What is the best sounding room in the world for drums?

[Diegel]

Hi all. We recently completed a comparison of 5 recording studios using the same drummer and equipment including drums, mics, preamps, etc... You can see the video on the link below. We are interested in suggestions for rooms we should visit next on our quest to find the ultimate drum room. We want to answer some questions about the ideal properties for a drum room including ideal room size and shape, ceiling height and shape, wall materials, etc...

https://youtu.be/iGwh8C-BWx8

[Soundman2020]

Normally I don't allow newcomers posting unrelated links to YouTube videos, but in this case I'll make an exception, since it really is a very interesting comparison of room sounds. The differences are crystal clear, not subtle, and somewhat surprising (assuming that all factors were kept identical between tests, as claimed). Worthwhile watching, and listening on good speakers or good cans.

Oh, and Welcome to the Forum, Diegel!

My obvious suggestions would be to try Abbey Road, BlackBird, and Galaxy. But that involves some logistical issues!

- Stuart -

[Diegel]

Thanks Stuart! We did our best to be as precise as possible measuring mic positions each time and tuning the top and bottom heads of the drums to the same tunebot and drum dial settings right before we recorded and also tuned the top snare head after each take (we did only 3 takes per studio and chose best full take of each). We also took turns playing drums and just listening to each other acoustically while we walked around the room and we can vouch that the recordings accurately capture the tone and ambience of each room. Multitrack files are available for free in the video description. Galaxy was on the list but it looks like they have closed their doors.