angle just feels right to me (I play traditional most of the time). The way the sticks fall, and the ease with which I can get rimshots with my left hand makes it a very comfortable way to play. Whenever I'm on a flat or otherwise angled snare or pad, I feel like I have to readjust my left hand into an uncomfortable position to execute my bullcrap. Mind you, DCI snare wizards play traditional on flat angled drums all the time, and it doesn't seem to hinder them any. Also, any early Vinnie or Steve Smith vids show their snares at an almost Kenny Aronoff like angle towards them and they played traditional just fine!
Anyway, mine's usually like this...


... sorry, that didn't work.
My avatar, that's how it usually looks.

[YamahaPlayer]

Looks like you angle the floor tom away from you a bit too. I wonder how having the drums angled out affects sound projection, I would assume it increases it.

Different philosophies in playing the drums for sure, different styles, different sounds. That's one of the SUPER cool things about our instrument, it's so modular and adjustable to individual styles and preferences.

[willyz]

That's it. I quit already!!!

[YamahaPlayer]

That's pretty sick intensity.

On the other hand... Most us "working guys" don't get away with that level of intensity, overhead stick heights, absurd fills, etc... if I played that kind of chops at any point on any gig I'd be fired.

Just the last week I was told I was playing "way too loud" - and was playing at about 25%, I was having to work hard to keep it down in a club of decent size. Total BS. But what's a guy to say? Maybe it's this crap scene? Maybe it's the attitude towards drummers? Maybe it's because I actually have great drums and know how to tune them?

Either way, I think it's the opportunity to let loose, every time, that really accelerates that level of playing. Then again, he ain't playing 2 & 4 pop either...

Keith's looking good all healthy.

[Robert Schwieger]