Drums recorded by the man who helped shape the sound of alternative rock: Steve Albini.
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Drums recorded by the man who helped shape the sound of alternative rock: Steve Albini.
| ADD TO CARTSteve Albini’s imprint on the sound of rock is undeniable. Having worked on seminal albums by the Pixies, PJ Harvey and, perhaps most notably, Nirvana’s milestone record “In Utero,” his sonic DNA is in the fabric of productions that have helped create a new branch in rock history. This collection of drums captures the incomparable sonic fingerprint of not only Steve Albini but also the ambience of his very own studio, which he personally built and designed. Welcome to Electrical Audio in Chicago, IL, and a truly unique collection of drums.
The Alt-Rock EZX presents a crude, genuine and raw palette of drum sounds with an incredible range, perfect for the soft-loud-soft approach that is synonymous with the distinct dynamics of the classic alt-rock sound. Capturing Steve’s unique method of mic placement, attention to detail and drum tuning scrutiny, this EZX gives you two full kits and cymbal setups as well as several additional instruments and percussion pieces, all crafted to perfection.
Even though this EZX takes off in the tremors of the nineties alt-rock scene, it presents a tonal palette with enough color to aid you in painting whatever sonic landscape you wish.
Meet Steve Albini with team and get a glimpseof what happened behind the scenes of the session.
Steve Albini’s own words on the selection of drums recorded during the Alt-Rock EZX session.
This is a ’60s Ludwig* kit with thin shells, sized 20″, 12″ and 14”. The Club Date design uses a single central lug on each shell that accepts a tension rod from each head rather than two separate lugs, so the shells have less weight and fewer mechanical attachments. Though it was designed to lower the parts count and cost, this feature makes the drums slightly more resonant and lively than shells made with separate lugs. We kept it skinned with Remo Rennaissance heads, which have an elastic bounce with fewer high overtones than other single ply heads, while still having a strong fundamental pitch and clear sustain. The toms are tuned with the bottom head slightly higher in pitch than the top heads, which causes a slight rise in the pitch as the drums sustain. The additional drums added to fill out the compliment of toms are other Ludwig* toms from the same era, tuned similarly. The bass drum features a full front (resonant) head, which provides a singing sustain with extended decay. The snare drum is a WFL 3×13” piccolo with a calfskin batter head. This drum has a short, dry and percussive midrange-voiced sound that is most expressive at the lower end of the dynamic range.
This is a thoroughly contemporary kit made with modern materials and processes, so the tolerances and behavior of the drums are both predictable and consistent. The kit has large sizes (24″, 15″, 16″ and 18”) and Remo Emperor batter heads to control the irregular high-harmonic modes of the larger heads (and Remo Ambassador heads for the resonant side). These drums are characterized by a strong attack and fundamental tone with few overtones and a smooth fast decay. These drums are tuned with the resonant head slightly lower in pitch than the batter head, which causes a slight drop in pitch as the drum sound decays. The bass drum has a Superkick II head for strong attack with quick decay and the resonant head has a hole in it. The the decay is fast and suitable for quick patterns, despite its size. The DW* 5×14” snare drum is the same shell construction as the rest of the kit and has a Remo CS batter head and a Diplomat-weight snare bottom head with a 2″ strainer. It has a modest amount of shell tone and a quick decay.
The extra kick and toms are ’70s Gretsch* but updated with cast hoops and minimally-invasive mounting hardware. They all have Remo Ambassador batter heads and Evans resonant heads. The shells are slightly thicker with a plain lacquer finish, so the natural pitches of the drums are slightly lower than the same sized drums on our other kits and resonances are not damped by an external wrap. These drums have the batter heads and resonant heads tuned to nearly the same pitch, so each drum has a long, consonant sustain and a definite pitch. The bass drum has Remo Ambassador heads and is lightly damped.
*All other manufacturers’ product names are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Toontrack. See full notice here.
Learn all you need to know about the microphone selection Steve Albini used to capture the kits of the Alt-Rock EZX.
Learn the ins and outs of the Alt-Rock EZX in this detailed video walkthrough.
With a unique approach to producing and by categorically refusing major label influence or letting commercial values dictate any musical direction, Steve Albini has played a vocal part in the evolution of the alternative rock sound ever since the 1980s. Much unlike a lot of contemporary music producers, Albini sees himself more in the role of an engineer – someone who makes sure everything works (hence the workwear). He doesn’t want to impose his own ideals on a product, he rather wants the band, artist and raw tone of the instruments to come out in everything he does. Ironically, that’s one of the traits that makes an Albini recording sound Albini. Having produced groundbreaking records by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies and Bush, it is hard to assess the profound value of his work – not only to the alt-rock scene but to music on a much larger level.
With a unique approach to producing and by categorically refusing major label influence or letting commercial values dictate any musical direction, Steve Albini has played a vocal part in the evolution of the alternative rock sound ever since the 1980s. Much unlike a lot of contemporary music producers, Albini sees himself more in the role of an engineer – someone who makes sure everything works (hence the workwear). He doesn’t want to impose his own ideals on a product, he rather wants the band, artist and raw tone of the instruments to come out in everything he does. Ironically, that’s one of the traits that makes an Albini recording sound Albini. Having produced groundbreaking records by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies and Bush, it is hard to assess the profound value of his work – not only to the alt-rock scene but to music on a much larger level.
Electrical Audio is situated in central Chicago and was designed from the ground up by Steve Albini. Since it opened its doors in 1997, hundreds of music projects have been captured here – some of them heralded as genre-defining classics. The main 1200 square feet room of studio A, where the Alt-Rock EZX was recorded, has some truly unique acoustic qualities. The adobe brick walls, oak floors and meticulously designed asymmetrical ceiling produce a dense yet large, controlled and bright sound – expressing the entire tonal range of especially drums. While the studio is centered around mainly vintage and analogue outboard gear, it has a steady foothold in modern audio technology and offers the best of both worlds. The centerpiece of studio A is the one-of-kind Neotek Elite console, custom-built especially for Electrical Audio in 1998.
When and how did you realize your passion for music?
I realized it when I was about five. My brother was already five years older and took a liking to playing guitar. So I would set up chairs and tape things to the ceiling as cymbals and beat along to the radio and him practicing. My favorite bands at the time, being born in 1984 and really growing up through MTV and the ’90s, were Metallica, Motley Crue, Wrathchild America and bands like that.
How come you ended up behind the kit?
Well, beating on chairs in the house my drums got bigger and bigger, to a point where I beat all the cushioning out from all the seats in the house. My father had nowhere to seat company and figured it was time for real drums. A couple years down the road, I finally got a real set. Everybody else seemed to play the bass or the guitar, so we always needed someone to play drums. It just felt really comfortable and natural to me.
Growing up, what style did you start out aspiring to play?
I began playing ’90s rock, anything from Damn Yankees to Pantera. Whatever Headbangers Ball was playing is what I wanted to learn. Wrathchild America’s “3-D” was a really big influence to me I knew that record from front to back at a young age, it was almost a ritual to practice to that record.
How was it working with an industry icon like Steve Albini in his own studio Electrical Audio?
Yeah that’s still like, did that really happen? Steve is such a professional and it was just really inspiring watching him work and see firsthand how he hooks up a drum sound. We also got to use some of the drums he’s got in the studio. The drum room was incredibly audible, so for the delicate and very controlled hits we were getting for the pack, the room was absolutely perfect. Steve is really cool about talking tech, like why he’s mixing a certain tom this way and why he likes to do it like this as opposed to other traditional ways. So that was great as I’m a recording junky and I love the whole process of it. My ears always perk up when someone’s talking about recording techniques.
There are some unique kits and instruments captured in the Alt-Rock EZX, how was the process of picking these out?
Yeah, those came out of the “drumgeon” Steve’s got at the studio. So again it was a lot of us picking drums out, hitting them, tuning them, hitting them again and trying out mics. The whole process was very detail oriented.
Looking back on this whole project, what do you personally take away from the experience?
How lucky and blessed I am to have been drawn to playing drums at five. Music has molded and changed my life in many different ways and has given me countless amounts of lifelong memories. This experience is definitely one of the top moments especially because of how personal this project was to me. From sampling one drum and cymbal at a time on multiple kits to recording the huge library of MIDI grooves, it’s been a special project for me. It’s different from recording a couple songs on a CD that will always be the same. This is an infinite amount CDs and an endless amount of grooves.
What do you hope end-users of the Alt-Rock EZX will take away from both your grooves and the sounds?
I hope people get a lot of use from everything this pack has to offer. I’m hoping they’re able to craft cool brew out of the ingredients we’ve given them. I hope they find something in here that they’ve been searching out for months. I really hope their happy and pleased with their investment.
Name: Paul Szlachta
Location: Chicago, IL
In the mood for some new grooves? The Alt-Rock Grooves MIDI pack presents in excess of 400 individually played beats and fills – tailored for alt-rock!
ALT-ROCK GROOVESKICK
14×20” Ludwig* Club Date Silver Sparkle
SNARE
3×13” WFL/Ludwig* Jazz Combo Duco finish
RACKTOM 1
8×12” Ludwig* Club Date Silver Sparkle
RACKTOM 2
9×10” Gretsch* USA Custom Natural Maple
FLOOR TOM 1
14×14” Ludwig* Club Date Silver Sparkle
FLOOR TOM 2
16×16” Ludwig* Hollywood Mod Orange finish
HI-HAT
13” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Medium
CYMBAL 1
18” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Medium Thin
CYMBAL 2
19” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Medium Thin
CYMBAL 3
17” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Medium Thin
RIDE
20” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Medium
COWBELL
6” Cosmic Percussion by LP* cowbell
KICK
18×24” DW* Collector’s Maple Black Oyster Pearl
SNARE
5×14” Ludwig* Universal 1920s Nickel Over Brass
RACKTOM 1
12×14” Gretsch* USA Custom Natural Maple
RACKTOM 2
14×15” DW* Collector’s Maple Black Oyster Pearl
FLOOR TOM 1
16×16” DW* Collector’s Maple Black Oyster Pearl
FLOOR TOM 2
16×18” DW* Collector’s Maple Black Oyster Pearl
HI-HAT
15” Paiste* Giant Beat
CYMBAL 1
18” Paiste* Giant Beat
CYMBAL 2
20” Paiste* Giant Beat
CYMBAL 3
10” Meinl* Byzance Traditional Splash
RIDE
24” Paiste* Giant Beat
SNARE DRUMS
5×14” Ludwig* Universal 1920s Nickel Over Brass
6×14” DW* Collector’s Maple Black Oyster Pearl
5×14” Ludwig* Acrolite 1960s
5×14” Tama* Starclassic Maple Red finish
3×13” Bison Piccolo Black Stain finish
EXTRA KICKS
16×22” Gretsch* USA Custom Natural Maple
14×20” Ludwig* Club Date Silver Sparkle (fluffy beater)
*All other manufacturers’ product names are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Toontrack. See full notice here.
All mic preamps Neotek Elite unless noted
| Bass drum batter head: | Crown GLM 100 |
| Bass drum resonant head: | Beyer M380 –> Bob Alach modified Urei 1176 4+8 slow attack, medium release (NB: 1176 used as mic preamp) |
| Snare drum top: | Altec 175 –> NTI equalizer |
| Snare drum bottom: | Shure SM98 |
| 10″ tom top: | AKG451 + CK1 |
| 10″ tom bottom: | AKG451 + CK1 |
| 12″ tom top: | AKG451 + CK1 |
| 12″ tom bottom: | AKG451 + CK1 |
| 14″ tom bottom: | AKG C414 |
| 14″ tom bottom: | AKG C414 |
| 16″ tom bottom: | AKG C414 |
| 16″ tom bottom: | AKG C414 |
| Overhead L: | STC 4038 300 Ohm –> HPF @375 Hz – Manley ELOP limiter, 200Hz HPF on detector, maximum 6 dB deflection – GML 8200 EQ +4 dB shelf @7.5kHz +5 broadest bell @26 kHz |
| Overhead R: | STC 4038 300 Ohm –> HPF @375 Hz – Manley ELOP limiter, 200Hz HPF on detector, maximum 6 dB deflection – GML 8200 EQ +4 dB shelf @7.5kHz +5 broadest bell @26 kHz |
| Blumlein stereo front-of-kit L&R: | SM2 |
| Ambient boundary L: | Neumann Geffel CMV563 + N55k –> John Hardy M2 mic preamp –> Eventide EA delay +22 ms |
| Ambient boundary R: | Neumann Geffel CMV563 + N55k –> John Hardy M2 mic preamp –> Eventide EA delay +20 ms |
| Hi-hat: | Beyer M160 –> HPF @325 Hz |
| Distant ambience: | STC 4038 30 Ohm |
| Bass drum sub: | Bandpass of CH2, resonant head @45 Hz |
All mic preamps Neotek Elite unless noted
| Bass drum batter head: | Crown GLM 100 –> insert Drawmer DS201 ducking -6 dB keyed to snare hits |
| Bass drum resonant head/internal: | Beyer M380 –> Bob Alach modified Urei 1176 4+8 slow attack, medium release (NB: 1176 used as mic preamp) |
| Snare drum top: | Altec 175 –> NTI equalizer, +4@3.5 kHz +1@10 kHz +2@40 Hz |
| Snare drum bottom: | Shure SM98 |
| 14″ tom top: | Josephson e22S |
| 14″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| 15″ tom top: | Josephson e22S |
| 15″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| 16″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| 16″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| 18″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| 18″ tom bottom: | Josephson e22S |
| Overhead L: | STC 4038 300 Ohm HPF @375 Hz – Manley ELOP limiter, 200 Hz HPF on detector, maximum 6 dB deflection –> GML 8200 EQ +4 dB shelf @7.5 kHz +5 broadest bell @26 kHz |
| Overhead R: | STC 4038 300 Ohm –> HPF @375 Hz – Manley ELOP limiter, 200 Hz HPF on detector, maximum 6 dB deflection –> GML 8200 EQ +4 dB shelf @7.5 kHz +5 broadest bell @26 kHz |
| Blumlein stereo front-of-kit L&R: | Neumann SM2 |
| Ambient boundary L: | Neumann Geffel CMV563 + N55k –> John Hardy M2 mic preamp –> Eventide EA delay +22 ms |
| Ambient boundary R: | Neumann Geffel CMV563 + N55k –> John Hardy M2 mic preamp –> Eventide EA delay +20 ms |
| Hi-hat: | Beyer M160 –>HPF @250 Hz |
| Distant ambience: | STC 4038 30 Ohm |
| Bass drum sub: | Bandpass of CH2, resonant head @42 Hz |
*All other manufacturers’ product names are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Toontrack. See full notice here.
3 GB free disk space, 2 GB RAM, DVD drive.
A working EZdrummer 2.1.2 (or above) or a Superior Drummer 2.4.4 (or above) installation.
