Acoustic type thang

[S8-N]

i'm setting up a room in which to record drums... Presently it has hardwood floors, hardwood ceilings, wood paneling, and plywood over the windows... Wood-wood-wood!!!
What should I do to prep the room sound-wise??? Carpet over all of the walls and ceiling??? Partially cover everything??? I have heard that you don't want to make the room too "dead"... How for should I go with covering the wood surfaces???


Thanks...
S8-N

 

[Even]

no question you are going to want to mute the floor and ceiling. I carpeted the both myself. As far as the walls go, thats a preferance. Wood panelling is actually not real wood. It is very very porous actually. Panal (unless it is the 50 bucks a sheet stuff) is just pressed sawdust. It may in effect lend worth to your applications. I would however consider muting the wall directly behind the trap set. One can muster up a nasty "plane" if too much sound flies off behind you (from monitors) and back to the mics.

 

[Dom Franco]

Most of my studio is "wood paneling" but I have made "Baffles" for trapping sound...
These are just wood frames filled with foam insulation and covered with some real nice looking fabric. So the wall surfaces are about 2/3 reflective and 1/3 baffled. I have had comments from some pros that have come in and said the rooms sounds really good.
It's just an accident I got it right!

Dom Franco

 

[sonusman]

Dom has a really good point here. I think you should concentrate on the quality of the room sound rather than worrying about trying to deaden the room.

Especially in the case of drums, a more open, short reverberant sound is desirable. What you should concentrate on is getting rid of the low end build up to will happen in the corners of the room.

Go to this site for way too much info on room acoustics www.silcom.com/~aludwig.
www.auralex.com should give you some ideas for treating rooms that maybe have so qualities that need some help.

Good luck.
Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com

 

[Recording Engineer]

I agree as well!!! I spent 5k buliding a iso -booth on one half of my 2 car garage and the control room in the other half. Unfortunently, the first album I recorded was my own band's (I'm the drummer and engineer) and I recorded my drums in the iso-booth with each drum miked as well as the hi-hat, the ride, and then used over-heads. It was the worst sounding drums I've ever heard. Needless to say, I learned two things. The first, all the other albums I've recorded for others, I've recorded the drums in my living room; and half of the time just miking the bass drum using over-heads. Second, don't be a musician in the band and the engineer at the same time. Even though I do have a publicly opened project studio business at my home, my band's next album will be recorded at another local studio.

 

[S8-N]

wow...shit.