I get something relatively close in core library with the following:
Yamaha Beech Custom (stacked)
Tama Bell Brass Snare
Pearl Masterworks Toms
Masterworks Hi-Hat
Various Zildjian & Paiste cymbals
I found the Amb Near and OH Dyn channels more to my liking for this.
A little reverb and some processing along with some parallel compression and it seemed good to go (for now). I might post it, once I finish tweaking it (I still have some bus processing that I want to do on it)
There are a few directions you can go. I got some neat variations using Metal Foundry using a Sonor Tomas Hakke kit and Pearl Free Floating Brass Snare as well as Metal Machinery using a Tama/Ludwig mix for the kit and the Tama Bell Brass for the snare. Again for both, the kick needed to be stacked, which I used either the “Kick of Death” or “Grunt Kick” with a short decay to shape the transients (plus also comes through on smaller speakers in a mix). I also shaped the snare for little more “bonk” out of it.
It was actually a fun challenge for me. As to how close they are to Danny Carey’s sound, who knows? Someone might think they’re close and others may think they’re as far as the east from the west. One thing’s for sure and that’s it’s inspiring me to fire up a couple of grooves and break out my guitar and chug along to them… might even feel a song coming on.
