Drum Room acoustics

[Ethan Winer]

In a large wood room like that your main problem is reverb. So the solution is absorption. How much you need depends on the current RT60 (reverb time), which you could measure using the freeware Room EQ Wizard program.

--Ethan

The Acoustic Treatment Experts

[Glenn Kuras]

The following is a video on how to set up room eq and do the testing.
Room EQ Wizard Tutorial Video

[DanDan]

That is a really great drum sound IMO.
Particularly if I am hearing just overheads, but in any case great.

Room position would affect the bottom end. If you want more subs and fundamentals go near a hard boundary. A corner even more so.

There are boundaries close to the kit. These are probably hurting your cymbal sound. You could try absorption or even diffusion on the nearby walls to lose some early reflections.
You could include some room mics higher up to big up the reverb.
Omni mics would be good for this.
I like to use small omnis mounted directly on the boundaries. PZM's in effect.
The DPA 4061 is excellent for this job.
Sometimes I mount the mics on the wall behind the drummer. A very real picture of the kit.

To get into minutae, in terms of integrating the kit sound, I guess some HF would be useful from the skins. Clear heads such as Ambassador Clear or Pinstripes. I avoid damping of any kind if I can. Maybe some sweeter sounding cymbals?

DD

[OpusOfTrolls]

A little too much wash from the snare and not enough cymbal extension. Yeah, you need panels and a couple diffusers.

[emitsweet]

thanks for the info

[emitsweet]

Originally Posted by OpusOfTrolls

A little too much wash from the snare and not enough cymbal extension. Yeah, you need panels and a couple diffusers.

where do you but this stuff? and how do you install it?

[emitsweet]

Originally Posted by DanDan

That is a really great drum sound IMO.

wow thanks

Originally Posted by DanDan

Particularly if I am hearing just overheads, but in any case great.

it's 2 room mics with heavy processing (limiter and a tape plugin)

[JulianFernandez]

Nice feel, man!

[jwl]

Sounds good. In smallish rooms like this I like to use absorption up close to the drums (esp on the ceiling above the overheads), and then let the room mics pick up the reverb. You can see this same technique applied to vocals/acoustic guitar in our video: RealTraps - Recording Strategies

Or on YouTube: Recording Strategies using RealTraps - YouTube

[DanDan]

Just to emphasise the benefits. Mics mounted on the boundary, e.g. PZM's or any mic simply taped to the surface, do not experience any early reflections from that boundary. That be the magic.

DD

[emitsweet]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

In a large wood room like that your main problem is reverb. So the solution is absorption. How much you need depends on the current RT60 (reverb time), which you could measure using the freeware Room EQ Wizard program.

--Ethan

The Acoustic Treatment Experts

I was looking over some of your products. Would these help with the absorption?

Also on a side note, I want a decent room for tracking acoustic guitars.
If I was to use some absorption materials in my living room, could I record acoustic guitars there too? I'm looking for a tighter sound on acoustic guitars. Currently there is way to much reflection /reverb like you say

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by emitsweet

I was looking over some of your products. Would these help with the absorption?

Of course! And Yes, treating your room will also make it better for recording acoustic guitars and everything else.

--Ethan