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Post by swurveman on Jan 17, 2015 9:07:01 GMT -6
Below is a screen capture from a documentary I watched on the Foo Fighters "Wasting Light" album. They are tracking drums and the drummer is the only person in the room. So, the gobos aren't being used to separate instruments. Does anybody have an idea acoustically why they have gobos on one side and the back (in a wide v shape) but didn't place a gobo on the other side? Is there some acoustic reason for doing it the way they did? For all the advice I read about acoustics, they seem to be using very little conventional acoustic treatment for recording drums in a small room. It appears to be just a rug and absorbant gobos. The gobos do appear to be very thick though. Thanks to anybody who shares their thoughts.   |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jan 19, 2015 18:53:10 GMT -6
Hmmm. Maybe they didn't put one on the other side because then you couldn't open the cabinets... |
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Post by matt on Jan 20, 2015 7:50:00 GMT -6
Below is a screen capture from a documentary I watched on the Foo Fighters "Wasting Light" album. It's been a while since I've seen this, but if I remember correctly, the album was cut at Dave's house. So this would be his garage, probably. My guess is that they listened to the room and placed the gobos just right to kill some of the bad reflections (flutter, etc) and kept the "good" - as they defined it - to get a desired amount of ambiance. Keep just a little room in there, so that the drums breathe a bit. Those are some big gobos, for sure. This is nice to see because it demonstrates that any space can be workable, with a little thoughtful room treatment. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 8:17:24 GMT -6
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Post by swurveman on Jan 20, 2015 9:04:38 GMT -6
Thanks guys. Maybe John is right, they needed to open those cabinets. I just found it interesting that they didn't use any of the conventional acoustic advice, using gobos instead, and still left one side totally free to bounce away. They didn't treat the room, they treated the kit. Interesting nevertheless. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 9:12:25 GMT -6
It's interesting for sure. I've never listened to the album, but I'm test driving it now. Drums sound good. Album sounds pretty rock and roll.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 9:42:56 GMT -6
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Post by tonycamphd on Jan 20, 2015 10:16:46 GMT -6
I like this album, this drum sound is not my fav, the thick gobos work very well, they surely had to put it on the HH side, otherwise phase smear city off the side wall, the other 2 seem to be serving as way out corner traps, they look 12" thick, you'll often see gobos used to make a "U" shape around the drums leaving the front open, the yuky part for me is the ceiling being so close to the OH mics=boxphase, it gives that garage band sound that i hear in these tracks, there is no substitution for high ceilings for a big open drum sound imo. That said, these guys know whats up, they were going for that sound. The songs, musicianship and album is good so? I happily listen to these songs when they come on.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 10:40:33 GMT -6
I like this album, this drum sound is not my fav, the thick gobos work very well, they surely had to put it on the HH side, otherwise phase smear city off the side wall, the other 2 seem to be serving as way out corner traps, they look 12" thick, you'll often see gobos used to make a "U" shape around the drums leaving the front open, the yuky part for me is the ceiling being so close to the OH mics=boxphase, it gives that garage band sound that i hear in these tracks, there is no substitution for high ceilings for a big open drum sound imo. That said, these guys know whats up, they were going for that sound. The songs, musicianship and album is good so? I happily listen to these songs when they come on. I agree about the drum sound. It's not a drum sound that you're going to pull up as a reference or something to strive for, but it sounds pro and was done in a garage (so maybe it is sort of something for us to strive for). Not the ultimate drums, but good enough for sure. |
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Post by swurveman on Jan 20, 2015 13:03:48 GMT -6
Well there's my answer Jesse. Thanks for the link: In terms of sonic treatment of the garage live room, there was virtually none, other than two baffles positioned behind drummer Taylor Hawkins' kit and another two placed at the door to cut down leaking noise. "The two right behind Taylor were maybe four feet by four feet, just to get rid of the reflections off the back wall that were coming into the drum kit,” says Vig. "We put a carpet under the drums also. Initially, it was so loud and bright with no carpet in it, and the cymbal bleed was killing everything. It still was a very bright sound, but a little bit more reined‑in.” So, they wouldn't have even put the other gobo to the left of the drummer if not to control leaking noise. Just two in the back to stop the reflections from the rear wall. Amazing. Also, interesting how they used other methods to compensate for problems created by the space: "We swapped his main crash for a shorter-decay Zildjian cymbal with holes drilled in it, and we turned the main ambience mics around to face the bottom corners of the garage.” You'd think those bottom corners would be low end buildup hell, but that's what they did. |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 13:17:19 GMT -6
Well there's my answer Jesse. Thanks for the link: In terms of sonic treatment of the garage live room, there was virtually none, other than two baffles positioned behind drummer Taylor Hawkins' kit and another two placed at the door to cut down leaking noise. "The two right behind Taylor were maybe four feet by four feet, just to get rid of the reflections off the back wall that were coming into the drum kit,” says Vig. "We put a carpet under the drums also. Initially, it was so loud and bright with no carpet in it, and the cymbal bleed was killing everything. It still was a very bright sound, but a little bit more reined‑in.” So, they wouldn't have even put the other gobo to the left of the drummer if not to control leaking noise. Just two in the back to stop the reflections from the rear wall. Amazing. Also, interesting how they used other methods to compensate for problems created by the space: "We swapped his main crash for a shorter-decay Zildjian cymbal with holes drilled in it, and we turned the main ambience mics around to face the bottom corners of the garage.” You'd think those bottom corners would be low end buildup hell, but that's what they did. I was under the impression that the gobos visible in this shot were for reflections (3 rather than the 2 quoted) and there are more in front of the doors (not visible). I can't imagine not having a gobo between the hats and the wall. There would just be too much reflection without it. |
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Post by swurveman on Jan 20, 2015 13:52:32 GMT -6
Thanks for the discussion so far guys. I've been reading more about this. So, I noticed something else that caught my attention that I would enjoy hearing other peoples perspectives on. Their amp room/vocal room was also carpet/rug. They are using what appears 2" TO 4" thick absorbers on the wall with slats, perhaps to liven up the room. Below is a photo. If anybody wants to comment, or thinks they're something other than absorbers with slats attached to the face I'd appreciate your thoughts.  |
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jan 20, 2015 14:00:54 GMT -6
I wonder what the used the Sta on. I saw it pictured, but it says they used a Distressor on vox.
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Post by swurveman on Jan 20, 2015 14:03:08 GMT -6
Well there's my answer Jesse. Thanks for the link: In terms of sonic treatment of the garage live room, there was virtually none, other than two baffles positioned behind drummer Taylor Hawkins' kit and another two placed at the door to cut down leaking noise. "The two right behind Taylor were maybe four feet by four feet, just to get rid of the reflections off the back wall that were coming into the drum kit,” says Vig. "We put a carpet under the drums also. Initially, it was so loud and bright with no carpet in it, and the cymbal bleed was killing everything. It still was a very bright sound, but a little bit more reined‑in.” So, they wouldn't have even put the other gobo to the left of the drummer if not to control leaking noise. Just two in the back to stop the reflections from the rear wall. Amazing. Also, interesting how they used other methods to compensate for problems created by the space: "We swapped his main crash for a shorter-decay Zildjian cymbal with holes drilled in it, and we turned the main ambience mics around to face the bottom corners of the garage.” You'd think those bottom corners would be low end buildup hell, but that's what they did. I was under the impression that the gobos visible in this shot were for reflections (3 rather than the 2 quoted) and there are more in front of the doors (not visible). I can't imagine not having a gobo between the hats and the wall. There would just be too much reflection without it. Yeah, I think you're right. It gets confusing, because sometimes the room is referred to as a basement bunker and other times a garage. I read somewhere else about the space and it gave the impression that the kit is at the back of the garage and faces garage doors. So, I would also assume that the photo is the truth-about 3 gobos- and that there were also absorbent gobos in front of the garage door. |
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Post by swurveman on Jan 20, 2015 14:06:40 GMT -6
I wonder what the used the Sta on. I saw it pictured, but it says they used a Distressor on vox. According to this article, the Sta was used on an M49 for kit ambiance. I love how they tracked to get the sound they wanted. I'm sure there was more processing happening at Mix time, but you get the feeling that they were trying to do it all old school, which meant getting the sounds on tape the way they wanted them. |
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Post by svart on Jan 20, 2015 14:22:12 GMT -6
I wonder what the used the Sta on. I saw it pictured, but it says they used a Distressor on vox. According to this article, the Sta was used on an M49 for kit ambiance. I love how they tracked to get the sound they wanted. I'm sure there was more processing happening at Mix time, but you get the feeling that they were trying to do it all old school, which meant getting the sounds on tape the way they wanted them. If I had a dollar for everytime someone said that they "tracked it exactly how they wanted it" and then later completely forgot this as they pushed for a completely different sound, all without wanting to redo the tracking.. And then forgot that the poor producer and mix engineer struggled for days to months to get that end sound.. I'd have a lot of dollars. Not saying that they didn't do it as they said, but it seems like a generic statement that every single band makes, either in pride, or in excuses when someone asks about the sound. |
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Post by wiz on Jan 20, 2015 15:22:50 GMT -6
Thanks for the discussion so far guys. I've been reading more about this. So, I noticed something else that caught my attention that I would enjoy hearing other peoples perspectives on. Their amp room/vocal room was also carpet/rug. They are using what appears 2" TO 4" thick absorbers on the wall with slats, perhaps to liven up the room. Below is a photo. If anybody wants to comment, or thinks they're something other than absorbers with slats attached to the face I'd appreciate your thoughts. Aren't those windows.... and just blinds that are shut? Edit, on second look... they are probably absorbers.... cheers Wiz |
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Post by svart on Jan 20, 2015 15:46:17 GMT -6
Thanks for the discussion so far guys. I've been reading more about this. So, I noticed something else that caught my attention that I would enjoy hearing other peoples perspectives on. Their amp room/vocal room was also carpet/rug. They are using what appears 2" TO 4" thick absorbers on the wall with slats, perhaps to liven up the room. Below is a photo. If anybody wants to comment, or thinks they're something other than absorbers with slats attached to the face I'd appreciate your thoughts. Aren't those windows.... and just blinds that are shut? Edit, on second look... they are probably absorbers.... cheers Wiz I thought so too at first but some of the other videos on Youtube that show the studio show that they are definitely some kind of sound control panels. |
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Post by tonycamphd on Jan 20, 2015 16:00:16 GMT -6
Thanks for the discussion so far guys. I've been reading more about this. So, I noticed something else that caught my attention that I would enjoy hearing other peoples perspectives on. Their amp room/vocal room was also carpet/rug. They are using what appears 2" TO 4" thick absorbers on the wall with slats, perhaps to liven up the room. Below is a photo. If anybody wants to comment, or thinks they're something other than absorbers with slats attached to the face I'd appreciate your thoughts. Aren't those windows.... and just blinds that are shut? Edit, on second look... they are probably absorbers.... cheers Wiz i thought the same thing also, there are some sort of fasteners that reflect/create an illusion interpreted as a window outline behind semi transparent shades, but if you look close, the windows would be really small, they are screws i think... |
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