Dilemma with a single tracking/mixing room.

[Elton Bear]

Hi guys,

I've used search. I've used Google. I've read everything I could find on Ethan Winer's site. I'm still a bit lost.

I have a fairly small, rectangular room to work with, I can place stuff almost anywhere within the room, but it needs a sofa bed (to keep the missus happy); my office desk - which I use for my laptop & monitors; Roland V-Drums; and space for acoustic drums (usually set up in 6ftx6ft space).

I can fit everything in with the desk and sofa along the short walls (let's pretend a dense sofa does something to trap bass for now), and the drums along the long walls - but that means that the acoustic drums face across the short axis of the room.
Obviously for electric drums it doesn't matter.

Another option would be setup the acoustic drums parallel to the shorter wall with the sofa behind (facing down the length), which I'm thinking will give me a better ("roomier") sound while tracking, and also means the kick is facing into a huge field rather than up towards my neighbour's house.

The big downside of this would be that the desk (and therefore monitors) would be across the short axis of the room, which is apparently a big no-no.

So, opinions please - do I concentrate on a good listening environment and risk a boxy drum sound (I'm looking to do sessions so it's ALL about drums) - or do I "get it right at the source" and throw so bass traps & diffusion on the close wall to help with my mixing environment?

Sorry for all the info, but hopefully I've made the problem & options clear.
Cheers

 

[RAMI]

but that means that the acoustic drums face across the short axis of the room.

I wonder how much that really matters for a drum. I'm not saying it doesn't matter, just sort of wondering out loud. Like, how directional is the sound of a drum? Does it really matter if the drums are facing an adjacent wall, as opposed to turning the kit so that it faces the further short wall? I figure the sound wave of a drum being hit is pretty much a circle that gets bigger with time. I can see how it would matter for the bass drum. But I question whether it really matters for a snare or toms.

Hopefully someone will clue me in.

 

[Elton Bear]

RAMI! Long time no speak (glad you haven't changed your profile pic cause it's excellent).
Conventional wisdom is that "bigger is better" when it comes to drum rooms, so one would assume "smaller = worse". Sure I can close-mic the kit and with that kind of SPL the room won't be so important but I would think the sound would be quite boxy.

ANYWAY - floor plans:
Some possible ideas: Not fully to scale but all the dimensions of the room & gear are there.

Obviously any spare space will be used for keys, guitars etc.

They all have issues (ergonomic, aesthetic, and acoustic variously) but I'd appreciate $0.02 from the experts...

 

[RAMI]

Hey Elton, nice to hear from you bro.

Yeah, I agree with the big room/better, small room/worse thing.

I was talking about whether or not it matters if a drum set is facing one way or another.

 

[chronicle]

Go with #1. Symmetry along the long axis is your friend. At least from an engineering standpoint. Although, until you get some serious low frequency/broadband absorption, it won't matter where you put your drums. Even when you do, mic type and placement/technique will determine how good the "drums" sound..regardless of musicianship. You might even need a few portable "gobo's" as well..but only you can determine this during your recording/playback sessions.

One other observation. After installing treatment, you need to move the desk back towards the rear wall during mixdown where your engineering position approaches 38% +/- room length. THIS IS ONLY A STARTING POINT. Put monitors on stands. Experiment with monitor/listening position, starting with equilateral triangle, then move until you get satisfactory results. Mark those spots so you can re-set up each time you mix. Your current #1 location is NOT good for monitoring as you may make EQ/amlitude misjudgements due to reflections off the face of your desk and comb filtering due to monitor diffraction and proximity to front wall...among others. Above all..remember, recording is as much art as it is science.
Good luck and have fun.

Disclaimer..posted as NON expert opinion only.

ps.. But there are tons of EXPERT opinion on this stuff on this forum and all over the net too, so don't take my word as gospel.

 

[Elton Bear]

I think with Config 5 (Ethan Winer's favourite), I'll have more space to move the desk to (or close to) 38% - and better access to the room.

Other than the sofa being across a side wall it's essentially a mirror-image of #1 and eliminates the early reflections from the door (again, Ethan's angle on things).

Thanks for your opinions (and disclaimer)! Have some green chicklets