Members Coverdale Posted March 31, 2009 Members Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hey guys! Do you happen to know if a drum shield (acrylic panel) in front of the drums would help with a loud drummer in a rehearsal room? We're a 4 piece band, the drummer is facing the rest of the band (see primitive drawing) . It's too loud for confort, it makes the rest of the band turn it up and we'd like to do something about it. ---------------------- |______Drums_______ | |_________________ | |___________________| | Guitar - Bass -Guitar | | --------------------- We're thinking of putting some acoustic foam behind the drummer because of the reflections a drum shield might cause. I'd appreciate your help! Thanks! I know, the drummer should play with more control, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members devinw Posted March 31, 2009 Members Share Posted March 31, 2009 Well, my first thought is to ask your drummer to play quieter at rehersals. However, I have these big office cubical walls that seem to work quite well at isolating sound. You can get em cheap at discount used office furniture outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members captainobvious Posted March 31, 2009 Members Share Posted March 31, 2009 He should clearly be playing softer. How big is the room you are in and what type of wall construction (drywall/wood/cement/etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JBrig Posted March 31, 2009 Members Share Posted March 31, 2009 Put the drum shield between the drummer and the kit, much more effective!:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marko46 Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Yea, size of room, what the walls are, (block, drywall, paneling). What are you guys using for amps? How loud are you all? Are you using a P.A.? Are you micing the drums? Help us with that first. The question will be easier to answer. Plus, I didn't quite get the drawing.Marko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zildjian@consol Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Try facing the same way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marko46 Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Try facing the same way O.K. Now I see.+1 on Z's call.Set up like you would on stage, with the sound pushing out in front of you, instead of at each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Majoria Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 If you need to look at each other while practicing, then I would recommend sound absorbant behind the drummer if using the shield. But telling the drummer to calm it down would be the best. Of course telling many drummers they are too loud and to hit softer is like telling a guitarist he's too loud so take off 2 strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members captainobvious Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 I had asked about the room because reflection makes it sound much louder in a small space. You can try hanging some thick blankets or old carpet on each of the walls and that should help kill alot of the reflection. Especially the wall behind the drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slap happy drums Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 To quote my new favorite T-shirt "I'll play softer if you play better" But seriously....Try not turning up your amps when he gets too loud , unless he's not paying attention he'll be forced to come down to be able to hear you , otherwise it can become a vicious circle of everyone turning up over and over. Draw a line in the sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomske Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Its an important skill for drummers to be able to play at different dynamics. I agree with what was said above, don't turn up and he'll have to play quieter if he has any sense in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coverdale Posted April 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Yea, size of room, what the walls are, (block, drywall, paneling). What are you guys using for amps? How loud are you all? Are you using a P.A.? Are you micing the drums? Help us with that first. The question will be easier to answer. Plus, I didn't quite get the drawing.Marko Well, to answer your questions:1 : The size of room is (using online conversion) 18 feet by 20 feet.2 : The walls are block, but they are covered with wallmate and with random pieces of acoustic foam and cork panels.3 : The floor is a cork composite and we have same carpets on the floors.4 : We have several amps, from Deluxe Reverbs(22w) to Marshall JMP 100w to Engl Master Volumes - he doesn't play louder because of that -5 : The drums are not being miked (they could be if necessary, but the acoustic volume is already too loud)6 : We are using a PA for voices - we don't usually mic anything else for rehearsals7 : His drumkit is a top of the line RMV (Made in Brazil) The damn thing sounds louder than most drums I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marko46 Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Well, to answer your questions:1 : The size of room is (using online conversion) 18 feet by 20 feet.2 : The walls are block, but they are covered with wallmate and with random pieces of acoustic foam and cork panels.3 : The floor is a cork composite and we have same carpets on the floors.4 : We have several amps, from Deluxe Reverbs(22w) to Marshall JMP 100w to Engl Master Volumes - he doesn't play louder because of that -5 : The drums are not being miked (they could be if necessary, but the acoustic volume is already too loud)6 : We are using a PA for voices - we don't usually mic anything else for rehearsals7 : His drumkit is a top of the line RMV (Made in Brazil) The damn thing sounds louder than most drums I've heard. Hang more foam/carpet on your walls. If his drums are just THAT loud due to quality, you could try some dead ringers/; 3-4 moogels on the batters. I still think setting up as if you were on stage will help. you guys can still turn around if you need to see one another. He can try and player softer, but chances are it won't last. Wear hearing protection. Majoria's comment is so true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turdadactyl Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Put the drum shield between the drummer and the kit, much more effective!:poke: As Brian Griffin would say: Niiiiiice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mraia1 Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Well, my first thought is to ask your drummer to play quieter at rehersals. However, I have these big office cubical walls that seem to work quite well at isolating sound. You can get em cheap at discount used office furniture outlets. Thats a really interesting idea. You mean the standard, Everday cubicles that so many of us seem to spend all our time in? Im gonna try that, as the neighbors are complaining again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wiresix Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 thats a pretty good sized room. it sounds like you have the reflections undercontrol. have you considered the fact that he has those amps firing in his face while you guys have them aimed at your butts? most of what you're hearing is a reflection off that back wall, which if I'm not mistaken has sound deadening material on it... I've been in that situation before, and it's hard to mix your self when your preception of volume is so different from what the rest of the band hears Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slap happy drums Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Very good point. and I like the shifting of the blame off of the drummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry_L Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 I'm not a drummer, but I did get a drum shield for the same reason. However, they're really designed for recording isolation, not solving volume issues. The drum shield reflects more sound back to the drummer, so it will force him to play softer. However, now all he can hear is drums. We ended up setting our drummer up with headphones with a custom mix, and everyone's happy now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members devinw Posted April 1, 2009 Members Share Posted April 1, 2009 Thats a really interesting idea. You mean the standard, Everday cubicles that so many of us seem to spend all our time in? Im gonna try that, as the neighbors are complaining again. Yeah man. The insides are made of a material similar to "Sound Board" that you can buy at Lowe's/Home Depot and then are covered with thin foam and then fabric. Good for sound deadining. I think that's the purpose since many cubicals are quite close together and should isolate worker's sounds to some degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wiresix Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 I'm not a drummer, but I did get a drum shield for the same reason. However, they're really designed for recording isolation, not solving volume issues. The drum shield reflects more sound back to the drummer, so it will force him to play softer. However, now all he can hear is drums. We ended up setting our drummer up with headphones with a custom mix, and everyone's happy now. please don't record with one of those... I can't imagine early reflections like that sounding good. you will probably end up with phase cancellation too. the only use I can see for those things is to help control stage volume like you guys are using it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowPhreak Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 Try putting the bass stack on one side of the drummer about 2' away from the throne, and the guitar stack on his other side. Gain up to about 9. That oughta fix his ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Majoria Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 please don't record with one of those... I can't imagine early reflections like that sounding good. you will probably end up with phase cancellation too. the only use I can see for those things is to help control stage volume like you guys are using it If it has phase issues in the studio from the shield then it would have phase issues on the stage as well. I doubt there would be any phase issues as I've never had such things in that manner in my studio or live. It could easily have excessive reflections if placed close to the kit (I would expect that) but not phase issues. I agree that it should be avoided for recording, just properly treat the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wiresix Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 I'm just a hobbyist, but I thought you get at least some phase cancellation in pretty much all reflections because it would be impossible to space reflective walls to propperly return all the harmonic content in phase. it's not much of a problem with reverb because it's so broken up and quiet, but I believe early reflections that break the 3 to 1 rule are still in tact and loud enough to cause audible phase issues. depending on how far away the shield is, this could cause problems with the overheads I just think live sound is a little more forgiving because of extreme SPLs, so it doesn't matter as much. if your over heads were 4 ft above the drums, a drum shield would need to be about 5.5 feet away from the source and the mics to keep the 3 to 1 rule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jenksdrummer Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 First, don't point everything at him... Biggest, most common mistake in any volume situation is that someone is getting blasted with someone else's instrument, so they turn up because they either can't hear themselves, or think it's unbalanced... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry_L Posted April 2, 2009 Members Share Posted April 2, 2009 please don't record with one of those... I can't imagine early reflections like that sounding good. you will probably end up with phase cancellation too. the only use I can see for those things is to help control stage volume like you guys are using it We are recording with it in place, but these are just rehearsal recordings for our own enjoyment. Not sure if we're observing the 3-to-1 rule, or if the drummer's happy with his sound on the recordings, though. However, he seems to like the sonic isolation and using headphones to hear the rest of the band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.