Live Drums Recording

[moosamix]

Hello guys...

i ve seen few videos for live drums, they were puttin like plastic thang all over the drums...to avoid leakage

what's that ? whats made of ?

do they use gates when they put that thing ?



Thanks

[NorseHorse]

Those are usually plexiglass barriers. You know how they but up barriers to keep hockey players from skating into the audience? Well it works the same with the drums. The barriers help keep the sounds IN and keep the sounds from leaking into ALL the other mics, which can be a real hassle during mixing.

If you go to churches with contemporary praise music, you'll often see the plexiglass barriers as well. It helps control volume/miking.

Cheers.

[Samc]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

The barriers help keep the sounds IN and keep the sounds from leaking into ALL the other mics, which can be a real hassle during mixing.

Yeah, but all the reflections caused by these plexi drum-screens can create havoc with the recorded drum tracks.

[MIKEHARRIS]

Clear Sonic makes them...churchs use them often.

We have a client that uses the Royer SF24 with their plexi caged drums with excellent results

[angelo]

I use a Clearsonic screen in my recordingroom, but it is not "wrapped" around the drums. Between the drums and screen I put some acoustic screens to avoid to much reflections.
The result are satisfactory and I have no problems mixing the drums.
But I'm still in the process of improving things and in the future I will buy a handful of "Sorber" baffles from Clearsonic. These can be attached to the screens with velcro. This way things will fit better and I will have some acoustic screens to spare.

You can see some pictures on my Flickr page: Flickr: Rasmijn Audio's Photostream

[sonare]

Originally Posted by MIKEHARRIS

Clear Sonic makes them...churchs use them often.

We have a client that uses the Royer SF24 with their plexi caged drums with excellent results

I used to do that until I decided that the transient response of X-Y condensers trumped the perfect imaging.

Rich

[Studiodawg]

I have a Clearsonic cage, but it makes the drums harsh, so we use it to cage the vocalist to attenuate leakage during live tracking.

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by Samc

Yeah, but all the reflections caused by these plexi drum-screens can create havoc with the recorded drum tracks.

Yes, this is indeed a serious issue for me anytime I see these contraptions at a gig.

Originally Posted by MIKEHARRIS

Clear Sonic makes them...churchs use them often.

We have a client that uses the Royer SF24 with their plexi caged drums with excellent results

Many of the churches we work with use the Clearsonic panels, but we usually remove them and use them in different positions.

The panels do a great job isolating everything from the drum mics, but usually this is not the problem for me.
I get plenty of isolation just by using the right mics in the right positions.
It's more about the drums getting into everything else.
Unless the cage is completely closed with a roof and plenty of foam or sound blankets inside you really are doing more harm to the drum sound than good for the recording. This of course is my opinion...

In any event, I always remove them and place them around the live performance space to deflect or isolate the other sections.

Originally Posted by Studiodawg

I have a Clearsonic cage, but it makes the drums harsh, so we use it to cage the vocalist to attenuate leakage during live tracking.

Yes, this is a great way to use this device.

[valleysound]

In my opinion, plexi drum shields are used to control the drum sound coming off the stage in a live performance. This is accomplished by REFLECTING the sound, not absorbing generally speaking. If I was recording and had the option of using plexi, no. If I am mixing FOH and had the option, maybe, but the same sound related issues are present.

[Remoteness]

Plexiglas does nasty things to the sound of the drum kit, and...

IMO, your mileage will not vary.

[Jay Kahrs]

A few nights ago I was watching some old concert videos with some friends... mid 70s to early 80s. The old "Midnight Special" series I think it was... some early Sabbath, Brothers Johnson, Rick James, Journey... cool stuff.

Anyway...

In a few of the videos there were plexi screens around the drums with some very sizeable holes cut in them. Maybe 4" each? Dozens of 'em all centered... like some kind of mutant pegboard.

Never seen that before! Has anyone else?

Wouldn't having a slew of holes sort of defeat the purpose of having the screens?

BTW - I call 'em the "vibe killers" because they always seem to bum the performers out before I even touch a mic, and then I get bummed out.

[craigthedrummer]

It's like playing drums with the high pass set at 1.5 k-----that's what it sounds like from the drummer side of the sheild(when placed really close to the kit)....I've never heard the bottom of my snare so well(!!) .....
The drummer's natural (tonal) balance is off to begin with which is just the beginning of the problem.

Craig

[Ryan Earnhardt]

I had success with using one of these clear bariers. I knew it would make the kit sound funny, as I know from being a drummer.

I took it out at least 5-8 feet so it would be between the lead vox and the drums. I also did not wrap the sections, but I zigzagged the sections to have a diffusing approach when the sound hit it.

In this case, i was able to manage the stage and what would happen. I decided to place the kit to stage left to get as far away from the lead vox. The clear drum barrier then was sideways. The audience had a clear line of sight for the sound coming off the stage, so there was nothing blocking the sound of the live drums. People looked at me a little funny when the drum baffle was facing sideways, but I got great results and they were very very happy.