What is considered a Good Room for Recording Drums?

[factoryfuzz]

Tell me what is a good drum room for recording?
how big?
how high of ceilings?
wood floor or carpet?
wide open spaces or clutter in the room?
what are some things you can do to compensate for small rooms?

thanks

[djui5]

This all depends on the type of sound you want. For pop song's..you'll want a smaller room that's pretty much dead. For other applications, you might want a large room with lot's of reflections. It all just depends on the sound you want. The only time you'll never want to use a room is if it's square, or has really really bad acoustics...so bad it had dramatic comb filtering. A good overall drum room will be 10x13 at least, 9ft ceilings, with panels that can be switched between a wood side and a fabric side. This will give you option's for reflections. If you're recording drums in a small room..and can't get that live sound you want, you have two options. Either use outboard reverbs to liven it up, or try placing a room mic in an adjacent room to pick up some reflections (leave the door open). This is the beauty of tracking at large studios, they have many room's and you most surely will be able to find a room the right size for your needs. Anyways..hope this answer's your questions

[LTA]

8 foot ceilings are tricky to work with. 10'+ are ideal. With a wood floor, you can always throw down rugs/carpet. Pulling up the carpet can be ugly at best.

If you can set your drums up, and be able to play them without hitting the walls or modifying your kit to fit, it is big enough. As long as the engineer can set his equipment up, and the drummer can get to the throne, you have enough space. Some drummers do choke in a cramped environment. More importantly than a good sounding room is to have a room the performer feels comfortable in.

I do prefer an uncluttered room. Sometimes you don't have a choice. Some clutter (couches, chairs, tv's, etc) can create a comfortable environment for some people, but when im playing drums, i prefer just to have the drums and mic stands. Even the cables bug me sometimes, lol.

The best way to deal with a small room is to admit you are recording in a small room and deal with it. In addition to djui5's suggestions, you can also reamp your drums by playing them over loudspeakers in a larger/different room and using a pair of microphones to record the room tone. Add that back to the original tracks, and some magic might happen. Reverb units also work, but even in a modest domicile you have access to rooms that are as realistic as any dsp device. It just takes a bit of experimentation.

[Ender]

Well...What type of room did Led Zepellin record in? :D

[djui5]

it was actually in the basement of NASA, where they have an adjustable anechoeic chamber which can be tuned to a cascading frequency of 567Hz, give or take a few.

j/j
I really am not sure............

[monkey]

Originally posted by Ender
Well...What type of room did Led Zepellin record in? :D

If i remember correctly..... they used to record in a disused victorian workhouse called headley grange.... I know for that levee sound they put the drums in a stairwell, with I think, a mic on kick and ambients a couple of floors up!!