Room Treatment, room full of stuff

[thedude400]

So I know the room one is in can be basically the most important thing in getting a good acoustic drum sound recorded. The room I am limited to has all kinds of things in it. A huge couch, a bed, TV, dressors, bookshelves, wallshelves, my studio setup, desks, insulated tile ceiling, and artificial wooden wall paneling. The floor is wooden but with a few rugs on it.

I have a nice Yamaha Set that I really like the sound of. Here is what I will be using to record these drums:
2 matched MK012's as overheads
a D112 by the kick hole (EV dynamic on the plastic beater)
sm57 on the snare

I'll run all the mics thru some pretty nice Pre's (Hamptone HJFP2, Joe Meek) and also I have been putting some Lexicon reverbs onto the overheads. I guess my 3 questions are these:

How does digital reverb compare sonically to natural room reverb (is there a noticable difference to the experienced recorder)?

Will I be unable to capture a lush natural reverb in a room such as mine even if I treat it?

What is a good way to treat a room with so little echo capability?

 

[famous beagle]

I think you have a pretty good shot at a decent sounding room.


I'd say to take the rugs up off the floor, and treat the ceiling (if possible) with some suspended 703 panels. You may also want to hang them on the walls in some spots (depending on where your furniture is) and definitely in the corners if they're open. If you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, do a search in the Studio Building and Display forum on "rigid fiberglass," "bass traps," "fiberglass panels," etc. There is tons of info on this site and tons of knowledgeable people as well.

You can start by checking out Ethan Winer's site:

www.ethanwiner.com