The TRUTH Behind Led Zeppelin: When The Levee Breaks

so I don't normally do this but I'm actually gonna read some comments from one of my latest videos it's the what makes the Sun great by Led Zeppelin but the comments were related to a comment I made in that video about when the levee breaks let's check it out listen to things like when the levee breaks you can really hear it where the extra repeat actually makes people think that he's playing due to dad reading these comments reminded me of the pre-youtube days when you'd see things in these message forums where people would be repeating information that you knew wasn't right because let's say I knew the person that worked on the record maybe the producer the engineer and I know that that's not what they're doing because I've talked to them about it so let me read you some of the comments from the comments section James the doctor Duncan says Jimmy Page is said in more than one interview that the drums and when the levee breaks were recorded in a stairwell inside Headley Grange the echo effect is from close and distant miking in that stairwell not from an electronic echo or delay unit you sure about that James Beatles gear says Rick Bonzo's drums and when the levee breaks were not delayed with any device pages said he recorded them in a multi-story building in the stairway the reverb / delay was all natural from the largeness of the staircase so no echo Chris 52 91 says 4:20 no that's actually incorrect the echo from when the levee breaks is actually natural since they recorded it in an old English manor called Headley Grange they set up the drums in the stairway hall which had a great echo they also set up microphones right over the drums on every floor upwards the stairways so the natural echo could be channeled this is why when the levee breaks has this great echo which is all natural this is from markrony minor correction here at 417 the echo effect on that song was actually achieved inside a hallway that Bonham played in Page noticed this and miked up the stairwell so he could get this effect look up Headley Grange great stuff come on marker Oney you think Jimmy Page actually set up microphones this is their fourth record the engineer Andy had done the record before this along with a lot of the stones records and and many more big hit records muddy Poppins says when the levee breaks was recorded in an entryway within the castle walls of Aleister Crowley's castle Jimmy Page's home the space was chosen because it had a strange ambient quality to which I responded No then he actually corrected himself my mistake it was actually in a stairwell at Headley Grange to get that sound this is actually the best one monkey weasel 44 says weren't the drums for levy recorded in the castle with a high ceiling and two mics dipped in unicorn tears this is why you have some of these responses Evan Carroll writes in the documentary it might get loud Jimmy Page explains how they got the echo sign on the drums when the levee breaks it wasn't any equipment it was a really tall room in a house that they played in they just set up the drums in there and recorded it okay Jimmy Page does say that here's a clip from it this is the hole where the drums were set up and where where levee breaks was recorded in the drums reflecting off of the walls mics we put up here so in this clip Jimmy Page says nothing about him setting up the microphones he says where they were set up he doesn't say that he set them up he doesn't say anything about how they were recorded let's actually hear it from the guy that was doing the recording this is Andy John's talking about when the levee breaks I get asked a lot about the drum sound from when the levee breaks with Led Zeppelin and I'm understandably a little proud of that one because it was the first time that we'd ever done anything well I really oh I had done anything with just two mics on the drums I had wanting to do that on drums for some time we went to this house called Headley Grange with the stones truck I had actually wanted to go to this other house but Jimmy thought it was a little too expensive how unusual so we rolled up and it had this a big Lobby with stairs going up to landings kind of like hotel lobby or something you know small hotel and I got a couple of em one 60s which is a very directional buyer Mike's double ribbon I put those about halfway up the first set of stairs and compressed the crap out of them we also had a thing called a binson echorec which is tough to find now but it's a delay device you can make a sound fairly easily with anything and put that in and it was the first time I'd really had Bonzo's drums sound like they did when he stood next to them and it was the first time he didn't complain either cuz but I cut that sound that was my first rejection Jesus he's actually gonna be happy at last here's another interview conducted in 2006 with Chris Welsh for rhythm magazine one night Zeppelin we're all going down to the Boozer and I said you guys bugger off but Bonzo you stay behind because I've got an idea so he took his kit out of the room where the other guys have been recording and stuck it in this Lobby area I got a couple of microphones and put them up the first set of stairs I used to beyerdynamic em 160 microphones and put a couple of limiters over the two mics and used a binson echorec echo device the Jimmy Page had bought he goes on to say and so playing at that particular tempo on leve the limiters had time to breathe and that's al Bonzo got that gig at sound because of the Benson he wasn't playing that it was the Benson that made him sound like that okay if you still don't believe it I recorded the drums right back here it's a ludwig drum kit but it's not nearly the same sizes I use two room mics I compressed them I'm going to show you what they sound like playing the beat with the echo and without the echo so you can hear it for yourself let's check it out first of all I'm gonna play the when the levee breaks of Zeppelin okay so you can get a reference here we go okay this is me playing with no echo check it out now I'm going to engage the echo the echo I'm using is a universal audio EP 34 tape echo I have it at about 225 milliseconds which is about the right tempo for the track and it's just got one single repeat let's check it out you can hear it at the very end when it hits that last the carry over there you can hear it stop you hear that repeat going so that's what it sounds like this again hear it clearly I'm no John Bonham but that should give you a fair idea as to how the echo works to create that sound now there were probably about 20 comments in there and I just picked the first I don't know six or seven of them that I that came up but there were many many more and I didn't do it to pick on anyone here I did it to say that before you go and repeat things that you hear the information is actually already out there if you want to know how these sounds were created when I heard this back thirty years ago 40 years ago it sounded like there was an echo on the drums I immediately recognized that I called off my drummer friends today I asked them they said oh you mean the the echo on the drums now Jimmy Page doesn't even say it in the movie he doesn't say that he recorded it he doesn't say anything really about it just says where the mics were so I know that there's interviews out there and that people say this stuff on some of these online forums and you know just repeat ridiculous information like that but that's one of the reasons that I've started this channel is to try to to answer some of these questions like that and I think that this is a really interesting one when the levee breaks because it is so you know it's probably the most known drum sound in rock history that's all for now please subscribe to hear them everything music YouTube channel if you're interested in the Beato book go to my website at wwlp.com and if you want to support this channel you can become a member of the Beato club the information is also on my website thanks for watching

Channel: Rick Beato

Views: 2,117,183

Keywords: Rick Beato, Everything Music, led zeppelin, led zeppelin iv, john bonham, jimmy page, when the levee breaks, john paul jones, robert plant, rick beato what makes this song great, rick beato john bonham, john bonham drum solo, john bonham: achieving the bonham drum sound, Drum Recording, mixing rock drums, what makes this song great, Andy Johns, Glyn Johns, drum miking techniques, drum miking, drum miking techniques 3 mics

Id: XZYDDX1DHDU

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 17 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/dr_xenon]

I like it. They had to go through a few hoops to make that work. It’s like practical special effects vs CGI in a movie.

[u/WiseChoices]

Sound Engineers are the unsung heroes of the industry. They have the power.

[u/death_by_chocolate]

Meh. Well, I probably have a little better insight than many being someone who (1) plays drums (2) has experience in studio and live sound and (3) has seen Bonham play, but I always heard that little bit of tape delay in there and recognized it for what it was. That, however, is not the only part of what makes this such an awesome sounding beat. It's also the depth and resonance of Bonham's drums--which is what Andy Johns was able to get in that stairwell at Headley Grange---that gives you the deep rich source signal which then gets that bit of delay added to it for the final sweetening.

It isn't just the delay. It's the absolute authority of Bonham's original strike captured in that resonant space with just two microphones which gives you the ability to add that bit of delay and still have it sound like thunder. Instead of needing to add reverb after to give it that depth, they are already reverberant and deep. Beato's right about the tape delay of course but I suppose that some folks thought that came just from the stairway.

It would have to be an enormous stairway. All the way to heaven maybe.

[u/6RolledTacos]

Andy Johns speaking about it in a separate interview.

[u/pseydtonne]

Beato!

[u/mikeevans1990]

Its hard to believe what an awesome bluegrass style a brit band like zeppelin had. Levee is up there as one of the best songs of all time

[u/TheFuturist25]

First time I heard this... melted my ear and brain... greatest blues song off all time

[u/idleat1100]

I have heard both of these theories for years, but for some reason I now believe the stairs had more to do with it then ‘just the binson’.