Surface for kit to sit on

E

errr314

New member
Hi,

I currently have a kit in a bonus room that has typical walls with typical carpeting (floor only). I currently use an old rug that the drums sit on. The rug is on top of the carpeted floor. But my question is this: Does it matter what the drums sit on as far as the sound I will get from a recording? I thought about just buying a 4x8 sheet of plywood and setting the kit on that to get more reflection. Or is that needed? Curious ...

Thanks for any info.

Also ~ the drums sound very dead in the room and I was hoping to "liven up" the room by doing something like this. I am not sure if it will make that big of a difference though.
 
What your drums sit on......

is as experimental as mic placement, tape on heads, pillows in bass drums. It all depends on what kind of sound you want. If you are micing (see another thread about this word) top and bottom of the snare then it's a good idea to have carpet under the snare, to limit the reflection of other drums at the floor level. Experimentation is the best way to find out what sounds good and what doesn't.
 
my drums are on a patch of carpet about 4x8 on a concrete floor. I know it isn't the best set-up, but it sounds okay to me.
 
I've been looking into a type of "riser" that I'll build for my kit. I've got the wood and measurements, just haven't got around to it! I'm not sure what it'll do to the sound. The risers will probably only be 4-6 in. off the floor. I hope it'll make a difference of some kind!
 
Cool. Thanks for the responses! I am starting to look at building a rider as well instead of just plopping a 4x8 sheet of plywood down. I am going to experiment though. Hopefully it will make a difference.
 
Unless the rise is really solid, it may add a "boingy" sound to the drums.
You should put some kind of insulation in it.

We built one at a friends studio years ago, and what we wound up doing, was flipping it upside down Caulking all of the seams in it, and then completely filled it with sand that we bought from a DIY place - the kind of sand that kids have in sandboxes. Then we caulked the hell out of the tops of the 2x6" runners, and put 3/4" plywood on top of them, and used screws to attach it.

That made it a solid surface.

Warning - if you try this - it's going to be EXTREMELY HEAVY. :D

If you jut want to try changing the sound beneath the drums - do this first:

Lay a drumhead under your floor tom, and lay one under where the rack tom(s) are. That by itself will give you a little more reflection than a rug will. It will make a noticable difference on recordings.




Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top