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Why I don't hear bass drums on Jazz LPs?

I don't hear the bass drums during playback of a number of jazz LPs (Webster, Hawkins, Ellington, etc). I have Thiel 3.6 speakers powdered by Mark Levinson 23.5 amp. I can isolate the sound of bass drums on rock/pop LPs but not on jazz LPs unless drummer play solo in the middle parts.

 

I read somewhere this has to do with size of the bass drums used in 40s, 50s and another explanation was the way drummer play bass drums. I can clearly isolate the double bass, snare drums, and cymbals on jazz LPs, but hardly the bass drum. Let me know your experience with this issue. 

pwerahera

Showing 2 responses by wolf_garcia

wolf_garcia
6,757 posts
 

Baloney. Well recorded acoustic drums sound like drums. Period. I've spent decades as a pro musician recording, live concert mixing, and putting great microphones here and there and sometimes not putting them anywhere at all (Kenny Wolleson asked me not to mic his drums with Julian Lage and luckily the room supported it...sort of...but hey...I'm in the service of the musicians) and it generally sounds great. If it doesn't I blame somebody else or the venue. 

wolf_garcia
6,757 posts
 

I’m a jazz fan and especially a jazz drummer fan...current drummers like Tyshawn Sorey, Bill Stewart, Bryan Blade, Dave King, etc...not yer grandaddy’s drummers, and you can easily hear the kick in balance with everything else. Also note that not all jazz drummers adhere to the aforementioned cliche’s about "head on-head off kick drum size standards," and that’s a good thing. I get the thing about older recordings of course, but meh...I just turn the subs up a little.

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