F O U R T H E Y E

When I listen in the car through Spotify the production quality between Fear Inoculum and the previous TooL albums, or any other albums is extraordinary. FI has such an impressive full & clear sound on all instruments it is ridiculous.

_peterpwn02 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:50 am Lateralus is the best CD by far i have ever listened to, its HDCD if i remember correctly idk, but that shit is seriously on the same level as a vinyl recording (i know numbers would defy my statement, bit rate depth yada yada, but subjectively, it feels and sounds amazing, much better then any rips ive heard, vinyl rips included)

I don't care about the audio quality (to a certain extent anyway), and have zero interest in audiophile arguments - I just want to be able to play Tool records. It's more a mood/setting thing than an audio thing

ms2r wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:45 pm When I listen in the car through Spotify the production quality between Fear Inoculum and the previous TooL albums, or any other albums is extraordinary. FI has such an impressive full & clear sound on all instruments it is ridiculous.

I completely agree that the Fear Inoculum recording sounds incredibly fucking great! Besides the great songs, the production/engineering is just amazing when listening to it on a good system.

hellboy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:44 pm
I don't care about the audio quality

You don't make sure all your grindcore albums are at least 320kbps?

tys0n wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:31 pm

_peterpwn02 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:50 am Lateralus is the best CD by far i have ever listened to, its HDCD if i remember correctly idk, but that shit is seriously on the same level as a vinyl recording (i know numbers would defy my statement, bit rate depth yada yada, but subjectively, it feels and sounds amazing, much better then any rips ive heard, vinyl rips included)

This was debunked ages ago, digital > vinyl, it's science.

Come on Tyson!, all the hipsters have vinyl records now to go with there craft beer and there hand bags, its the cool new thing, haha. and somehow they forgot how to shave but whatever :S

Whatever your ears prefer is what matters. I think vinyl is a little overrated these days. Digital is just as good but can be a disaster if its too compressed, it just depends. Now i listen without headphones, certain albums work fine that way but sound terrible with headphones. So that has a say in things too. The original masters on some stuff still sounds better then any ''remaster'' no matter how you listen to it. Agreed, FI is pretty amazing. You can crank that with headphones and it doesnt hurt your ears and still sounds full and loud with regular speakers too. Undertow and Lateralus are top notch sounding albums. Aenima is gritty but i guess they wanted it that way. 10k i dont mind but some think its too cooked, kinda is i guess but i never really felt that way about it till others mentioned it. it is a little i guess.

Fear inoculum sounds absolutely lush to my ears. Amazing production!

Fear Innoculum sounds great, in some way very oldschool...
...but let's not forget there are a few problems concerning distorted peaks.

We still don't know why, do we?

Spoonman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 4:51 am Fear Innoculum sounds great, in some way very oldschool...
...but let's not forget there are a few problems concerning distorted peaks.

We still don't know why, do we?

actually i heard an interview with one of those guys after the album came out and they said a thing or two regarding that cause of the odd complaint. I cant remember what they said but it was just small stuff. i dont even hear those tbh, its pretty minor, to me anyway.

I didnt notice until I read it in the internet.

It's interesting that such things happen on an album like this.
I would guess that hundreds of people (including the band?!) do a quality check before releasing it to millions of hungry fans and critics

its really minor. i could try to find the interview. it was either ludwig or botriel that said it. i just cant recall. and i dont want to find it right now. try to find it haha

They said they kept the clipping in because if they removed it, it would change the dynamic of the recording or some shit.

I guess it is needed to get the high low dynamics. It relation to recording in tape.

Here's an answer

tys0n wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:55 pm Here's an answer

This is a great interview. I listened to this months ago and Evil Joe said that Danny used an old kit at a certain point. I don't think he specified when he used this other drum kit. My guess would be during the song Descending. His drums sounded quite a bit different during the middle of this song. I am just guessing/ speculating. Any other opinions on where he used a different drum kit?

Pretty sure he used his old kit on CC Trip. Not sure about other tracks

He used it for Chocolate Chip Trip

Focusing on the "Chocolate Chip Trip," Barresi said:

"The studio we were at used to bake us these chocolate cookies all the time, and Danny called his drum solo on the album 'Chocolate Chip Trip,' based on the fact that all we did was eat chocolate chip cookies.

"The solo itself was pretty awesome, he had his original drum kit from when he was a teenager set up as well. Like, this old stainless-steel Ludwig kit with 10-inch toms... just massive, no heads on the bottom.

"And Dan would actually start working on the synthesizer and get that going and then he said, 'Get behind this normal drum kit and play to the synth,' and then he'd get up and run across the room and play on the second kit. It was actually quite funny to see.

"The first take he did, he didn't run to the other kit, but the second, third, and fourth, he did. They were all in one take, the solo was pretty awesome."

Okay, I missed all of that.

Speaking of Danny and his kits, I was so amazed when he made a drum kit of melted symbols and added the mandala pads back in 2001. What surprised me was when he used regular roto toms instead of his brass toms during 10k days. Did he not like the sound of them anymore? I have read that he tries different types of woods for new sounds. I guess he will always look for different sounding drums with different woods.

tys0n wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 6:52 pm He used it for Chocolate Chip Trip

Focusing on the "Chocolate Chip Trip," Barresi said:

"The studio we were at used to bake us these chocolate cookies all the time, and Danny called his drum solo on the album 'Chocolate Chip Trip,' based on the fact that all we did was eat chocolate chip cookies.

"The solo itself was pretty awesome, he had his original drum kit from when he was a teenager set up as well. Like, this old stainless-steel Ludwig kit with 10-inch toms... just massive, no heads on the bottom.

"And Dan would actually start working on the synthesizer and get that going and then he said, 'Get behind this normal drum kit and play to the synth,' and then he'd get up and run across the room and play on the second kit. It was actually quite funny to see.

"The first take he did, he didn't run to the other kit, but the second, third, and fourth, he did. They were all in one take, the solo was pretty awesome."

Wasnt there one of those over the top, symbolism in tool type videos posted here not long ago on fear inoculum spruiking some bullshit about the real meaning behind the name cc trip ?? Then boressi comes out saying that

What I've always found wierd is that it was known on setlists as CC Trip before they hit the studio for FI.

isn't their studio at the loft and thats where they write? I mean the album took a while to flesh out after all

Busty McCracken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:31 pm isn't their studio at the loft and thats where they write? I mean the album took a while to flesh out after all

Yeah, studio is a broad term for sure. I kinda expected that Joe was talking about the studio they recorded the album in, but I wonder if it came about via another session, or whether studio in this case was just the Loft.

Yeh I probably wouldn't read to much into it unless he said it 7 times, then it's definitely an intentional ploy worth investigating deeply and analysing every single possibility

Bobby Bottleservice wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:33 pm Okay, I missed all of that.

Speaking of Danny and his kits, I was so amazed when he made a drum kit of melted symbols and added the mandala pads back in 2001. What surprised me was when he used regular roto toms instead of his brass toms during 10k days. Did he not like the sound of them anymore? I have read that he tries different types of woods for new sounds. I guess he will always look for different sounding drums with different woods.

As far as I know his former Designer kit was made of maple with beech bassdrums, his new SQ2 is made entirely of beech.
When you listen to the other albums you'll probably hear an old Sonor Signature for most of the time (+ his Ludwig kit), made from Bubinga.
Loved to see Danny using Sonor Phonic bassdrums at their show in Berlin 2019.

He must have a great collection with a lot of vintage instruments

Spoonman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:46 am

Bobby Bottleservice wrote: ↑Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:33 pm Okay, I missed all of that.

Speaking of Danny and his kits, I was so amazed when he made a drum kit of melted symbols and added the mandala pads back in 2001. What surprised me was when he used regular roto toms instead of his brass toms during 10k days. Did he not like the sound of them anymore? I have read that he tries different types of woods for new sounds. I guess he will always look for different sounding drums with different woods.

As far as I know his former Designer kit was made of maple with beech bassdrums, his new SQ2 is made entirely of beech.
When you listen to the other albums you'll probably hear an old Sonor Signature for most of the time (+ his Ludwig kit), made from Bubinga.
Loved to see Danny using Sonor Phonic bassdrums at their show in Berlin 2019.

He must have a great collection with a lot of vintage instruments

Very informative Spoonman. Thanks. Since you are knowledgeable with all of Danny's kits, what can you tell me about his snare. I love his snare sound more than any other drummers. I know it's mainly because he uses almost no chain on it and it sounds like he tunes it up pretty tight (such a signature sound that he has made for this bands sound). My question is, does he always use his signature Sonor snare or does he use different snares? BTW, when these snares were produced to sell, I saw one at the local Rainbow guitars store - it was beautiful, but I couldn't afford it. I would have only bought one for a collectors piece, but again - I couldn't afford it.

You're talking about the (old) *Sonor Signature snaredrum?
I've seen an old picture of Danny using it, but mostly he uses the ones made by Jeff Ocheltree (who also built the Paiste bronze kit):



Another Ocheltree snaredrum made for him:



With the last Tool tour he also played this beautiful snaredrum by a drumbuilder from England:



*Or did you mean this one?



Although it sounds pretty good, this one is pure marketing and doesn't come close to the quality of the drums seen above.
Have seen Danny using it for a Pigmy show, but seems it's not his favourite

Concerning the tuning, I think Danny changed his snaredrum tuning during the last years and got a little higher/crisper sound.
If you listen to the stuff from Aenima/Lateralus, it sounds like the snarehead is pretty low and the higher tones are a result of the drums ringing.
(Which would be the kind of tuning I prefer for my own 14x8 snaredrum )
Overall you're right, his drumsound is amazing! A real mixture of the sounds from the 70s fusion guys & modern heavy elements.