Comments on: Boom boom bap.

Boom boom bap.

The Straightener — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:25:22 -0800

It may lack the hilarity of an unaccompanied David Lee Roth crooning to himself like a lunatic, but surely someone has a use for twenty three unaccompanied John Bonham drum tracks.

By: empath

empath — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:47:20 -0800

This is rock-sauce. Saving this for ableton use later :)

By: The Straightener

The Straightener — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:48:31 -0800

Yeah, I'm just kind of sitting in front of the computer with my guitar and loving the shit out of these.

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:57:55 -0800

Great find, thanks.

By: Tube

Tube — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:59:31 -0800

FAN FUCKING TASTIC. This is cooler than peanut butter, dry socks, and pneumatic tires combined. The power in his right foot was supernatural, and should have won Randi's million dollar prize.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:00:49 -0800

Lacking hilarity can be a good thing.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:08:14 -0800

Fun find. Plus it cleared out my sinuses.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:09:39 -0800

Why yes, I do have a use for them. Thank you!

By: flotson

flotson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:15:43 -0800

Holy crap!

By: waxboy

waxboy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:16:04 -0800

ROCK AND ROLL!

By: !Jim

!Jim — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:24:58 -0800

Oooh wow, this is really cool.

By: pedmands

pedmands — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:42:51 -0800

Great, great find! Now, does anyone know the legal ramifications of using these in (potentially) commercial work? Because dammit, I already have a million ideas for them.

By: echo target

echo target — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:43:37 -0800

Dear lord could that man drum. I could listen to this all night. And I think I may.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:48:05 -0800

Fucking awesome. Thanks!

By: Artful Codger

Artful Codger — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:50:42 -0800

Niiiice.

By: edverb

edverb — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:55:07 -0800

Tracks 22 and 23 are dream samples (Fool in the Rain -- the main song, and the outro respectively.). Thanks for this. Best of the heads.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:56:07 -0800

Good lord he hit hard. That is fantastic!

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:56:29 -0800

Some of these have really cool, murky artifacts of the rest of the track. Like this one. Double plus awesome.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:01:04 -0800

Or actually that's probably more just Bonham exerting himself. Still awesome!

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:02:42 -0800

I only wish so many drummers weren't trying to sound like Bonzo and failing miserably. I like the way you can hear him making the un-self-aware grunting noises. And, why, yes, I could use these tracks, too.

By: freshwater_pr0n

freshwater_pr0n — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:10:33 -0800

fu-hu-huck yeah.

By: geekhorde

geekhorde — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:20:06 -0800

Oh wow. Good good good. Thank you.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:26:49 -0800

damn, he was a monster, wasn't he?

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:32:56 -0800

Sweeet!

By: popechunk

popechunk — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:32:58 -0800

Why does he sound like that? What is that sound? Does he use normal drums? Why are his thumps so thumpy? I could listen to this all day. I wish I understood it.

By: 31d1

31d1 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:34:37 -0800

Finally, something I can use!

By: danb

danb — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:49:17 -0800

I like this.

By: bacteria

bacteria — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:53:25 -0800

Thank you.

By: dminor

dminor — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:06:30 -0800

popechunk - the reason is sounds like that (besides Bonham being a badass) is mainly due to the use of some real nice analog compressors.

By: bwg

bwg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:16:45 -0800

See, this is one of the main reasons I love Zep.

By: bwg

bwg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:24:38 -0800

Why are his thumps so thumpy? One reason is his use of heavy-ass sticks. For Bonham, the heavier, the better. He'd have used tree trunks if he could've managed them.

By: wsg

wsg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:42:51 -0800

"Why does he sound like that? What is that sound? Does he use normal drums? Why are his thumps so thumpy? " Many reasons: Drums - different makers' drums sound different from each other, like you can tell a Volkswagon from a Mustang with your ear. Bonzo played Ludwigs, but there are many good makers. Also, every drum sounds different depending on where on the head it is hit. A drum has a higher, more trebly sound when it's hit next to the rim than if it's hit in the center. The different sounds attainable from one drum can be next to infinite in the right hands. This is most apparent in Bonzo's snare work; you can hear the snare sound change at times as he strikes sometimes nearer the rim. Drum heads - the first ones were animal hide. Those are still available along with many other varieties that all bring their own shading/color to a note. Tuning - tension of the drumheads. Bonzo's bass drum heads sounds kinda loose to me, so he can get that big BOOM, but his snare sounds kinda tight for a good BAP. (I'm a bit out of my depth here, as a bassist, so I'll prolly get ~~smacked down~~ corrected by a drummer.) Drumsticks - sticks come in an infinite variety of materials and thicknesses that can have subtle and not-so-subtle effects on the sound. Recording magic - in the studio there are infinite options to enhance and fatten the sound. The size of the room, height of the ceiling, microphones and mic placement, EQ, to name a few, are all part of the final product. To give you an idea, moving a mic one foot (or even less) nearer or closer to a drum will make a noticeable difference in the recorded sound. Once again, the possibilities are endless. Absolutely the most important factor is the player. Bonzo hit the drums hard, which is a big part of his sound, but he also had great finesse for the softer passages. All these factors (and most likely others) are integral.

By: freebird

freebird — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:03:27 -0800

Holy crap. Yaaay! Bonzo was (a lot of) the reason Led Zep was so much more than a parody of themselves.

By: freebird

freebird — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:04:38 -0800

Oh and GarageBand just became like 20 gazillion times more rockin'. Thanks and happy valentine's day, I Love You!

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:12:26 -0800

This 1-year drummer is an absolute awe. Motherfucker rocks and swings.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:56:48 -0800

Holy shit I have been looking all over for these. Thanks. I wonder if this cache could change the sound of popular music over the next few years. Well, considering that they keep dissappearing (no doubt thanks to legal reasons) it may be asking for trouble to incorporate these into recordings intended for widespread release.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:01:46 -0800

The other thing I like about Bonham's playing is how he changes the accent on certain beats of the bar when he's doing a fill so it suddenly sounds like he's out of time, but if you count it out you see he's actually not. Very noticeable in the first few bars on the first track on the linked page. The classic example is "Black Dog" - try as I might I can't count out the verses without getting in a mess.

By: chillmost

chillmost — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:05:59 -0800

Recording magic - There is a lot of compression on these tracks. It is applied in a way so that the attack time and release time create a sort of pumping sound. This lets the kick and snare really stand out.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:06:46 -0800

Recording magic - in the studio there are infinite options to enhance and fatten the sound. The size of the room, height of the ceiling, microphones and mic placement, EQ, to name a few, are all part of the final product. To give you an idea, moving a mic one foot (or even less) nearer or closer to a drum will make a noticeable difference in the recorded sound. Once again, the possibilities are endless. Like chillmost said, it's compression on a lot of these that gives it the sound. Although, for the most part, it's actually the fact that Bonham was very smart about playing the drums. Many drum tracks of his were recorded using two to three mics.

By: First Post

First Post — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:04:26 -0800

I've had these for several years, but I wasn't telling anybody ;)

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:08:52 -0800

I am going to try my hardest to combine these drum tracks with David Lee Roth crooning like a lunatic.

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:37:46 -0800

Awesome and looks like he finally sprayed some WD40 on his pedals. (Listen closely to final mixes of The Rain Song, Over the Hills and Far Away, Dancing Days, The Ocean, Houses of the Holy, Ten Years Gone, and Since I've Been Loving You). More facts here.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:46:06 -0800

This is what the internets are for. Yes.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:27:52 -0800

Cool; guess who the guest drummer is on my next tune?!

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:13:17 -0800

I don't think I ever really "got" what compression on my drum bus was supposed to do. Until now. This is fantastic.

By: Scoo

Scoo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:20:49 -0800

Holy crap, what a fucking beast. BEST OF THE WEB ZEPPELIN RULEZ.

By: Vindaloo

Vindaloo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:49:13 -0800

I wish I knew how to use an equalizer properly so I could get the best out of these tunes.

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:03:54 -0800

files are down now.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:07:51 -0800

Service Temporarily Unavailable The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later. Noooooooooooooooo! I've only go 17 of them... !

By: ewwgene

ewwgene — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:19:48 -0800

503 error. it got mefi'd. i so wanted to hear these...

By: Atom12

Atom12 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:30:41 -0800

Similarly (and equally awesome) are Dave Grohl's drum tracks for a select few Queens of the Stone Age songs.

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:34:21 -0800

Speaking as a drummer, I can happily listen to this stuff all day long. RIP, Bonzo. Thanks for some good shit.

By: bink

bink — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:48:29 -0800

Shit, I missed them too. Did anybody get them who can put 'em up somewhere?

By: chinese_fashion

chinese_fashion — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:00:43 -0800

Man, if I were still at home, I'd be mirroring these on YouSendIt at least -- anyone? Anyone?

By: garfy3

garfy3 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:25:00 -0800

looking for a mirror somewhere myself - anyone?

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:45:08 -0800

Oh yes, the bass will be getting a workout. Thanks!

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:49:16 -0800

And the David Lee Roth highlights the problem with recording your own vocals: without the context of a band, you always sound fucking stupid. (And then you delete the tracks to avoid public embarrassment.) I always liked the weird high semi-tones he gets on his screams, wonder how he does it...?

By: freebird

freebird — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:27:47 -0800

Arrrgh - didn't grab 'em because, you know, it was Valentine's Day and I had some other stuff to take care of. Please, anyone who got a copy of these, please MeFi mail if you're afraid to post about them here...

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:17:12 -0800

I would love a MeFi mail with a map to the treasure, also, please, thank you.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:32:07 -0800

RapidShare link to WinRAR of all mp3's and a copy of the HTML page/images from this link. Turns out I had the remaining mp3s in my cache.. hoo ah.

By: chimaera

chimaera — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:05:14 -0800

Thanks for the link, cavalier! I was quite broken-hearted when the 503 error popped up.

By: fondle

fondle — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:05:32 -0800

THANK YOU

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:19:50 -0800

Thank you, Cavalier. As the rar downloads, I have a next-stage enjoyment question: how would a GarageBand n00b go about importing these MP3s?

By: cavalier

cavalier — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:33:13 -0800

Well crap doodle. I was hoping there was an OS X archiver for .RAR by this point.. UnRarX looks like it could work, if not MacRar. Inside the archive are a bunch of happy mp3s. If the rar stuff is no joy I can put another collection together that as ZIP? Or whatever you'd like, but that'd wait about 3 hours or so because I'm gonna be near that PC till then. Yo Joe!

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:38:30 -0800

I'm not worried about unpacking the rar-- that's why god gave us VMWare. I just haven't figured out how to import into Garageband once unpacked.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:04:00 -0800

Figured it out. Damn, the complexion of my weekend just changed. Also, how awesome is it to hear the random chitchat in the background of these tracks?

By: Ber

Ber — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:33:44 -0800

At about 40 seconds into this video, Warren Haynes tells a great story about Bonham's approach to sound.

By: freebird

freebird — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:38:32 -0800

OMFG I can play bass with Bonham. Now if I can somehow do the same with Scott La Rock I will have won. Really, thanks for posting these, and thanks for rescuing them when they went away. I guess the mere fact of doing those things means we don't have to tell you how much it really means to have these.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:22:51 -0800

Freebird!!

By: awfurby

awfurby — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:43:45 -0800

Hey COBRA! - just drag the file from your finder into a Garageband window.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 07:34:49 -0800

Yeah, I got that; it just took me a while to figure out that I had to convert it to AIFF first. But now, fun is being had.

By: Rykey

Rykey — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:30:10 -0800

50,000 DJs just soiled themselves. Awesome!

By: klausness

klausness — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:17:20 -0800

Well crap doodle. I was hoping there was an OS X archiver for .RAR by this point.. MacPAR deLuxe works pretty well. I think Stuffit handles rars, too.