Which Room?

[Ddrum]

I am seeking some advice on where I should record my upcoming EP. More specifically, drum tracking. I have my PC at home, in my primary room which is sheetrock all around, carpet floors, and some furniture along the walls. This room measures about 16' x 12' with nothing on the walls aside from a few picture frames. The other room that I have access to is a double stall garage, which is where the band practices, but is all insulated the walls are covered in plywood. There is carpet laid on top of the cement, and there is a workbench and some shelves all over the room. I could also record in several other rooms of smaller to equal size with carpet and smooth walls. I am not unable to place treatment or other objects on walls when/where necessary, and I am looking for a basic rock drum sound. My kick drum is tuned very deep, with hard beaters to offer some click, my snare is tuned rather high, with a crack to it, and it sounds tight. My high tom is tuned up pretty high, with a rem-O dampening ring, and my floor tom is tuned very deep, with a dampening ring also. I have two 14'' Sabian crashes, 13 inch Sabian hats, and an 18" Sabian crash/ride. My overall kit sound is probably most similar to Andrew Wetzel's from the band Attack Attack! I am looking for a drum sound just like theirs, too. A very tight, defined, rock sound with as little ambiance, natural reverb sound as possible. Can anyone offer some advice on where I should start?

 

[mjbphotos]

Do you have a mic kit? If you want a tight sound with little room sound, you will need to close-mic everything you can.
For a room - the biggest you can get, with bass traps everywhere.

 

[CMB Studios]

16x12 room for me.

 

[Ddrum]

Yes, I have the Shure PG series 4-piece drum mic kit. I plan on close miking every individual drum, and each cymbal with AKG Perception 170 small diaphragm condensers, then two AKG Perception 220 large diaphragm condensers in a stereo pair as overheads, then a room mic or two. Any suggestions on what to use there?

 

[RecordingMaster]

Do you have a mic kit? If you want a tight sound with little room sound, you will need to close-mic everything you can.
For a room - the biggest you can get, with bass traps everywhere.

So I've heard, the bigger the room, the less bass trapping you need - this is especially true for tracking as long as you're not setting the kit up in the corner (but don't put it dead center either). However, the OP's room sizes are small enough to require some bass trapping. If not all four corners, at least the two corners nearest the kit. That's what i do in a similar sized room that is fairly untreated other than a couch on either side of the kit, a few panels on the wall behind the kit to absorb reflections from going back into the mics, a 2x4' sheet of 2" foam stapled to the ceiling above kit, and a 2'x4'x4" bass trap (OC705 faced with butcher paper to not absorb highs, then wrapped in a wooden frame with breathable fabric) in both of the corners behind the drum kit. The kit is set up so my back is facing the shorter wall, that way, the drums shoot/project down the length of the room. Also, the kit is not set up dead center in the room which causes tons of issues if it is.

With that setup I have no problems in the recorded tracks normally caused by tracking in a poorly treated room. OH's are ambient enough due to little high freq absorption and the bassier drums aren't too overly resonant because they are close mic'ed, moon gel to tame them to taste, and the bass trapping keeps those overly resonant lows and low mids under control. With this setup I can mix my drums as ambient or as dead as i want. Transient Designers can help with this to either shorten or lengthen the sustain of the drums.

Good luck. I also vote biggest room.