Location drum recording advise. "village hall"

Empora · 22nd August 2009

Ello there!

So, I run a little studio recording various local bands etc. I have a very dead live room which I have become very accustomed to. Being as the room is so dead, it's like a double edged sword- gets you an expectable and versatile sound, leaving it up to me to decide how to treat the drums in terms of reverb/ambience. However its hard to get a really believable big room sound.

Anyway, for an upcoming session I have hired out a local village hall. I plan to track the entire band there and then return to my studio for additional overdubs, probably replacing most if not all of the guitars. I have recorded the band before in the studio and had to emulate a big drum sound. They are an instrumental, Mogwai/ Explosions In The Sky type outfit. (all about the ambience!!).

Now, I realize this is a risk as the room could sound like shit

However, I relish the challenge and haven't recorded outside my studio for a couple of years. Tally ho!

Would be great to hear how others might prepair for such a session in both acoustic treatment terms and mic placement etc? I am going to take as many duvets etc as I can. I have some home made bass traps and believe there to be some heavy duty curtains at the venue.

Would I be wise to make some kind of gobos to go behind the drummer? What would this achieve exactly? Was thinking I might bodge something cheap this time with a view to making something of a higher quality if it benifits the sound. I would like to be able to offer other bands the option of a "real" drum sound in future but money is tight at the moment. Would some acoustic foam stuck on say, some MDF and placed behind the drummer be worth a try?
I am going to use plenty of room micing etc but it would be good to have the option to dry it up a little (revert to more of the close mics in the mix)...

Bit of a stream of consciousness post there I know, still would love to hear some thoughts and advice!!

Thanks, Mark

Roland · 22nd August 2009

If the acoustic is good, great! If the acoustic is not good it will give you more problems than recording is a relatively dead room. With modern convolution verbs etc it's possible to fake "big" drum sounds pretty well, short of a really great sounding room. Many of the great drum sounds people refer to either were recorded in particularly good rooms or were the result of great kit's/great players well recorded. I've heard (and made) huge kit sounds in relatively modest locations, but with the benefit of good players. If you do decide to go "out" then large rooms tend to work better, worse rooms for kits (IMHO) are the "live" (stone room) booths so prevalent in studios during the 80's, sound bled over every mic leaving few options.

Regards

Roland

P.S. Many of the kit sounds you hear on records these days rely heavily on samples, so the room is not the way they are achieving their sound.

Empora · 22nd August 2009

Thanks Roland!,

Would you consider your average british village hall a decent enough size space? I agree that convolution verbs can do allot for smaller dead rooms, that is my usual approach, I do really want to try the real thing though!

For the sake of argument I am going to try this whatever happens. Assuming the room sounds reasonable, would the fact that more reflections are happening in the room mean I should take measures to control spill into the close mics?

Roland · 23rd August 2009

It really depends on the sound of the room, some village halls I've been in have truly terrible acoustics, some quite good. I'm afraid I'm not a believer in gobo's and such, good mic technique and good players with well tunned kits are the real answer. Many drummers play out of balance and that compromises the sound. Sure you can rebalance the sound with the spot mic's, but this is always a compromise. I've gotten resonably good drum sounds with average players, but the only great drum sounds I've ever had have been with really good players, I think you've gotr my drift.

Regards

Roland

Empora · 23rd August 2009

Ok, so just to clear this up, this guy is a very good, dynamic player

Anyone else have any thoughts as to how they might approach this session?

sheetKnows · 23rd August 2009

Maybe record dry in your studio, mix the drums, then worldize it at the hall?
that would give you nice options i think, plus its always fun!

Juanita99 · 24th August 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheetKnows

Maybe record dry in your studio, mix the drums, then worldize it at the hall?
that would give you nice options i think, plus its always fun!

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22nd August 2009	#1
Empora Gear addict Joined: Nov 2008 Location: Brighton uk Posts: 309 Thread Starter	Location drum recording advise. "village hall" Ello there! So, I run a little studio recording various local bands etc. I have a very dead live room which I have become very accustomed to. Being as the room is so dead, it's like a double edged sword- gets you an expectable and versatile sound, leaving it up to me to decide how to treat the drums in terms of reverb/ambience. However its hard to get a really believable big room sound. Anyway, for an upcoming session I have hired out a local village hall. I plan to track the entire band there and then return to my studio for additional overdubs, probably replacing most if not all of the guitars. I have recorded the band before in the studio and had to emulate a big drum sound. They are an instrumental, Mogwai/ Explosions In The Sky type outfit. (all about the ambience!!). Now, I realize this is a risk as the room could sound like shit However, I relish the challenge and haven't recorded outside my studio for a couple of years. Tally ho! Would be great to hear how others might prepair for such a session in both acoustic treatment terms and mic placement etc? I am going to take as many duvets etc as I can. I have some home made bass traps and believe there to be some heavy duty curtains at the venue. Would I be wise to make some kind of gobos to go behind the drummer? What would this achieve exactly? Was thinking I might bodge something cheap this time with a view to making something of a higher quality if it benifits the sound. I would like to be able to offer other bands the option of a "real" drum sound in future but money is tight at the moment. Would some acoustic foam stuck on say, some MDF and placed behind the drummer be worth a try? I am going to use plenty of room micing etc but it would be good to have the option to dry it up a little (revert to more of the close mics in the mix)... Bit of a stream of consciousness post there I know, still would love to hear some thoughts and advice!! Thanks, Mark __________________ Its too loud! Turn it down!

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22nd August 2009	#2
Roland Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2002 Location: St Leonards on Sea, England Posts: 2,133 2 Reviews written	If the acoustic is good, great! If the acoustic is not good it will give you more problems than recording is a relatively dead room. With modern convolution verbs etc it's possible to fake "big" drum sounds pretty well, short of a really great sounding room. Many of the great drum sounds people refer to either were recorded in particularly good rooms or were the result of great kit's/great players well recorded. I've heard (and made) huge kit sounds in relatively modest locations, but with the benefit of good players. If you do decide to go "out" then large rooms tend to work better, worse rooms for kits (IMHO) are the "live" (stone room) booths so prevalent in studios during the 80's, sound bled over every mic leaving few options. Regards Roland P.S. Many of the kit sounds you hear on records these days rely heavily on samples, so the room is not the way they are achieving their sound.

23rd August 2009	#4
Roland Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2002 Location: St Leonards on Sea, England Posts: 2,133 2 Reviews written	It really depends on the sound of the room, some village halls I've been in have truly terrible acoustics, some quite good. I'm afraid I'm not a believer in gobo's and such, good mic technique and good players with well tunned kits are the real answer. Many drummers play out of balance and that compromises the sound. Sure you can rebalance the sound with the spot mic's, but this is always a compromise. I've gotten resonably good drum sounds with average players, but the only great drum sounds I've ever had have been with really good players, I think you've gotr my drift. Regards Roland

23rd August 2009	#6
sheetKnows Gear Head Joined: Dec 2006 Location: New York Posts: 60	Maybe record dry in your studio, mix the drums, then worldize it at the hall? that would give you nice options i think, plus its always fun!