Opinions on a room for recording drums

[Maleven]

Looking to settle on a room to track some drums in soon, and I was wondering what people would think to this particular room in acoustic terms (photos taken from each corner included below).

The dimensions are around 25 feet by 22 feet, with a 4 foot by 6 foot indent inset in one corner, and a vaulted ceiling which starts at maybe 7 feet and peaks just before the back wall at around 15-18 feet, dropping back down to about 12 at the back wall.

As you can see, the floor is carpet-tiled, the walls are plaster and the vaulted ceiling is wooden, with supporting beams.

Any particular thoughts on the suitability of this room from an acoustic point of view, or on optimal kit placement within the room? Will be recording into Reaper using an Akai EIE Pro with four mics (usually kick, snare and two overheads, but different arrangements for percussion overdubs with toms/tambourines cymbals, probably some involving two ambient mics)









Thanks.

[Jack Ruston]

It's impossible to say what it'll sound like. You'll just have to try it. It's not obviously too small or too big so that's a start. Get in there and try it.

J

[Maleven]

It's impossible to say what it'll sound like. You'll just have to try it. It's not obviously too small or too big so that's a start. Get in there and try it.

J

That's actually my snare drum pictured, and I gave it a couple of whacks when we went in to take a look around, but hard to know what a full kit would sound like under mics. As you say the dimensions seem decent, as does the asymmetrical ceiling which is nice and high (bar supporting beams) in the rough centre where it might be best to set up the kit, but my main reservation is whether the room is too 'square' in terms of one dimension being around 22 feet and the other, albeit broken up by an inset from an another in one corner, being around 25.

[Jack Ruston]

Don't worry about that. It's not a control room anyway. You don't have to put the drums in the middle. They might sound best in the corner. You never know but you need to find a place where the room is reinforcing the drums.

[Maleven]

Okay, thanks for the advice. My main reservation, as I say, was about the close dimensions in one or two places, but it sounds like that shouldn't present any issues for tracking itself.

[Dan Duskin]

Bring a friends, a kick drum, and a snare, and have him or her whack them both back and forth while you walk around the room. This should allow you to figure out how it will sound with room mics, where to put the drums, and where to put the mics.

Looking at the room, I can only guess what it might sound like, but it looks like it should sound pretty good, but I can anticipate some possible problems.

The carpeted floor could cause the room to sound a little tubby. If you notice this to be a problem, you could lay a few hard flat surfaces on top of that floor—though you might need to cover a decent amount of floor space to make a big difference.

The corners might build up some boominess. If that's the case, just lay as much gear, fold out tables, chairs, etc, around the sides of the room, and especially the corners.

I'm willing to bet it sounds okay.

[Maleven]

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep those ideas in mind.

[DC-Choppah]

Try putting a sheet of 3/4" plywood under the kit - like Buddy Rich did.

We can argue about if it makes the drums sound better or not, but as Mr Rich said, it makes the drums sound better to the drummer!

Playing drums on a carpeted floor can be a little uninspiring to the player. Put the drums on a little proper 'stage' and the player has more fun as the drums are more responsive.

[MegaBacher]

I would record in the spot where the ceiling is highest. I would also get a few large GOBOs to put in front and behind of the kit. Other than that keep the room alive with the tips people mentioned above. All you can do now is tune the kit properly and put a good drummer on it to play and go from there.

[4TrackMadman]

I'd go around and clap and listen to the most exciting sounding part of the room, then place the snare there. Looks like the room has quite a few interesting features that break the square size and will probably provide good acoustic response. I think you'd be fine with the room being untreated but if you can bring in a few curtains or at least one that you can somehow put behind the kit (or gobos if you can afford them). If you can afford more options if you're not going back, place a few room mics and see what you get, you can delete later.