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So I've been looking for a spot uptown to rent so I can have a spot to record without worrying about my neighbours. I went and looked at a spot tonight and It seemed right for what I wanted but part of my thought it was small. The reason being that when you see most live rooms (where drums are being recorded) the are big. So basically my question is can you get good drum sounds out of a smaller room?

Thanks

Dylan

You'd have to start by defining "good". It really depends on what you are going for. I love the flexibility our room gives us, especially with the addition of the gobos. However finding a room like ours in Saint John without building it yourself isn't going to come easy. Keep in mind also that it took a lot of work to get our drum room into its current state. We've put a ton of work into the almost 5000sq./ft. of space we have and it's taken a lot of of crafty negotiation tactics to even get that much space to begin with. Originally all we had was the back rehearsal room with access to the bathroom. We had to carefully pry the rest of the space out of their hands.

Bottom line is that if you need a drum room like ours you're probably better off using ours then recording your overdubs on your own. The odds of you finding the kind of space we have at Fluid for a price that would fit into your budget is a long shot. I would instead focus on a spot that can work as a place where you can comfortably rehearse with your band while carving out a small control room that you can use to record and having bathroom access. If you can find something the size of our rehearsal room for under $300 you'd be doing well.

When I say good I mean I want a live room like you guys. The place that I looked at yesterday had the potential but didn't have room for anything else. Most buildings uptown have brick walls which is the first problem. So I had an idea last night after I was done talking to you to make reversible gobos. One side being like the gobos I helped you build and the other side being cedar or something of the sort. It would be a lot of work but if it makes the room sound that much better than I would do it. Not to mention that I can move gobos but can't move a room that I built inside a building.

Like this maybe.....
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5928

dylanger wrote:Like this maybe.....
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5928

Those are some ugly. You can build nicer ones than that.

Ya they are ugly... They would look much nicer than that

Another thought. You can get good drum sounds out of smaller rooms, but they won't sound like they were recorded in big rooms. And if you try to make them sound like they were recorded in big rooms, things will generally go to crap. The reversible gobos will help, but aren't the full solution. The thing to keep in mind is to find the positive attributes of your room and accent them, while hiding the deficiencies. Don't try to get Bonhom-esqe drum sounds out of a 15'x10'x8' room. Just ain't gonna happen.

Like Matt said though, if you've got access to one of the best drum rooms around....

I agree with Andrew 100%. Record the room and use it as an instrument. If it's a small room, get a good drum sound for that room and use it as such. I record in a spare bedroom at my house and for the most parts, my recordings sound great. Chris Fudge gets wicked drum sounds out of a small loft above his garage. I have friends that record drumsets with one microphone and they sound terrific.

BIG drums sounds are so 80's anyway.

clinton wrote:I agree with Andrew 100%. Record the room and use it as an instrument. If it's a small room, get a good drum sound for that room and use it as such. I record in a spare bedroom at my house and for the most parts, my recordings sound great. Chris Fudge gets wicked drum sounds out of a small loft above his garage. I have friends that record drumsets with one microphone and they sound terrific.

BIG drums sounds are so 80's anyway.

Like I said, define "good". When we rebuild the studio next year and move everything upstairs I have every intention of creating a dead room. I can't wait to record drums in it either.

Yes. Size does matter. The acoustic properties of the space matter even more.

Small and "live" can sound huge and lively. It depends on how you mic it, and treat it.

Room size isn't just important for drums. For me, more so when tracking voice.

When I was first around recording in proper studios, a lot of drums were done in the iso room with the singer out in the big room. Then it changed, and now you'd rarely see that happening. Singer in the closet, drums out in the big room.

I have received far more vocals that I either couldn't work with, or had to do an awful lot to because of the small room they were tracked in.

As Matt said, small and dead for drums can be the bomb. It depends on what you have in mind going in.

clinton wrote:BIG drums sounds are so 80's anyway.

Everything except this. Faux BIG unnatural lexicon reverb drum sounds are 80's. Big drum sounds are forever.

macrae11 wrote:

clinton wrote:BIG drums sounds are so 80's anyway.

Everything except this. Faux BIG unnatural lexicon reverb drum sounds are 80's. Big drum sounds are forever.

+100

dylanger wrote:... Most buildings uptown have brick walls which is the first problem...

Maybe I'm not following your meaning, but what problem is the brick causing?

Well I haven't seen too many studios with bricks being used as a material in the live room. By the way you replied, I take I'm wrong. It just seems like brick wouldn't be a great material for a live room, I've jammed in a lot of garages with cement floors and that doesn't seem to ever sound that good.

dylanger wrote:Well I haven't seen too many studios with bricks being used as a material in the live room. By the way you replied, I take I'm wrong. It just seems like brick wouldn't be a great material for a live room, I've jammed in a lot of garages with cement floors and that doesn't seem to ever sound that good.

Put a drum kit in it and hear it for yourself. If it sucks then figure out if it's worth your time to make it not suck. If not...move on.

dylanger wrote:Well I haven't seen too many studios with bricks being used as a material in the live room. By the way you replied, I take I'm wrong. It just seems like brick wouldn't be a great material for a live room, I've jammed in a lot of garages with cement floors and that doesn't seem to ever sound that good.

The size and shape of the room have as much to do with it as the construction materials used.

...and yes. Many great rooms have had stone/brick used in the wall surfaces.

Mathieu Benoit wrote:Put a drum kit in it and hear it for yourself. If it sucks then figure out if it's worth your time to make it not suck. If not...move on.

So simple it just might work.