Bonham’s Squeaky Drum Pedal

I thought I was the only one that noticed that.  

I'll have to try that track out tonight. I've never noticed it.

Classic Speed King squeak. They all do it pretty much. Very obvious, especially to me. I’m a drummer… cool they kept it in there.

Never heard of this person.2 threads dude!!

Jimmy Page said that when he was working on the remasters (released in about 1990) he was unable to remove the squeak.

Yes, it was and is an issue. A shame, but there ya go.

I haven’t heard any subsequent remasters.

The squeak is there right @ 4" when the drums enter, continues throughout the track. Not the end of the world IMO...

I can hear it at moderate volume. It gives me a chuckle as a former Speed King user, I don't think it's a big deal. There are other quirks in Zep's recordings such as tape bleed through, a phone ringing during "The Ocean," airplane passing overhead, and some flubs by Page which he intentionally left in.

@lowrider57 I listened to several Zeppelin tracks last night and there are a lot of quirky little things going on. Pronounced amp buzz is one. I like it when they leave things in that happened in the studio. Like when Ronnie Van Zant exclaims "My Doughnuts, God Damn" on Sweet Home Alabama or when the microphone stand gets knocked over during the recording of Pink Floyd's Hey You.

@baclagg

I like it as well. Lots of amp buzz in recordings from that era. All kinds of studio sounds in Hendrix albums. I listen to Floyd often and never heard the amp stand, I’ll call it up on Qobuz.

@lowrider57 The microphone stand falls at 3:46 in the song.

The classic “echo” in Whole Lotta Love is a mistake, leaving a room mic turned on. They couldn’t edit it out. If you listen to Since I’ve Been Loving You closely you will hear significant mistakes by JPJ, they recorded the song over and over to get the take on the album. Some of the best songs ever recorded have tone issues, straight up mistakes, flubs etc. One of the issues with todays music is it is too “clean”. Quantized to the click, perfect pitch correction etc. The human element has been all but removed. There are exceptions, but for the most part today’s music is just too sterile.

Some of the best songs ever recorded have tone issues, straight up mistakes, flubs etc. One of the issues with todays music is it is too “clean”. Quantized to the click, perfect pitch correction etc. The human element has been all but removed. There are exceptions, but for the most part today’s music is just too sterile.

Yes and these mistakes and flubs largely go unnoticed by most listeners. A fan is absorbing the experience in its entirety, as a complete work of art. An incorrect change in tempo or flub is what makes the song unique to that band.

Regarding today's homogenized music and pitch control, it's ironic that singers are directed to sing "off key" or "flat" so that Auto-tune (using a square wave) can make those "electronic" vocals used in pop music.

@baclagg  Yeah, the noise is certainly audible. It sounds like they used some processing to dull the sound. I'm listening to a remaster.

And they say it's all about the music - Right!

baclagg

I like the squeak. Bonzo would have it that way. It is all about the Music.

Happy Listening!

There are alot of beatles songs with quirk and sound bleed too and I love them all !

The reason for this post was to see how many people hear the squeak and to see if the quality of a system has an effect on whether you can hear it or not. With my NAD C 388 amp and KLH Kendall speakers I do not remember it being there. Now with my Hegel H390 and Focal Aria 936s it is very noticeable at normal listening levels. I guess I should have expanded on my post title.

When I was in my late teens thru my 30's I never heard the squeak with my mid-fi system. But I certainly heard my Speed King squeaking. Now that I'm older and progressed to a revealing system, the squeak stands out as if it was part of the music. Using Atma-sphere, Audio Note, and Devore.

I am sidelined from doing a morning bike ride due to rain.

Time to waste with morning coffee, comparing 2 period press.

deadwax -TH Terre Haute/PR Presswell

The Terre Haute copy is a wee bit more noticeable. 

As a guitar wanker, I hear Page's off target fretting now and then. Without those and other little human flubs, it ain't R&R!

The mistakes I can hear make the music so much more human and like live music to me.I've never noticed the drum pedal squeak. I'm sure it's there but misidentified by me.I'll listen for it now and take note,thanks!

He was such a sloppy drummer.

Bonham’s squeaky pedal has been talked about by drummers since the early-70’s. That Ludwig Speed King pedal is referred to as the Squeak King amongst players ;-) . In the mid-to-late-70’s many drummers switched to the Camco pedal, now known as the DW.

Amazing!  I've played this song only a few times but never noticed it before until now.  It sounds like a little mouse in the far right side of the sound stage on my rig.  Very apparent now that I have heard it.  I would have never guessed it was the drum pedal.