EZD2: Van Halen Snare Sound?

[Badelement1]

Hey guys,
Odd request here, as I know most drummers can’t stand Alex Van Halen’s drum sound…I got EZD2, as well as some other sample libraries (Drumasonic Luxury/Ocean Way Drums/Strike(ugh)). I’m trying to make a kit to mimic a lot of Van Halen’s drum sound, particularly the snare (The later Poundcake/Humans Being drum kits w/ Sammy Hagar). Anyone know what snares in EZD2 would get me closest to that snare sound? I’m thinking the Ludwigs, w/ the pitch raised abit higher? Doesn’t his snares sound very high in pitch/tuning? I’m just a guitar player wanting to nail some backing tracks from the F#%K/Balance albums mainly and just want to really nail the drum sounds. It’s funny, I have the Rock/Rock Solid EZX’s and the Woody Snare from the Rock EZX sounds very close to the Humans Being Snare except not enough crack/punch, would heavy compression help a lot with that? Also Ive noticed it sounds like he strictly uses rimshots for every snare hit, or am I wrong here? Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks…oh, and no Sammy vs Dave arguments please! I like it all!

Topic

[J.A.J Sound]

I got no answers or help for ya…sorry, but i am gonna watch this post and see what kinda replies you do get. Should be very interesting.

[bgibson72]

I’m not sure who told you drummers can’t stand AVH’s snare sound–maybe you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd? LOL

Anyway, I’m a drummer but not an EZD2 user–I’m an Addictive Drums user. If you can get me some info, I MAY be able to help you. I’m not sure how EZD2 works but in AD, I start with the Ludwig LM402 6″x14″ snare (his actual drum) and then tweak the pitch, compression and other settings. I think part of AVH’s sound is in the way that he plays, microphone/recording settings and of course head choice, which I’m sure are beyond the scope of any DAW and drum app. Let me know what kind of snares you have to work with and maybe a screenshot or two showing the settings you have available and we’ll see what we can come up with. I’m sure that you have either abandoned this or found something that works considering the amount of time that passed, but I thought I would respond anyway because of your first sentence! At any rate, you also might want to compare the ‘open hit’ sound with the ‘rimshot’ or whatever terminology EZD2 uses. I can’t confirm this, but the tone almost sounds closer to a very solid rimshot as compared to openly hitting the center of the batter head. I think his heads were tuned with the top lower than the bottom, and the bottom possibly being a thicker head than the standard snare side head (maybe Remo Diplomat or Ambassador) and to compensate for lack of sensitivity in the thinner head, he may use a 30-42 strand snare wire. Of course, this is all moot when considering a electronic representation, but it’s good to know? Maybe?

Reference this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRK-S-tibA0

Good luck…

[PlatinumSamples]

A big part of Alex’ sound is that he gaffer tapes the whole bottom snare head. You won’t get that with EQ or compression.

Rail

[CHRIS]

Not sure on that album, but Alex used Simmons drum sounds triggered through his acoustic set more than a lot of people are aware of.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ok-drummers-examine-alex-van-halen.292270/page-2

https://www.soundclick.com/aaronaardvark

Cubase 10.5, iMac OSX 10.15.7, memory 8GB, Steinberg UR22 mkII interface

[Phenix 2]

SO, WHICH EZX ?

You like drums, iconic sounds and drum plugins ?
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[Tonefinder]

Umm Chris from 2015: Alex was not “triggering” drum sounds in 1979 lol

[CHRIS]

Tonefinder,

The original post said “Poundcake”, which was released in 1991.  I don’t know what year Alex started using Simmons (or similar) drums, but I would imagine it was before 1991.

https://www.soundclick.com/aaronaardvark

Cubase 10.5, iMac OSX 10.15.7, memory 8GB, Steinberg UR22 mkII interface

[Phenix 2]

the question is not about that but to find an ezx or a solution to sound like Van Halen

for me it would be : Jump

this sound

You like drums, iconic sounds and drum plugins ?
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[CHRIS]

x_name,

Are you saying “Poundcake” is not a Van Halen song?

https://www.soundclick.com/aaronaardvark

Cubase 10.5, iMac OSX 10.15.7, memory 8GB, Steinberg UR22 mkII interface

[Phenix 2]

no

i was talking about “jump” it sounds good

maybe it’s not very hard for EZD or EZX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHUjpSPNKw

You like drums, iconic sounds and drum plugins ?
> Go and see my Youtube channel, instagram, Soundcloud and TikTok : like and and subscribe !

• The post has been modified 2 times, last modified 6 years ago by Phenix 2.

[Phenix 2]

Seventies rock ezx (but with a dark sound included  so not modern )

You like drums, iconic sounds and drum plugins ?
> Go and see my Youtube channel, instagram, Soundcloud and TikTok : like and and subscribe !

[Dean Sanvido]

necro answer but with so many unanswered questions on the web, it’s nice to follow up.

Listening to the unchained snare, I tried the vintage rock pack, slingerland snare, in the mixer mute the snare bottom.  tune to -0.3.  compress and reverb to taste.  it won’t win any awards but here it is.

 

[Dean Sanvido]

[Author]

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