How James Guthrie Used Noise Gate and Digital Reverb for the Gated Drum Sound on 'The Happiest Days of Our Lives'

The most interesting takeaway is that James Guthrie didn’t invent gated reverb—Phil Collins’ engineer Hugh Padgham gets that credit—but he perfected a slightly different version for Pink Floyd. On The Wall, Guthrie ran the snare and tom hits through an AMS RMX16 digital reverb, then sent that wet signal into a noise gate. The gate was set to open the instant the drum hit and close hard after a few hundred milliseconds, chopping off the reverb’s natural decay. That gave the drums that explosive, compressed slam that kicks in right before “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2.”

For “The Happiest Days of Our Lives,” the drum fill that bridges into the next track is the most famous example. Guthrie tuned the gate’s release time so the reverb ring would cut abruptly, leaving a dry, punchy attack with no tail. He also sidechained the gate to the drum track itself, so the gate only opened when the snare or tom hit. The result was a room sound that felt huge but instantly disappeared, creating a rhythmic, almost staccato boom that became a signature of late-70s rock production.