In this video, Kevin Parker breaks down his favourite drum sounds, including Stevie Wonder, John Bonham, and even a Tame Impala track.
Kevin Parker is, of course, the genius behind Tame Impala. Being self-produced, and famously a sonic control freak, Parker not only plays all of his parts but engineers and mixes his material as well.
This gives him an incredible insight into what makes a compelling recorded sound — and as he spends “90%” of his time on drums — it’s fair to say he knows his shit. Therefore, it’s all the more joyful and informative to see him nerd out on his favourite drum tones of all time.
Producers, engineers, and artists have been searching for that elusive drum sound, or as Parker puts it “chasing the dragon” since recording has been around. The quest for unique and immortal drum tone has led to some interesting recording experiments, one of the most famous being John Bonham recording parts of Led Zeppelin IV in the foyer of the Headley Grange, using the much-lauded Glyn Johns method.
In this video, Kevin Parker presents the drum sounds that have inspired him, with Bonzo making the list in Good Times, Bad Times. Interestingly, he suggests Bonham plays delicately and cranks up the compression, making it sound louder than it was recorded.
While talking about his own drum sounds, Parker details New Person, Same Old Mistakes as one he’s particularly proud of. He actually describes walking past a shop playing the song and not realising it was his thinking, “great snare sound, I should be Shazaming this“.
The other tracks he mentions are, Silver Apples – Program, Stevie Wonder – Living for the City, Serge Gainsbourg – L’Hotel Particulier, Portishead – Mysterons, The Flaming Lips – Race For The Prize, Beck – Chemtrails, and Queens of the Stone Age – Go With The Flow.
Check out the video below:
