Re: Setting up Drums for Recording
It's always said to do what works for you. This is what I would try first:
I also would set the kit up of the far 15' wall with about 5-6' out from the wall behind the throne. Get a rug or a decent piece of carpet to put under the kit. on the 15' wall straight across from the kit I would cover the wall with something like this:
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You might consider building or buying some kind of bass traps for the corners of the room like this:
I would only deal with the drop ceiling if it rattles audibly in your recordings. I've heard good results from people taking cotton packing blankets and laying them across the tops of the ceiling tiles. Also you could consider suspending a 10'x10' packing blanket from the ceiling over your kit.
Important to note that you don't have to treat your room if you like the sound you get from your drums in it. Set them up, mic them, try different mic types and placements. Many great drum recordings have been done in big open rooms, and many in tight padded closets too. It just depends on the sound you are after. Research "Glyn Johns drum miking technique"
I think it would be great if you tracked your drums in there, tracked the rest of your band wherever, mixed it someplace else, released the music, sold a million recordings, and for decades after when people ask you how you got that incredible high energy drum sound, you could say it was the drop ceiling frame rattling with the sound energy of your kit in the recording space! Stranger things have happened.
Cut it large and kick it into place!
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