Drumdrops Memphis Soul WAV
Memphis Soul is a huge collection of sweet soul drum tracks and one shops, engineered and performed by Timmy Rickard. The inspiration behind this album is the music produced at Royal studio in Memphis during the 1970’s; home to legendary producer and founder of Hi Records, Willie Mitchell. The tracks are based upon recordings of Hi Record artists Al Green and Anne Peebles, with drummers Al Jackson JR and Howard Grimes providing their unmistakable grooves.
This release incorporates key components found in the classic Hi Records drum sound, including swung bass drum patterns, 8th note emphasis on the hi hats, classically simple drum fills and a few 6/8 drum grooves. A big reason why this drum style is so revered is because of the thoughtful simplicity in which Al Jackson JR and Howard Grimes composed their drum parts. Using that same ethos, Memphis Soul will be perfect for a wide range of producers and composers who are looking for timeless grooves to get creative with.
Unlike the one microphone, large open room drum sounds coming out of Motown and Stax in the 60’s/early 70’s, Willie Mitchell preferred a small dry room, often using three or four microphones on the drum kit. To capture the same vibe we used the perfectly suited dry live room at the original Miloco Studio in London, The Square. The concept behind the mic positioning is unique to this release. We used four mics, each placed in carefully selected positions around the kit, so each mic captures the drum kit as a whole.
The sound though would not be complete without the right kit. We used Timmy Rickard’s vintage 1960’s Gretsch with a 20” x 14” Kick drum, 13” x 9” Rack Tom and a 16” x 16” Floor Tom. The snares used were a combination of two Gretsch Renown Maple Snares (14” x 6” and 14” x 5”), a Ludwig Acrolite 14” x 5” and a Ludwig 400” 14” x 5”. Cymbals were wonderful dark sounding Bosphorous New Orleans Hi Hats (2 x 16” Crashes), a 20” Ride and an 18” Crash. On a number of tracks we have added shakers, tambourines or congas.
This tribute to the Royal Studio drum sound would not be complete without the signature low pitched snare, muted by Timmy’s wallet. The classic tea towel trick on the toms was occasionally used, as was a chain on the ride cymbal giving certain tracks that jazz flavour. However all these touches would remain obsolete if it weren’t for the fact that Timmy has educated himself to play with a really light touch, mimicking the way these classic drummers played.
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