Today we talk about Led Zeppelin, or rather “The Hammer of the Gods“, and their song When the Levee Breaks, included in their fourth masterpiece “Led Zeppelin IV”.
They are certainly one of the most important bands in the history of music, their innovative sounds and their incredible talent have been the key to their incredible success and the impact they have had on the world of music is not quantifiable.
Another hallmark of the (best) band is the visionary mindset of their guitarist Jimmy Page, not only as a musician, but also as a sound engineer.
In December 1970 the recording session of some parts of the album (Black Dog, Four Sticks) and, above all, When The Levee Breaks took place in Headley Grange (Hampshire, England), a poorhouse of 1790 transformed into a residence a la late 1800.
After the first few songs they got a new drum set and told the delivery guys to leave it in the huge hallway.
Then the drummer, John Bonham, came out to test the kit. Jimmy Page’s reaction was amazing, he was so amazed by the sound he had in the hall that he literally said “Let’s not take the drums out of here!”.
The production of the album was done with Andy Johns, he and Page experimented a lot on how to get that huge drum sound in a recording.
The solution? They hung the microphones (Beyerdynamic M160) on the second floor, at the top of a stairwell in Headley Grange, and the drums at the bottom.
Heavy amounts of compression have been added to the microphones to add excitement to the room.
Another curious fact, the drummer has made some changes to the drums, so they didn’t have to mic the kick!
Combined with John Bonham’s powerful and unique sound, the result was amazing. Something no one has ever done before.
This move continued Page’s philosophy of ambient miking for drums, rather than putting mics directly on instruments. According to him, the drums must breathe.
Here you can enjoy this Meisterwerk:
