Drums / New Studio Treatment / Need Critical Ears

  • Thread starter Thread starter PoeticIntensity
  • Start date Start date
PoeticIntensity

PoeticIntensity

MagicJones.com (is a website)
I haven't posted anywhere on this site but here, and the "for sale" forum, so I'm not entirely sure where this goes, but I'll try at it here. Mostly just because I value people's input here, and I know a few will listen, and give feedback. If this doesn't belong here, please move it.

Okay... Disclaimer is out of the way. I've been doing a lot of research on studio acoustics, and it seems I may have made the right decision. I need super critical ears on this one.

As some of you may know due to some comments made on this thread, my studio treatment used to consist of nothing but thin mattress-topper foam. Some argued that it didn't make a difference. My ears told me differently.

Anyway... This last weekend, I decided to give Auralex and their $1,200.00 pricetag for treating my room, the finger, and I made some baffle treatments myself.

Through the process, I got my drums mic'ed, and didn't touch any settings at all. It was a bit tough putting up baffles on the walls without touching any of the mics, but in the end, I succeeded, and this resulted in a pretty interesting semi-scientific recording.

I recorded myself playing the same beat without any treatment at all, with the foam treatment still up, and then with the new baffles in place.

I'm interested in any thoughts, nits, opinions, or anything else you find interesting about the differences in the recordings. I've got my own opinions, but I'm very interested in hearing what you guys have to say.

This one recording has - 1st : no treatment, 2nd : foam treatment, and 3rd : acoustic baffles.

Recording here

Oh, and if you want to read about the process involved in creating and placing the baffles, read here.

I used a lot of suggestions from various forum threads - including ones found on this site. I love HR.com.

Oh, I almost forgot.. The grand total for the whole thing came to $146.00. I can't believe Auralex is still in business.
 
The biggest difference between one and two is that all that foam is absorbing high frequencies in two, so the cymbal ring out is cut off, especially the high hat. There's some of that in 3, but less, and I think it sounds better. I think you made the right choice by skipping auralex. It really doesn't help the low frequencies, and tends to soak up the highs. At least that's what I hear.
 
guitar zero said:
The biggest difference between one and two is that all that foam is absorbing high frequencies in two, so the cymbal ring out is cut off, especially the high hat. There's some of that in 3, but less, and I think it sounds better. I think you made the right choice by skipping auralex. It really doesn't help the low frequencies, and tends to soak up the highs. At least that's what I hear.
Click to expand...

I agree with Zero. The first one definitely sounds untreated--too much room. By contrast, the second one then sounds really good--very tight. But when the third one comes in, you realize the second one was just choking the highs--the third one sound much more balanced. I could definitely use those drums in a mix!
 
Yup, sounds good. Treatments play a huge role, especially with drums.
 
WhiteStrat said:
I agree with Zero. The first one definitely sounds untreated--too much room. By contrast, the second one then sounds really good--very tight. But when the third one comes in, you realize the second one was just choking the highs--the third one sound much more balanced. I could definitely use those drums in a mix!
Click to expand...


don't think there'll be much debate in here.

this has nailed it/
 
Im on phones and can hear the difference between the two, White strat nails it....you got any pics of your homemade treatment?..Ive got basstraps but they were cheap on ebay...but theres no way Im going to treat a whole room with auralex
 
Thanks for the response, guys. Very interesting about the high-end. I didn't notice a difference with the highs between take 2 and take 3, but the consensus seems to agree that there was.

What I noticed was a much more focused bass response between 2 and 3. It was very, very, very cool to hear that kick come alive.

I'm gonna have a nice long critical listen tonight and see if I can't hear the difference in the high-end.

Also - @whitestrat... Dude... You rock. Any time you need drum tracks, just let me know... (as well as anyone else who regularly responds)
 
When I listened to the samples, at first I was surprised that I didn't hear that big of change in the low end. Then I went through your pictures of the whole process and see that you didn't place any bass traps where the bass lives, in the corners where the walls join the ceiling.

If you really want to control the bass, that's the first place I would put them, and make sure there's at least 6 inch thickness of rockwool to really get absorption down to bass frequencies. At least everything I've read from reputable sources indicates this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top