Alright guys ive been reading these forums for maybe 2 yrs to gain advice which i have used. Im not recording from home in a room with the dimensions as follows 12 X 16 X 8 ft now I'm gonna be recording scratch guitar and drums on friday. Im wanting to get the best drum sound possible with this room. Any suggestions? Should i build like a small riser made of wood and put it under the kit to have some reflection. Its drywall with carpet in the room now. I can easliy put wood under the kit if needed? what about on the ceiling above the kit? or around it. Im just not to good with room acoustics yet. I know the ceiling is low and that sucks i could take a shotgun and blow some holes in the roof? =)
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Ditto the DaveDog's advice... Don't bother with the drum riser.
Ditto the DaveDog's advice...
Don't bother with the drum riser. You don't have enough time to build a solid mass platform... besides, you don't mention your location in the building and other room construction. i.e., if you're on the second floor and you build the drum riser (as it SHOULD be), it's liable to end up bringing down the floor and building around it from the weight.
If the room is that dead sounding and you're trying to add some natural life to it, you've got a real challenge ahead. Anything other than a single sheet of plywood flat on the floor, under the kit, is just going to act as a second drumhead.
I'd skip the plywood and get the office partitions and get the room even deader. Close mic everything then use fx to add the environment you want on mix.
Just my .02
Office cubicle dividers work very well. You may even call around
Office cubicle dividers work very well. You may even call around to the NEW office furnishing stores and ask if they have any clients who want to get rid of the old stuff the store is replacing with new. I had to recently pull out the old stuff from my day-job office to move. The dealer didn't want our (quite useable and in very good condition) older dividers. I couldn't find anyone who would take them, so...they're now strategically located in my home studio, my drummer buddy's studio, my storage unit, etc. Indispensable, portable, and cheap.
Most of all you want to make this room as dead as possible with
Most of all you want to make this room as dead as possible with as much bass trapping as you can afford. These are really "bad" dimensions. Do a room mode calculation and you will see that you have all sorts of double and triple resonant frequencies. You want to do everything you can (e.g. the suggestions above) to tame these.
Ya i know the room has horrible dimensions. What if i were to pu
Ya i know the room has horrible dimensions. What if i were to put some corner panels around so its not completely square. I have a few book shelves to use as diffusers. would that help at all? And i do have some damping in the room already. Also would it be best to keep the kit in the middle of the room or more of a corner?
The guys in the acoustics forum would have much more sage advice
The guys in the acoustics forum would have much more sage advice than I can dispense and stuff that would work for you for a long while.
What I CAN tell you is you would improve the sound quality a lot by simply renting/buying some office cubicle barrier walls and some packing blankets to drape over the walls. This will, at least, cut down on some of the major nodes you're likely to face in your situation, and though its not perfect, it will help in a short-term sense.
These office cubicle walls are made to absorb some sound so they do have some value . A couple of 4'X4' sections spaced 6" apart and draped with a couple of heavy packing blankets makes a fairly effective isolator for small amps and cabinets. Several of them arranged around a drum kit can give you some control over the mics in this area.
Since you're talking about doing this as soon as this weekend your options are rather limited. A used office furniture supply house will have most of what you need.