Acoustics

[ZildjianMan1023]

hey guys, when i have my kit in my basmnet, and im siting right there it sounds ok, thinsg sound alright but when i hear my kit at a gig or outside my basment it sounsd amazing and i cant get enough of it.. can anyone help me on my quest of acoustics.. thanks


dom

[ChannelFish]

So are you trying to achieve the same sound you hear outside as the one you hear in your basement?

[ZildjianMan1023]

im trying to achieve the same sound as outiside in my basment if thats wht you said then yes

[Ironcobra]

i dont think theres much you can do about it, when you are far from your kit, the sound reaches you as a whole, even when im sitting on the couch ten feet away, my kit sounds WAY better, especially the bass.

[ZildjianMan1023]

i noticed, i was at band practice once and my one buddy was sitting 7 inches idk how many it was but a ridiculous amount of space away and he said they sounded awsome with the new heads and i was like really? it just goes to show distance is the key.. or perception

[That Guy]

Funny, cuz I think and experience the exact opposite. I love the sound of my kit when I'm right on top of it. I think it sounds horrible from a distance, contrary to what others have said about. I want my kit to sound like it does up close rather than from a distance.

Like ZildjianMan 1023 said... "perception"

[ermghoti]

The difference is the room (basement vrs club). If you pile rolls of fiberglass insulation floor to ceiling in the corners of your basement ($7 a roll, maybe $200 total at most) you'll control the bass frequencies. Keep an eye on craigslist, and when somebody throws away cubicle walls, get a couple. Start with one behind you, then across from you. You can screw one to the ceiling over the kit, if you're confident in your carpentry skills. :D The cubes will stiffle the nasty high-end reflection that is doing most of the sound-ruining in this case.

[ZildjianMan1023]

The difference is the room (basement vrs club). If you pile rolls of fiberglass insulation floor to ceiling in the corners of your basement ($7 a roll, maybe $200 total at most) you'll control the bass frequencies. Keep an eye on craigslist, and when somebody throws away cubicle walls, get a couple. Start with one behind you, then across from you. You can screw one to the ceiling over the kit, if you're confident in your carpentry skills. :D The cubes will stiffle the nasty high-end reflection that is doing most of the sound-ruining in this case.


its not that bad though i mean i just dont understand why it sounds so much worse in my basment.. but dont get me wrong it doesnt sound like a daying cat or anything

[hawk9290]

Well, your basement is probably made out of concrete or cinder block, and has little insulation. Neither of these are good for acoustics. Also, your basement is probably square, rectangular, or a series of squares and rectangles put together. Again, this is not ideal for acoustics. Pretty much what these combine to mean is that you are going to get a room filled with all the frequencies and the will muddle together, with the bass being more in the corners, and the mids and highs along the walls and in the center of the room. All these sounds will not really be absorbed much by the walls and such, so theres really nothing to stop all the nasty frequencies.
Unless your willing to spend some money, its not going to improve much. It will always sound echoy, muddy, and off.

[ZildjianMan1023]

Well, your basement is probably made out of concrete or cinder block, and has little insulation. Neither of these are good for acoustics. Also, your basement is probably square, rectangular, or a series of squares and rectangles put together. Again, this is not ideal for acoustics. Pretty much what these combine to mean is that you are going to get a room filled with all the frequencies and the will muddle together, with the bass being more in the corners, and the mids and highs along the walls and in the center of the room. All these sounds will not really be absorbed much by the walls and such, so theres really nothing to stop all the nasty frequencies.
Unless your willing to spend some money, its not going to improve much. It will always sound echoy, muddy, and off.

Has this guy seen pictures of my basment? ahaha dude your dead on.. its NOT insulated and its a pretty much concrete stone mess..

[Legacyrik]

My basement is still unfinished and simply putting up that sheet insulation to cover all the ways made a huge improvement. Cut down alot of highs anyway.

Also, something I read, but I don't set my drums up in the middle of the room, I made sure they were off center and don't point directly into the wall, seems to make a difference.

[ZildjianMan1023]

My basement is still unfinished and simply putting up that sheet insulation to cover all the ways made a huge improvement. Cut down alot of highs anyway.

Also, something I read, but I don't set my drums up in the middle of the room, I made sure they were off center and don't point directly into the wall, seems to make a difference.


my drums usually
are not facing a wall but rather the wall to my back. theyre not in the center either just more in the back.. i think drumming and facing a wall is wierd.. theres not much to look at