🎧 How to Get That Tame Impala Drum Haze

This isn’t just a standard ‘verb. It’s an entire atmosphere. It makes the drums feel simultaneously huge and distant, like they are echoing in a forgotten 70s stadium, yet they still punch through the mix. Let’s reverse-engineer this sound.

🔬 The Target Sound: A Hypnotic, Lo-Fi, 70s-Style Drum Room

The key characteristic is a combination of long decay, mid-range saturation, and a pronounced low-pass filter that cuts the harsh high frequencies, giving it a characteristic “underwater” or “hazy” feel.

Here is the technical blueprint to recreate this using a standard DAW (like Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, or Pro Tools) and industry-standard VSTs/techniques.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Deconstruction: The Tame Impala Drum Reverb

1. The Source Drums

Start with a solid, dry drum loop or individual hits (kick, snare, toms). The drums themselves should ideally be slightly compressed and EQ’d to have a prominent mid-range, avoiding overly bright or modern-sounding cymbals.

2. The Reverb Send (Aux Track)

Crucial: We are not applying the reverb directly to the drum channel. We are using an Aux Send/Return Track. This allows us to process the reverb signal completely separately from the dry drums.

• Set up a new Aux Return track (send level to unity $0\text{ dB}$).
• Send your drum channels (especially snare and toms) to this Aux track. Start with the snare at a high level ($-6\text{ dB}$ to $0\text{ dB}$ send).

3. Selecting and Dialing the Reverb Unit

The specific type of reverb is vital. You need a long, dense decay, often associated with Plate or Hall algorithms, but with a specific vintage flavor.

• Plugin: Use a vintage emulation plugin like Valhalla Room, FabFilter Pro-R, or a specific 70s Plate Reverb Emulation.
• Decay Time: Set the decay time aggressively long, usually between $3.5\text{s}$ and $5\text{s}$. This is the source of the cavernous size.
• Predelay: Keep the pre-delay very short or at zero (around $0\text{ms}$ to $10\text{ms}$). This glues the reverb tail immediately to the drum hit.
• Wet/Dry Mix: Since this is an Aux track, the Mix should be $100\%$ Wet.

4. The Critical High-Frequency Roll-Off (The Haze)

This is the secret sauce that makes it sound dusty and vintage instead of just ‘loud’.

• Plugin: Insert an EQ immediately after the Reverb plugin on the Aux track.
• Low-Pass Filter (LPF): Apply a steep LPF (e.g., $18\text{ dB/octave}$ or $24\text{ dB/octave}$).
• Cutoff Frequency: Set the cutoff frequency surprisingly low, typically between $2.5\text{ kHz}$ and $4\text{ kHz}$. Listen as the metallic harshness is instantly replaced by a soft, fuzzy cloud of sound.

5. Saturation and Mid-Range Punch (The Glue)

Now we need to inject some grit and make the tail feel physically present.

• Plugin: Insert a Tape Saturation or Tube Distortion plugin after the EQ.
• Drive/Input: Apply a subtle to moderate amount of drive. This compression and harmonic distortion will reduce the overall dynamic range of the reverb tail and bring out the lower-mid frequencies, making it sound “gummy” and saturated.
• Goal: Don’t distort the signal; make it thicker and more monolithic.

6. Final Tonal Shaping (Optional but Recommended)

• Plugin: Add a final EQ before the output.
• Low-Cut Filter (HPF): Use a subtle High-Pass Filter to roll off the muddy sub-bass rumble of the reverb below $80\text{ Hz}$ to $120\text{ Hz}$. This prevents the long decay from consuming all the headroom in your mix.

7. Blending into the Mix

Finally, use the Fader on the Reverb Aux track to dial in the amount of effect.

• Start with the fader low and slowly bring it up until you feel the atmosphere fill the room, but the dry drums are still dominant.
• Pro-Tip: The dry drums should still be panned where you want them (e.g., center), but the reverb itself should generally be kept in Stereo to expand the stereo field dramatically.

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The Signal Chain Blueprint

For quick reference, here is the essential signal chain on your Reverb Aux Track:

{DRY DRUM SEND} ➡️ [{Vintage Plate/Hall Reverb}] rightarrow {EQ (Heavy LPF @ 3 kHz)}] ➡️[{Tape Saturation}] ➡️[{EQ (HPF @ 100 Hz)}] rightarrow {MIX FADER}

By following these steps, you will transform your sterile digital drum sample into the hazy, time-warped, psychedelic drum sound that defines a generation.

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