where to place panels above drums....

[billiamwalker]

i have absorption panels that i'm hanging above the drums to stop the reflections from the 8 1/2 foot ceiling. right now their placed to where there is about a foot space in between the panels directly above the drums.. therefore my overhead mics for hte session aren't under them... the ceiling reflections still still be going into the mics theoretically.

so the advice... are the panels supposed to be above the drums or above the placement of the overhead mics?


i need quick help because ih ave a session this weekend so i need to know if i shall move them.

[googacky]

I'm a bit confused, but I think I've got a handle on what you're saying. The obvious answer is: do what sounds the best. It sounds like you're trying to treat the room, so you'd be wanting to treat surfaces. If there's something nasty bouncing back from your ceiling, you'll want to track down where the reflection point is roughly and treat there. If your mics are behind your panels (if I'm reading your post right), your overheads will be turning into something else altogether since you'll be getting no direct sound and all indirect sound. If it sounds cool, use it, but I'd say start with your panels directly on the ceiling and see how that changes the room sound.

[surf's up]

if my understanding of the propogation of sound is correct, then the ceiling surface directly above the drums will produce the most immediate and voluminous reflections, and probably should be your first stop when it comes to absorption. But I also believe the ceiling in other parts of the room can create (potentially) problematic reflections. But the angle of incidence at these other points would theoretically have it bounce around the room a bit before it reaches the mics so it would be much less intense byt the time it gets there.

Agreed with the above poster, try it various ways and see what sounds best.

[Ethan Winer]

> are the panels supposed to be above the drums or above the placement of the overhead mics? <

Both.

[myfipie]

I will second Ethan.. You really want to cover as much of the ceiling as you can.

Glenn

[billiamwalker]

ok ethan.. that's more of what i was asking.

i must have made it hard to understand for the first two people. i apologize.

where i have the panels..they're spaced to close together to where the overhead mics aren't under the panels..rather the over heads are exposed to the ceiling and the panels are placed only over most of the drums.

[googacky]

I've got ya now. Your overheads are not directly over the drums but pulled back or forward a bit. This is making more sense to me now. Yeah, what Ethan said.

Brian

[bpape]

Understand up front though that this space is all acoustical drop ceiling with a several foot gap above it that has a decent amount of insulation in it. Not full but budgetary reasons applied.

There is some thick broadband absorbtion up top in the REAL upper tri corners as well as some 6" thick I believe above the tiles.

How do I know? I designed the space for Brian. It was a studio before so the basic shell we lived with along with the drop ceiling.

Bryan