drum project studios

[djarrett]

Hey, guys:

If you were writing an article on building a drum project studio, what would be some key points you would include as major "don't forgets"?

 

For example ... and I speak from experience from a studio in a previous home, ... I forgot to make the door big enough to accept the bass drum case! Talk about frustrating!

 

Any thoughts?

 

DJ

[Jazzman]

Hi DJ......I would include the following 10 points:

 

1. Review cable routing (trip hazards) for a miced set in a small drum room, cable protectors, cable race ways should be used if that is the only way to route cables.

 

2. For an electronic set, clean power, surge protectors.

 

3. If in a created drum room with standard drywall, make sure that all of the drywall is securied. Sometimes builders don't do a good job attaching the drywall to the studs and unwanted vibration can occur. Of course if the room were to be refurbished, I would make sure that there was seperation of the room (room in a room)or extensive use of sound atinuation materials on the walls and ceiling.

 

4. Ventilation needs to be considered for the comfort of the drummer. A few airchanges/hour helps, also consider the sound of the forced air system. A lot of noise is generated at the outlet diffuser to the room. Make sure that a damper is installed at the take-off branch to the room. Adjust the airflow there first and the tweaking that is required at the drum room may not be required. That is the location where most noise is generated, at the louver.

 

Ductwork probably will need a silencer within it to knock out the fan noise. One way to do this is to add internal insulation at turns in the ductwork. For every turn and the use of absorptive materials will knock out sound. Sound travels in straight lines from the source, so take advantage of each turn. In addition, the duct may need to be increased due to reduction of the opening from the internal material. Most ductwork suppliers can provide sections of prefabed duct that will suite the condition for a small fee.

 

Consider the heat generated by electronic gear in the room, amp fan noise, etc, etc.

 

5. Egress out of the room for safety is a must, review paths are not blocked. If building in a studio, codes my require specific room set up conditins. Do not block exits, etc.

 

6. Consider fire protection for the room.......no smoking in the room...take it outside. In my studio no one smokes......not good for the electronics. Smoke is dust particals.

 

7. Proper lighting, accents, room color and such, allows the drummer to get lost in the moment. Reading lamp setup for music stand?

 

8. The use of mic male/female jack connections mounted on the inside and the outside drum room walls allow for a clean passaage of the cables from the drum room to the control room mixing board maintaing strict room closure.

 

9. Drum room door quality and door seals need to be reviewed, a special door (steel insulated) may be required with sound absortive materials fasened to it. For every hole cut in the room from another area should be of great concern to those outside of the room. A triple pane window is cool to have for visual......maybe a monitor and camera setup would work out instead. Headphone jacks set up the same way as for power,and mics, via connectors through the enclosure.

 

10. Humidification my be of a concern if the room that is damp. Could divert the return air to a room with a de-humidifier in it, if the room is under negative pressure, through sound baffled ductwork. Just a guess here.

 

well that's all I can think about for now.

 

My fade out..........

 

Jazzman