What makes a good live room for recording drums?

[johnS]

Say for the sake of argument that you have no desire to record in a studio. But you want to record a drum kit with a really happening live room sound. What sort of room would you look for? What dimensions make happy early reflections? What micing techniques can capture good room sounds? What has worked for you in the past?

[dagosto]

The best live rooms I have heard were approximately 40x20x15 (I like them kinda big). The less parralell walls the better. Angled ceilings are really nice. Cuts down on standing waves.

[909one]

I have always liked rooms with wood floors, at least ten foot ceilings.
Yeah, rooms with non-parallel walls are usually the best. A rectangle shaped room isn't bad, but avoid a square all costs. There are 'Golden' ratios that have been found to have the lowest occurance of standing wave build-up within a room, its called Bolt's Ratio I believe. I don't remember the ratios off hand, but could be found on the internet I'm sure.

[909one]

check this out....
http://www.bobgolds.com/Mode/RoomModes.htm
room mode calculator. pretty cool.

[clineaudio]

niiiice

[clineaudio]

Actually, I'll throw in my 2 cents. Non-parallel walls is a huge factor. As stated before, a single room generally needs to be in the mid sized room category (not huge, but have some space). But a great trick with any room, is...if you can open a door to a hallway, stairwell, or an adjoining room and stick a mic in it, it's a great way to add some "size" to the sound w/o. You're not gonna get that full-bodied "every drum a few milliseconds later"-albini, kind of sound, but it is VERY tasty on the right application.

[dagosto]

Originally Posted by clineaudio

You're not gonna get that full-bodied "every drum a few milliseconds later"-albini, kind of sound, but it is VERY tasty on the right application.

I believe albini actually delays the entire drum sound a few milliseconds so that the guitars are the driving force. He also has a really tall cieling and the walls are this special kind of rock imported from New Mexico I think.

[lukedavo]

No bars downstairs, no trains, and no yelling children is a good start. Decently high ceilings, with plenty of room for the bass drum to develope (at least 15ft). Destroy flutter, and any annoying reflections, and you have yourself a good start.

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dagosto

I believe albini actually delays the entire drum sound a few milliseconds so that the guitars are the driving force. He also has a really tall cieling and the walls are this special kind of rock imported from New Mexico I think.

you are right about the rock from NM; it's some kind of clay...and the celing is high as well. i totally agree with ccline about that trick though, it's cool.

[909one]

from studiio b at electrical:
http://electrical.com/StudioB/pics/s...iveroom-11.jpg