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My new small home studio.

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DonnyThompson Mon, 09/14/2015 - 04:29

angel72bg, post: 432389, member: 47426 wrote: Some brand new drums Yamaha custom studio. If you know how that drums sounds in that room -OMG!!!Tight,natural,realistic,like a record.Not dry not wet.OMG!!!Hi-hat Sabian HHX Evolution,Crash-Sabian AAX Studio.Remo Rototoms USA.

Yamaha makes some really nice drums for recording; I have an ancient set of Recording Customs (1989) that I love. (Although, I haven't played Roto-Toms in many years - are they still commonly used or asked for by drummers?)

I can't tell from the pic as to what type of heads you are using on them... if you haven't yet tried them, try putting some Coated Ambassadors on your toms. Ambassador heads - especially on those toms - will give you "instant Steve Gadd" tones ( as long as they are tuned right, and are being played by a good drummer, of course). You'll find them to be incredibly warm-sounding, especially on those Yamaha shells; and as long as they are tuned correctly, they should have a beautiful, pleasing over-ring to them.

Try close-miking snare and toms with good dynamics (SM 57 on snare, Senny 421's or 409's on toms), an XY overhead array using a pair of AKG 414's or Neumann KM84's, set at about 6-7 ft. ( higher for more space, lower for more intimacy).
Options would include a Ribbon set back away from the kit by about 5 ft or so ( you'll have to find the sweet spot), or, maybe even an Omni condenser to grab the kit and the room... and try a few test runs where you're not using a direct mic on the hat - let the OH's and/or Room mic grab it.

( I'm making the assumption here that you probably already have quality mics such as these - or of similar quality and type; and if you don't yet have them, that getting mics of this type of pro caliber such as those mentioned won't be a problem for you, considering your allotted budget and approach to building the studio to begin with).

One final suggestion - have a can of Mace ready and at hand, in which to blast into the face of anyone who ever tries to get anywhere near your drum heads with duct tape or any type of muffling , such as "Dead Ringers".
As long as the drums have been tuned correctly, they won't need that crap. Trust me, you'll dig the sound of the drums as they are meant to sound. ;)

FWIW

-d.

pcrecord Mon, 09/14/2015 - 04:44

DonnyThompson, post: 432402, member: 46114 wrote: (Although, I haven't played Roto-Toms in many years - are they still commonly used or asked for by drummers)

I stopped using those in 1990, they were the cheapest thing to have more skins to bang on.. At some point you realise, you can do much more complex things with a smaller kit ;)

DonnyThompson, post: 432402, member: 46114 wrote: One final suggestion - have a can of Mace ready and at hand, in which to blast into the face of anyone who ever tries to get anywhere near your drum heads with duct tape or any type of muffling , such as "Dead Ringers".
As long as the drums have been tuned correctly, they won't need that crap. Trust me, you'll dig the sound of the drums as they are meant to sound. ;)

Amen to that !

DonnyThompson Mon, 09/14/2015 - 06:05

pcrecord, post: 432405, member: 46460 wrote: I stopped using those in 1990, they were the cheapest thing to have more skins to bang on.. At some point you realise, you can do much more complex thing with a smaller kit ;)

Amen to that !

I probably should have been more specific and mentioned that if someone finds themselves using deadening material on a regular basis, that there are likely two main reasons, one of which can be fixed, but not so much with the other, at least not as easily... and they are:

The first reason, which can be rectified - assuming that the drums are of good quality - is if the heads are cheap... or old, worn, pitted/dented... or, if there are good heads on the drums, but they haven't been properly tuned.
All of these things can be fixed... you simply buy new (good) heads, and tune them properly, or have someone who knows how do it for you.

The second reason
- which isn't as easily fixed, is if you are using drums of a low quality. Metal, Chrome, Plastic - or even cheap wood shells of only 1 or 2 ply ... all of these can present real problems because they don't really sound good to begin with.
There are a few who might take personal exception to that - mostly based on personal preference or aesthetics; for example, there are probably still a handful of drummers who still like using Ludwig VistaLites - although mostly for live performance.
But... unless "that" sound is intentionally desired - maybe as part of some kind of "retro" kind of vibe or effect - you won't find them as standard studio drum kits... and the reason for that is because...well... because they sound pretty bad.

You'd be hard pressed to get even a "decent" sound out of those kinds of drums in the studio, even if you did have good heads and a drummer who knew how to properly tune them, because of how they are made.
Generally speaking, shells made of metal - like aluminum or chrome - sound very "cold", and are almost impossible to tune to pleasing tones. Show me a metal drum kit, and I'd be willing to bet that there's probably deadening materials all over them. Cheaper/budget grade wood drums aren't much better; they present problems similar to those drums constructed from metal or plastic; they are usually a royal PITA to even get "useable" tones out of; and most of the time, they'll end up sounding "just okay" ... and that's at best.

I should mention here that I'm referring to Toms ...

There are snare drums that are constructed of certain metals - like brass, steel, and even aluminum - that can and do sound very good, and are often chosen because a brighter and "more present" metallic sound is desired.

Very often, a drummer will have several different snare drums, each of which are designed for certain styles and tonal alternatives; for example, it's not uncommon for a studio drummer to have several different snares - perhaps a wood snare ( or several of different types of wood, or of different depths and plies), perhaps a brass piccolo, or maybe even a chrome or steel snare ... each of which can be used for different tonality , depending on what is desired. And sometimes, they might also have "vintage" models; such as a Ludwig Black Beauty* or Suprasonic*, or maybe an old Rogers Dynasonic, or a Slingerland /Radio King, and these are a lot of fun to have, and to try as tonal options.

*Side note: In my own personal opinion, and based on my own experience as a studio drummer and engineer, snares like the Ludwig Black Beauty or the Suprasonic are "timeless" sounding, and can be just as easily used on modern recordings as they can be used to get a retro type of sound).

FWIW :)

d.

DonnyThompson Mon, 09/14/2015 - 13:50

angel72bg, post: 432418, member: 47426 wrote: I wish everyone to hear this.

Well then... samples, Tonto! We want Samples of what you are doing!

Give us Audio! ( and maybe some girls, too).

See the little tab at the bottom right of the text window?

The one that says "upload a file"....

Upload a hi res ( 320) MP3, and let us hear what you are doing. :)

kmetal Mon, 09/14/2015 - 19:00

Brien Holcombe, post: 432394, member: 48996 wrote: It is a shame that for all the hard work, planning and decisions and monies spent on this project that the weakest link is that window. So many details...oh well, it is a poor mans bass trap so you must be living right.

That could easily be remedied with a plug of sorts that operated like a door, allowing air in and out when needed, blocking sound when that's needed. Hopefully the OP recognizes this.

angel72bg Thu, 09/24/2015 - 13:38

Short female recording.In the my new studio-listen the room if you can hear it? on the picture is the real position into the recording room.
Signal chain is.
Neumann TLM 49-preamp UA 610 solo tube-Shadow hills Dual Vandergraph(2.5:1 3-4 db GR)-SSL Bus comp MYNX(Atack 0.1 ms 4;1 ,rel 100 ms, 1 db GR
=Thermionic culture The Phoenix mastering compressor (Attack 3,Rel 2, 3 dbGR)-Bax EQ only high and low cut filters at54 hz and 28Khz)-AD Prism Lyra 1-Pro tools 10

[MEDIA=audio]http://recording.or…

Attached files V_01-02.mp3 (389.8 KB) 

pcrecord Sun, 10/04/2015 - 05:25

I listen to the video, the sound from the camera is awfull. If you want to do promotion with this you should replace the audio with the actual recording..
The studio is very cute, I hope you planned for a better desk and some cable management, you got quite a pile of cables on the floor..

Oh and the color changing lights may be apealing to some customers in your country, but too me it's just a gadget that have nothing to do with sound quality !! ;)

angel72bg Sun, 10/04/2015 - 05:53

pcrecord, post: 432819, member: 46460 wrote: I listen to the video, the sound from the camera is awfull. If you want to do promotion with this you should replace the audio with the actual recording..
The studio is very cute, I hope you planned for a better desk and some cable management, you got quite a pile of cables on the floor..

Oh and the color changing lights may be apealing to some customers in your country, but too me it's just a gadget that have nothing to do with sound quality !! ;)

Yes,the cables on the floor will not be there,they are only for the beginig and I still have some finishing jobs with the some panels on the walls in the Recording room.
And yes,the light make the musicians to fell better-but nothing with sound quality to as pro guys, but for them a lot of senсe,(they think that here is some Hollywood cafe with pretty waitress). :)
I just wait to finish the real video clips to the original sound (not from a camera microphone).

angel72bg Sun, 10/11/2015 - 14:56

Recording chain is:
Neumann TLM 49-vocal-UA solo tube 610
Guitar-Ribbon MXL R144 Focusrite octo pre MK2
DI box from line6-guitar again.Focusrite octo pre MK2
stereo pair KM 184 Neumann for room mics about 3 m from the sourse AB config.Focusrite Octopre MK2
Antelope Orion 32 AD-DAW Pro Tools 10.
MIX and Master chain:
DAW 1 -PRo Tool 10-DA Orion 32-Shadow hiils Dual Vanderaph-SSL Bus comp MYNX-Thermionic culture Matering comp-Millennia NSEQ4-Dangerous Bax EQ-AD Prism Lyra 1 DAW 2 Sequoia.
Every compressor picking only 0.5 db gain reduction.Bax Eq only for low and high pass filters.
Millenia Nseq 4 shelf at 16 KHz +2 db,5 Khz +1 db Q 0.6,and 34 hz shelf +2 db.
The reverb is TC R4ooo-hardware.preset Europe Orc Hall.