Recording in storage space? (metal walls)

[moo the magic cow]

My band practices in a 10x20 air-conditioned storage space. The floors are concrete and the walls are metal, not sure what kind. It looks kind of like this:




(not actual photos)

Is there anything I can do to turn something like this into a decent acoustic room?

I know it's a long shot and a bit silly.

I currently have at my disposal:
two 2ft x 4ft x 4 inch ATS acoustic panels
one 2ft x 4ft x 2 inch ATS panel
one 2ft x 2ft x 2 inch ATS panel
thirty 2ft x 2ft x 2 inch thick auralex foam.

but I'm happy to buy more suitable treatment.

[Jack Ruston]

That's rock n roll man! I think I'm right in saying that you probably don't need to be too worried about the low end reflection because the metal won't contain and thus reflect the bass. You just want to dampen those
walls so that they don't vibrate noisily and reflect mids and highs. I'd start by just sticking as much of the treatment up as possible. Use silicone or something that just peels off easily.

J

[moo the magic cow]

Thanks Jack, I'll do that. I moved the foam into the space and I'll find a way to get it up.

Here's an actual photo of the space:

The room's 8 x 15ft and the walls are about 9 ft high.
I feel like the drum kit here is too close to the wall. Any ideas for better positioning? I think I might face it at the open door, away from all the corners, but I wonder what strange sounds I'd get from the hall.

I'm using mid-side recording due to a dearth of similar mics, so I'm concerned I'm picking up too much reflection from the walls on the side mic.

[MadManDan]

Ee

That's rock n roll man!
J

That's what I'm sayin! What does the mgmt of the storage unit think?

[Jack Ruston]

You're recording in there? Ah. I don't think it's going to sound very good.

J

[MadManDan]

Prob sounds great for metal band..... Sorry

[Jack Ruston]

Sorry...you'd think I'd have cottoned on considering your thread title. Just read the bit where you say you rehearse in there and thought you wanted to improve it for rehearsing.

The problem is that those metal walls are going to freak out when you make a noise. They're going to start vibrating. How much are they vibrating? Is it an obvious thing? To prevent that you need to add mass basically. But that's 1. Physically difficult due to the corrugation, 2. Probably not allowed, 3. Quite a significant job anyway.

Trying to record a band all together in such a small space is tough anyway.

Can you post a sample of what you're getting at the moment?

J

[Henry-S]

I was going to say it would be a nightmare unless you made those walls solid!

I would do the following which obviously costs money, but reckon you would save a lot of money and time doing it in long run. Record the drum tracks at a studio after making all changes you want in the practise space. Get down the studio and nail off as many of the drum takes as you can and get them edited all into time and how you want them.

Take it back to your 'cage' (i jest!) and then try and get some of the instruments down inside the box. I have no idea of what your band is made up of... but realistically you could record Guitars,Bass ITB and probably get away with Vocals if you put up a screen to avoid the reflections and dampen one of the walls.

Can I just add... please please please use ear protection in a space like that with a drummer! That is a crap load of noise to be contained in a box and having to stand near cymbals being smashed over and over is not a pleasant experience for ones ears!! Its defo Rock though

[Madman_Greg]

Slightly off topic, so apologies for this, but this thread reminded me of this SOS article

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/a ... s_0307.htm

The studio didn't quite have the sharp, metallic sound that I wanted for Paul's Vox amp," Vic remarks, "so I went out and bought about 30 corrugated iron sheets and just lined them over the walls and on the floor and in front of the amp, deflecting sound into the microphone. We used a [AKG] D12 with a Neumann U67 — I put the D12 right on top of the Vox amp, smack on the speaker, and then used the 67 to pick up more of the studio acoustics, to help to create a live ambient effect

[moo the magic cow]

Sorry...you'd think I'd have cottoned on considering your thread title. Just read the bit where you say you rehearse in there and thought you wanted to improve it for rehearsing.

The problem is that those metal walls are going to freak out when you make a noise. They're going to start vibrating. How much are they vibrating? Is it an obvious thing? To prevent that you need to add mass basically. But that's 1. Physically difficult due to the corrugation, 2. Probably not allowed, 3. Quite a significant job anyway.

Trying to record a band all together in such a small space is tough anyway.

Can you post a sample of what you're getting at the moment?

J

We did a scratch track yesterday, so this is guitar and drums at the same time, but only the drum mics.
http://gentlerobot.com/etc/drums.mp3

These are straight from the source, didn't even change levels, just the panning/polarity required for M/S.

So I did the overheads mid/side out of necessity, AT4050 on side, beyerdynamic mc930 on mid, and the drummer's CAD mic on the kick. Other mics were in use for vocals (AKG D880) & guitar (MD421) that we'll use for dedicated drum tracks.

We were planning to get the drums done in a proper studio if this didn't work out, but we figured we'd test the waters first.

And I do wear earplugs! Drums are punishing even in a big room.

Thanks everybody

[4TrackMadman]

Try to create a "room" for the drums, I'd say use the acoustic treatment to block as much metal from the overhead sound as possible and go with dynamic mics on everything else but overheads. Might even try spot dynamic mics on the overheads as well as that should kill a lot of the metallic sound. At the same time it might be beneficial to run a "crush" room mic with all the nastiness distortion and overcompressed into the mix. You never know! I'd say trust your ears first and everything else comes second. If wose comes to worse - trigger the kit!

[moo the magic cow]

If anyone's curious, here's how the record turned out:

http://gentlerobot.bandcamp.com/album/well-make-it

[Persuazion]

You've got some nice up-front, punchy sounds going on there man! There are things I would change (some of those loose timing bits would have reigned in for me) but on the whole you've got some good sounds. Did you use the storage room in the end? Doesn't sound like it! Well done if you did

[Dynamic Mike]

Nice tracks. Reminds me of early 'This Is Me Smiling' stuff a bit. In a good way, just the vibe really.

[moo the magic cow]

You've got some nice up-front, punchy sounds going on there man! There are things I would change (some of those loose timing bits would have reigned in for me) but on the whole you've got some good sounds. Did you use the storage room in the end? Doesn't sound like it! Well done if you did

Thanks, that's good to hear. We did use the storage space for the drums and most of the guitars.

[Guest]

Keep in mind that the walls of the steel building are thin enough that sound will bounce off the interior, but it will also pass through if you do not insulate it enough. There are many choices when it comes to soundproofing options, so be sure to determine what will work best for you

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[BJG145]

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