Recording drums in a HUGE room

[bmsander]

I've been recording my rock band in the guitarist's farmhouse because that's where we rehearse. The drums on the EP we just recorded sound decent (ok, but not great) considering the gear we used, but I'm tempted to record drums for the next one in my loft. It's huge. Probably 20 X 100 feet and 20 foot ceilings. Wood floor, one of the long walls drywall and the other brick. When I clap my hands in the middle of the room, I can count "one, one thousand" before the reverb totally disappears.

Before I drag my entire setup across town, would anybody like to take a stab at the pitfalls of recording in a place like this? One of my worries is that even the slightest touch of compression will make the room sound go out of control, and it's hard to imagine that hanging blankets on the walls will do a whole lot in this place.

Maybe setting up the kit in one end of the room instead of in the middle would help . . .

discuss . . . ?

thanks,
brett

[armanbohn]

I love recording in big rooms with nice ambient decay. I guess it reallly depends on what kind of music you are recording and how you want the record to sound.

Here is a link to 2 songs I've recorded. The drums on both of them were recorded in a large grange hall with a hardwood floor. Other instruments were cut in from a variety of other locations, but the drums have a nice sound - 2 overheads a snare and kick. Straight to tape, no compression.

The songs are "Erase the Moon" and "Terraforming":

MP3's at:

http://armanbohn.com/html/download_musi ... at_ar.html

[drumsound]

Instead of blankets on the walls, put them on mic stands closer to the drums, if you need a tighter sound for some songs. Or maybe put a blanket or two behind the drummer so your close mics sound close and put far mic elsewhere to get a room sound. Or...Or...Or...with a room that size you can try a lot of things.

[bmsander]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

Arman, I think those drums sound great and are definitely closer to the sound I'd like to hear. Much more exciting than the small dead room we recorded in.

We did vocals in my loft and you can hear the "space" in the quiet intro and outro.

Here's some examples of the "dry" drum sound if anyone cares to listen:

http://www.absintheblind.com/headlights/fence.m4a

http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/media/prc-me004-01.mp3

thanks again,
brett

[logancircle]

If you don't use barriers around the drums, you'll get a lot of reverb in your close mics, which limits your options later if you want them to be drier. I would put up some gobos or mattresses around the kit and lower the overheads a bit, then put a mic back in the room like 10' and one at like 20'. That should give you plenty of options for making your drum tracks wetter if you need to. $.02

[Brett Siler]

The songs are "Erase the Moon" and "Terraforming":

MP3's at:

http://armanbohn.com/html/download_musi ... at_ar.html

I really liked both of these songs a lot!

[loosegravel]

Me too

[logancircle]

All those recordings sound real good, keep doing what you're doing.

[hollywood_steve]

You may have figured this out for yourself already, but if not..........

You don't have to treat the whole room to get a decent drum sound; just set up a few gobos near the kit and work with mic positioning until you get the desired blend of direct and reflected sound.

[armanbohn]

Hey -

Thanks for the pos. feedback on the songs. Didn't really get too much of that when that band actually EXISTED...

Also - if you have some extra tracks/mics you should capture a stereo pair of the room itself, back off of the drums. I find that after you get the sound you like initially, it tends to disappear once the whole mix gets rolling. If you have a couple tracks of the room to dial back in it may help later on.

-Arman