are there any drummers on this site?

[ol'skinflint]

I'm VERY curious about a certain drum sound I've become quite fond of. I can only describe it as sounding like the clicking noise one makes when applying the tongue to the roof of the mouth. It's very prominent on Andrea True's "More More More", Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me", Prince's "Pop Life" and Savage Garden's "I Want You." If anyone can tell me how it's done I'd appreciate it.

[Disco Funk]

On Mercy Mercy Me, I always assumed that was the sound of a conga or bongo layered over-top of the snare drum hits, but not the actual sound of the snare itself. I think the sound is achieved on the conga by slapping on the edge of the head, give a higher pitched pop. They probably put a heavy echo on that in Mercy Mercy Me to give it that loud, hard sound.

Correction: After listening to Mercy Mercy Me again, I believe it's the sound of someone hitting a wood block, layered on top of the snare hits. Its definitely a wood block being hit on More More More. If you listen carefully, you'll hear at some points where the snare doubles-up (two hits), but that wood block sound strikes only once. The snare is a flat, muted sound. There are songs out there where the snare hits do sound slightly higher pitched or tinny, which I believe occurs when the snare chain is lowered away from the drum. 'Love Is The Drug' by Roxy Music is a well-known example of this snare set-up.

Disco Funk

[Bernie]

Always loved Jackie Moore's "This Time Baby" for what sounds like someone drumming with pencils!

[QUINNY]

The sound you're after is either a woodblock or (and this is my hunch) CLAVES. I have/used to have some and they produce a really high pitched sound, very similar to that in More More More. They're basically two pieces of very hard wood (TEAK), about 6 inches long and 1 inch diameter. The other instrument that might produce that dead, slightly loose sound would be a .....(hell, can't remember) that's slightly knackered. Basically, this instrument was a hollow bell shaped piece of wood on the end of a handle that you'd strike with a beater of some description (such as a drum stick). When new it would have a good round sound that became progressively flatter and looser as the thing was used, rather like the sound of the instrument that tends to predominate in Karen Young's Hot Shot.

Hope this helps.

[Videoskooter]