Abbey Road 50s Drummer

All drums were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK. An iconic symbol of the music industry since 1931, Abbey Road has been the location of countless landmark recordings by artists such as The Beatles, U2, Kate Bush, Oasis, Kanye West and Radiohead, to name just a few.

Abbey Road has pioneered many studio techniques and technologies, and is widely recognized as one of the most advanced recording, mixing and post-production complexes in the world. Their expertise was crucial in creating the period-accurate recording paths that form the core of ABBEY ROAD 50s DRUMMER’s sound.

The Mixer Section provides ultra-precise control over the mic levels on each drum, plus overheads, stereo room mics and any other specialist mics used during the recording process. The Mix Presets put pro sound just a click away, and provide a perfect starting point for detailed tweaking.

Each snare provides faders for top and bottom mic, plus adjustable bleed level. Here, ‘bleed’ refers to how the rest of the kit rattles the snare wires — raise the bleed level for more realism.

Each drum has its own effect chain with a selection of routing options. All the updated ABBEY ROAD DRUMMER instruments include a top-quality studio EQ – a uniquely musical 4-band EQ with switchable fixed-bell curves on the low and high bands, plus adjustable Q settings on the midrange.

Also available as a fully-fledged product in its own right, this powerful compressor adds presence and drive to your drums without blurring the detail. And it’s not just for bus compression – this studio compressor is available on each of the mixer tracks.

Another premium-grade effect, also available separately —TRANSIENT MASTER is an incredibly musical and versatile tool for re-shaping sounds. Emphasize attack to make a drum hit harder, or shorten the resonance tail of a drum that rings too long. Bring drums to the front of the mix or smooth out spiky drums without touching the levels.

Like all the others, this effect is provided on each individual mixer track. By simulating the natural, harmonic compression of analog tape, the Tape Saturator adds a pleasing warmth to your sound. And pushed a little harder, it delivers a smooth, organic overdrive.

The drums were recorded in perfect acoustic conditions, and the overhead and room mic options on the mixer provide tight control over the room sound. But the updated ABBEY ROAD DRUMMER instruments take things one step further, with an integrated Convolution Reverb — 30 high-end impulse responses ranging from small rooms to big halls, for extra space and depth on your drums.

Recreating the sound of an era is not just a question of EQ or effects. Only by using the instruments, the recording equipment and the techniques of the period is it possible to capture the distinctive sound.

The 50s saw rapidly advancing drum manufacturing and recording methods, allowing bolder-sounding kits with more bite. These kits could cut through a mix full of the new electrified instruments gaining popularity in the day.

This collection of drums provides the era’s finest specimens, including one of only 50 legendary Gladstone snares– considerd the ‘holy grail’ of snare drums. Dig deep into the rich history of modern music with pristine-sounding drums, recorded using modern techniques and premium microphones from Neumann and Shure. Or go vintage with channels recorded with period-accurate techniques, vintage RCA 44BX and AKG D12 microphones, and a valve tape machine.

A fresh set of brush articulations and 25 velocity layers with 4 round robins give these kits paramount authenticity and a sound like no other.

Kick: 20” Gretsch Cadillac Green Nitron kick – 1950s

Snare 1: 14” x 6.5” Gretsch Broadkaster snare – 1950s

Snare 2: 14” x 5” Leedy Broadway snare – 1920s

Snare 3: 14” x 4” Gretsch Max Roach snare – 1950s

Rack Tom: 12” Gretsch Cadillac Green Nitron tom tom – 1950s

Floor Tom: 14” Gretsch Cadillac Green Nitron tom tom – 1950s

Cymbals: Zildjian A & K– 1950s

Kick: 20” WFL kick – 1950s

Snare 1: 14” x 6.5” Gladstone snare – 1950s

Snare 2: 14” x 8” WFL snare – 1950s

Snare 3: 13” x 3” WFL snare – 1950s

Rack Tom 1: 12” WFL tom tom – 1950s

Rack Tom 2: 13” WFL tom tom – 1950s

Floor Tom: 16” WFL tom tom – 1950s

Cymbals: Zildjian A & K– 1950s

For this project a valve tape machine was used with original EMI tape from the decade. This machine is similar to the BTR (British Tape Machine) built in-house at Abbey Road Studios in the 1950s.

An ultra-rare REDD.17 recording console was used to capture the vintage channels for 50s DRUMMER. One of only four ever manufactured, this all-valve console first made an appearance at Abbey Road in 1957 and is still used at the studios today for special sessions.

Abbey Road's prized collection of vintage microphones features a large number of originals, spanning many decades. The microphones used on recording sessions today are often the very ones used by legendary artists throughout the studio’s long history.

ABBEY ROAD | 50s DRUMMER was recorded by Chris Bolster and executive produced by Mirek Stiles of Abbey Road Studios. Once again, drumming duties were performed by one of London’s top musicians, Paul Clarvis. Native Instruments Sound Designers Julian Laping and Sebastian Müller were on hand to oversee the sessions.

The Groove Library gives you a personal session drummer to play the drums of the era in the styles of the era.

ABBEY ROAD | 50s DRUMMER contains 800 grooves, divided into seven genres: Rock and roll, traditional pop, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, as well as modern grooves with a choice of fills and variations for each. Each genre also features modern and vintage mixer presets for ultimate authenticity and tonal variety.

Especially if you’re not a drummer, using grooves is a quick and efficient way to produce authentic-sounding drum tracks. Find a beat you like, then simply drag and drop grooves and fills into your host sequencer to create a new MIDI pattern.

All patterns were played live by pro drummers for organic, physical authenticity. This is important because if you’re after a natural sound, you have to be aware of the real-life physical constraints of real drummers. Hit the crash, snare and floor tom all at the same time? No way.

Played grooves also possess an inherent feel and character, which is difficult to recreate with a mouse and the computer keyboard.

You can adjust the grooves within the instrument. The Tightness control lets you tweak the feel of each groove in real time, from gridded precision to enigmatic slack. The Swing control adds swing, changing a straight rock beat into a loping shuffle at the twist of a dial.

Customizing the grooves themselves is simple. Once it’s in your sequencer, the groove shows up as a MIDI pattern, so you’re free to add beats, strip it down, shift and move about as required.