drum room sounds weak

[billiamwalker]

my room is is 20x20x9. an OK sized room. not huge with high ceiling.. but it's big enough to get the job done. my problem is that when i record drums in there... it actually sounds like a 20x20x9 room and even while the drums are being close miked.. the drums around powerful and sound distant.

my theory is to hang some blackets around the drums to kill the reflections from the bare spots on the walls (but not deadening the room) and putting some bed cushion above the drums. (i have a wood riser under the drums) i think this will clarify my drum sounds and present them in a more controlled/mannered drum sound.

to give an example the type of drum sounds i'm looking for...

go to myspace or purevolume and type in underoath or thursday or as cities burn.

quality of the sites are bad but you're get the idea of where i'm coming from.

[mjau]

One small piece of advice...if you deaden the upper mids and highs, but don't do anything with the low frequencies, you are on the fast track to having a very boxy sound. Are you losing a lot of the bass when you listen to your room mics?

[billiamwalker]

One small piece of advice...if you deaden the upper mids and highs, but don't do anything with the low frequencies, you are on the fast track to having a very boxy sound. Are you losing a lot of the bass when you listen to your room mics?

not sure. maybe i can send you something to let you hear my problem areas?

[@?,*???&?]

You're doomed, it's a square room. It's next to the very worst thing of having a 20 x 20 x 20 room.

Depending on materials, you could improve the sound with some serious plaster and concrete, but how much do you want to spend tearing out the existing walls? You need to bring one wall in to the 18' range and make sure there are no two walls parallel.

[spankenstein]

Have you put the drums in the corner facing out? Have you taken them off the riser? Have you put a couch in front of them? Don't get discouraged be being "doomed" and try something new. I just recently found a spot in my room that I'm really happy with, keep at it.

[klangtone]

Yeah, I have a 27 x 17 x 10 room and I can get really dry sounds if I have the drums in the corner and if I put up as many absorbing, soft, cushy things around them. Try it.

Roy

[billiamwalker]

You're doomed, it's a square room. It's next to the very worst thing of having a 20 x 20 x 20 room.

Depending on materials, you could improve the sound with some serious plaster and concrete, but how much do you want to spend tearing out the existing walls? You need to bring one wall in to the 18' range and make sure there are no two walls parallel.

it's 20x20x9. not 20x20x20...

[judecca]

You're doomed, it's a square room. It's next to the very worst thing of having a 20 x 20 x 20 room.

Depending on materials, you could improve the sound with some serious plaster and concrete, but how much do you want to spend tearing out the existing walls? You need to bring one wall in to the 18' range and make sure there are no two walls parallel.

it's 20x20x9. not 20x20x20...

having a 20 x 20 room is going to cause some freq's to double and even triple as the reflections come back to the mic's. being able to change your room dimensions
would be optimal. if that's not an option, i'd definitly try the drums in the corner idea mentioned above. it may be enough to change and angle the source of the audio enable to lessen the effect of a square room. also you may want to try making some moveable "wallls" out of some old office dividers or something. attatching something dense to them (like 3/4" mdf) on both sides covered with some dampening foam. maybe you could even buy some cinderblock (like 99 cents ea.) at lowes and stack them a couple of feet off of one wall and add something to help with the reflections. i agree that the room size is a problem...but i don't think it's without a solution.

ryan