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MIke Sorensen

Joined: 28/02/12
Posts: 22
Loc: Arizona

Big Drum Sound
#980840 - 07/04/12 06:16 PM

How do I achieve a big drum sound on my recordings without using a large room? If I need a large room, what size is best?

Cheers,
Mike

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www.acousticfields.com low frequency absorption solutions. Listen to the music without hearing the room!

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narcoman
active member

Joined: 14/08/01
Posts: 8469

Re: Big Drum Sound new

[Re: MIke Sorensen]
#980842 - 07/04/12 06:28 PM

Depends on what you call a big drum sound. Is it the Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound? or black keys or maybe the old face... Led zep.??

Give me an example ...

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The Elf
active member

Joined: 14/08/01
Posts: 8154
Loc: Sheffield, UK

Re: Big Drum Sound new

[Re: MIke Sorensen]
#980847 - 07/04/12 07:09 PM

This is rather like asking how you paint a picture of an 'impressive horse' - there are so many variables of interpretation and execution that it's hard to know where to start!

In addition to examples of what you're aiming for it would help if we know what you've tried so far and what gear/facilities you have available to you.

So narrow it down for us and let's see if we can help.

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

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Beat Poet

Joined: 21/01/12
Posts: 153
Loc: Hertfordshire, UK

Re: Big Drum Sound new

[Re: MIke Sorensen]
#980860 - 07/04/12 10:38 PM

When the room in which you record is small, the space and rooms outside are your best friend. If the noise and disturbing other people isn't a factor, think about opening the door and placing a mic outside the room. If there is a bathroom or kitchen nearby, even better, you can get alot of reflection out of those!

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Do you need real drum tracks? http://www.drumtracksdirect.co.uk/

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chew_rocket

Joined: 21/10/09
Posts: 438

Re: Big Drum Sound new

[Re: MIke Sorensen]
#981157 - 09/04/12 01:44 PM

You could make the small room sound very dead (soft stuff around!) and use artificial reverb. Not the best way, but A way.

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Jack Ruston

Joined: 21/12/05
Posts: 4066

Re: Big Drum Sound new

[Re: MIke Sorensen]
#981178 - 09/04/12 04:35 PM

Personally I find that the height of the ceiling is more important than the size of the floor area. The rooms I like best for drums tend to be more or less as high as they are wide. You might have say 9m x 6m with a 5m ceiling height.

If the room is too big then the drums start sounding small again because the early reflection doesn't 'bolster' the sound in the way you might prefer. The room stops 'shouting back'.

Every room is different and there are so many variables that affect this. Some small reflective rooms can be really aggressive sounding. It does come back to what you mean by 'big'.

J

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www.jackruston.com

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