Check out this awesome natural reverb

[Fichtezc]

The old library of my school, which now holds classrooms and computer labs has an awesome entry room with a 30+ foot ceiling. I've always wanted to record in there and finally did last night.

Hows it sound compared to a reverb plug in, anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvsJCHBiwao

[6L6]

Nice playing and the room does have great natural reverb (which is always the best).

Here's a pic of a ballroom I've played several times. It's in the Filoli Mansion in Woodside, CA (if you ever watched the old TV show "Dynasty", this is the place they showed in the opening and closing credits, falsifying it as being in Denver).

The original builder's wife was a concert pianist who insisted on perfect acoustics (the place was built during WWI). That resulted in the ceiling being built and torn out SEVEN TIMES before she was satisfied with the perfect acoustics!

I'm here to tell ya they really got it right.

http://www.pbase.com/milholland_l/image/81656636

http://www.pbase.com/milholland_l/image/81391706

Bill

[IainDearg]

Jealous. Wish I had a access to a nice acoustic space I could stick a couple of mics up in. Had to make do with a room stuffed with absorbtion material to get rid of the bad stuff and then a plugin to add some of the good stuff!

[mmasters]

Pretty cool.

[Fichtezc]

Originally Posted by IainDearg

Jealous. Wish I had a access to a nice acoustic space I could stick a couple of mics up in. Had to make do with a room stuffed with absorbtion material to get rid of the bad stuff and then a plugin to add some of the good stuff!

Yeah this is what I usually do as well. I'd need to do a lot more playing around in that room before I could ACTUALLY use it;
It's way too live for me. Maybe with closer miking I could get a great sound though. I had the mics way backed off to demonstrate the room.

[rick-slo]

Long reverb tail in the mid frequencies without harshness. Not what I would want in my recordings but nice for specific aims and songs.

[6L6]

BTW, kitty corner to The Sacred Grounds Cafe in San Francisco there's a laundromat that has phenomenal acoustics. It's owned by the guys across the street who run the grocery store.

If I was looking to do some natural ambient recording, I'd talk with those guys and rent out that laundromat some night.

Another place with incredible acoustics is the smaller of the two guitar practice rooms at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, CA. I'd consider arranging the rental of that room as well for superior recording ambiance.

Bill

[Rudy4]

I used to drive about 20 miles fairly late in the evening to play a bit in a Interstate rest area building (all marble interior and fairly large) that had the best sound I'd ever heard. It was way better than playing in my bathtub at home!

[Fichtezc]

The studio I'm interning in has a great sounding room. Might have to stay after work some nights

[Ty Ford]

Finding a reverberant space is fun. It's easy to be in awe of one, whether it's a stairwell, a hall or a bathroom. As Fitz mentions, getting one to work consistently for recording is another thing.

I have recorded a madrigal group in a local church for 4-5 CDs over a period of 10-12 years; loved it. But I had to pay very close attention to mic placement and tempo. The faster the tempo, the closer the mics have to be. Make a mistake there and you end up with an overly sloppy recording.

I usually let some room in, but err on the conservative side. I have a couple of reverb plugins that I use to smooth things out.

I did record two flute orchestras last year and because of the size of the group and the church, had no choice but to let the room reverb be more in the mix, which, worked out just fine.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[The Old Anglo]

Check out your Tiled bathroom with the door closed.

[Fichtezc]

Originally Posted by The Old Anglo

Check out your Tiled bathroom with the door closed.

Sounds boxy and terrible.

[Scotty12string]

I've got any number of old Norman Churches near me, (Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire border) and I've approached the local Diosesian Authorities, and asked them if I could use one of their Churches near me, (sits vacant, for most of the week during the day) for a bit of Acoustic recording, they have been very amenable and helpful to the idea, I told them I wouldof ccourse make a healthy financial donation to the Church upkeep fund of course, the Acoustic echo in one of the bigger ones, -not two miles from where I live, has an echo any musician would love, so I consider it well worth it,-best done in what passes for a Summer here, as doing it between October and April could be a bit fingernumbing for us guitarists!
There is an added bonus also-playing in an 800 year-old building, comes with its own ambience-something that you cannot conjure-up-its just there, my fellow musicians and me are really looking forward to recording there, hopefully, in the next few weeks.