Warehouse + drums = Bonham?

R

rcarden2

New member
I've got access to a warehouse that I would guess is about 10,000 sq. ft. with about a 20 to 25 ft. ceiling. It has a concrete floor and exposed insulation on the ceiling. I'm planning on setting on drums in the center of the warehouse with an ambient mic in one of the upper corner of the warehouse to experiment with some Bonham like drum sounds. Do any of your guys have any experience with huge rooms? Other than obvious phase issues is there anything else to pay heavy attention to? Could the corner mic ever be too far away from the drum kit? Do any of you guys have a guess for a starting distance from the ambient mic to the kit? Thanks!


Ryan
 
I would put the drums against a wall. Being in the middle of something that big would get pretty washy. 20 feet would be a good starting point for the ambient mics. You will just have to place the mics, record a bit and listen. Trial and error is a bitch, but it works if you don't give up.
 
Yes...with great mics, great engineers, great drums, a great producer....and Bonham.
 
When The Levi Breaks was in a stair well with a single M-160 suspended over the kit. They experimented for hours moving the mic up and down till they liked it. They'd listen to a little play back and Bonham would adjust his PLAYING to balance whatever was lacking. The toms are weak? I'll hit them harder. The cymbals are overbearing? I'll hit them a little softer, etc.
 
Thanks for the starting point Jason. I really apprieciate when someone actually has something useful and constructive to say on this site. It seems like more people here like to bash the questions asked, rather than trying to be helpful. If Mike would have read my post other than the headline, he would have read that I was after "Bonham like sounds" not Bonham. I really apprieciate anyone who has any insight about huge rooms and natural reverb. That is mainly what I'm interested in. I thought Bonham was the most well known drummer that used some of the techniques I'm interested in but frankly now I wish I hadn't even brought him up. As momma used to say "if ya can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!" :D
 
Track Rat said:
When The Levi Breaks was in a stair well with a single M-160 suspended over the kit. They experimented for hours moving the mic up and down till they liked it. They'd listen to a little play back and Bonham would adjust his PLAYING to balance whatever was lacking. The toms are weak? I'll hit them harder. The cymbals are overbearing? I'll hit them a little softer, etc.
Click to expand...


The "stereo" ambiance is an effect then? And, how'd they get the hats panned to one side? Second "hat" track? Is their an article on the web explaining how it was recorded - very interesting technique.

edit - on second listen, what the hell is with the hats - maybe the mp3 encoding hosed the high end - I am hearing the hats centered, then off to the right, then centered again - hmmmmm. I will have to drag out the cd and listen through the monitors.......

edit 2 - Nevermind - DUH! I started to think about it - one mic - one STEREO mic - question answered.
 
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