QUEEN - The classic drum sound of Roger Taylor | Recreating Iconic Drum Sounds

Roger Taylor is one of the most iconic drummers of the last century and his band Queen has to be mentioned when you're talking about the most successful rock bands ever. With numerous world wide hits throughout the 1970's and 1980's their importance for the international music scene can not be overemphasized.
Let's pay tribute to Roger Taylor's work by having a closer look at his drum sound and how you can achieve a similar sound today.

00:00 Intro
00:46 Who is Queen?
02:48 Bohemian Rhapsody - Original
03:41 Recreation Process
09:55 Bohemian Rhapsody - Recreation Performance

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Drumming and mixing by Pascal Thielen

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Equipment used in this video:

Drum Kit:

Bass Drums: PDP Concept Classic // 24x14
Toms: Gretsch Renown // 12x8, 13x9, 14x13, 16x14, 18x16
Snare: PDP Concept Maple (with steel hoops) // 14x6.5

Cymbals:

Zildjian
15" Hi-Hat A New Beat Top (top)/ Kerope Top (bottom)
18" A Medium Thin Crash
18" Avedis
20" Avedis
22" Kerope
18" A Zildjian China Low

Microphones:

Bassdrum: MC 740 (reso) / M 88 (batter)
Snare: Shure SM 57 (top)/ M 201 TG (bottom)
Overheads: M 90 Pro X
Toms: M 201 TG
Hi-Hat: M 160
Room: MC 740

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#rogertaylor
#queen
#drumsound
#drums
#artofdrumming

[callejarvholm]

I always loved his use of the hi-hat to accent the snare

[DWFanChanKor]

Note : Roger played almost exactly the same configuration during 2008 'Cosmos Rocks' tour(minus the gong at the back), so I think this is a very accurate recreation. I LOVE IT! :)

[khrashingphantom]

My FAVORITE song by Queen to this day is "Dragon Attack" and it is criminally underrated. The drum solo alone in that makes me smile, but EVERYONE gets a solo in that one. Lol. Why don't more people play it?! Anyway thanks for posting. This was a great video.

[thefairchildbros.]

2:02 That transition was absolutely perfect.

[vickielawson]

I love how you mimicked the video effects in the Bohemian Rhapsody video! That was cool.

[TheFoo_Fighter]

I can’t wrap my head around how close you get with your sounds every time. Awesome!

[the_lemonman]

One technique I like that comes from Roger is that, while hitting it and keeping it on beat, he slowly opens his hi hat and then on the snare hit, he closes it at the same time.

[shotgunbliss]

I remember seeing Queen in mid '76 at the Santa Monica Civic, Roger's drum sound was over the top loud! Made me happy that I've been a Ludwig drumer since 1965, the PDP's sound very good as well. Nice work.

[IronMaidenSwe]

That snare sound is brilliant. So warm and punchy.

[mustafac]

Wonderful production. The fill right before the explosive rock guitar solo starts from the floor toms and ends with alto toms.

[KlabecDrummer]

Roger is my favorite drummer!!!...Great job!!!!

[karstenbursak]

It is hard to get that "one specific" Roger Taylor Drumsound, as Queen really pushed the limits of production technology in the 70s and 80s and did experiment a lot.
never the less, you did a good job getting pretty close

[gruntabro]

I was lucky to see them live in 1985 they sounded great, they had a huge PA system

[MrWaynePage]

Rogers most natural drum sound you'll find on 'The Game and 'The Works'. But i love how the rack toms sound on 'sheers heart attack'. His best snare sound i think is probably 'Innuendo' all imo.

[loOr]

I can not stress this enough: Your content is sooo good!
I love the level of detail! Everything is explained but not overly complicated nor lost in details: "[...] medium high pitch, > one hit on the tom [...]" - That's it, job done, awesome!

I really hope you have at least as much fun in producing these vids as I have when watching!

[johnsoos]

One of my favorite Roger Taylor drum sounds is on A Day At The Races. Specifically, his tom sound on the track "White Man".

[goesjem]

Nice video. I am a massive fan of Roger Taylor. For me, Queen 2, Sheer Heart Attack, A NIght at the Opera and A Day at the Races have some of the best drum sounds ever in rock. A fat natural sound. Roger tuned his toms very melodically to a pure note, with the reso heads a minor 3rd higher than the batter to get maximum resonance. His style and sound is iconic. He is totally unique!

[pawelmorrison]

Another quality video and then you top it off with some tastes and effects from the original Bohemian video clip. Hats off guys

[MarkCagunot]

WAAA I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO FOR AGES!!! THANK YOU!!!! I LOVE YOUR SERIES GUYS

[venomslair]

Queen in the 70's: Look, ma! NO SYNTHS!

Queen in the 80's: Ah well, nevermind...

BTW: Roger is such a great drummer. And His son kills it in The Darkness as well!