Where to put treatment

I have a small bedroom I record in. It's 8'x12' with an 8' ceiling. The walls are bare so reflections are pretty bad and it sucks having to close mic everything. I'd like to be able back off the mic 2 or more ft and have a good, clear recording. My idea is to basically deaden the room and add reverb and whatnot later if I need to.

I originally had the idea of just getting a few panels and setting them up by the mic or using them as gobos, but I no longer want to do it that way. I just want to treat the whole room.

The main focus is to record acoustic instruments, mainly acoustic guitar.

What kind of panels should I get? 2" thick ones? Bass isn't much of an issue when just recording acoustic guitar (not much below 80Hz most of the time).

Low-mids and up (especially high frequency) reflections are what I think is making my recordings sound unclear, low fi, muddy, etc.

What size/thickness panels should I get and where should I put them? Will I need Auralex on some spots?

I'm not treating this room for mixing, that's not a problem for me. I'm treating it for tracking acoustic stuff.

I attached a picture of my room. Thanks for any help.

[mixsit]

I understand that open windows and doors are essentially 'traps, possible noise sources being the downside, but the closet could be a natural fairly wide-band. And a possible 'backdrop for micing.
2" min. depth for mid reflection control.
Consider some hung overhead to get the ceiling reflections over the mic area. (I did some on chain adjustable for height.)
It's a start.

Well I can lean the mattress up against the rear wall before recording, and it covers about 80% of it in width and about 50% in height. Should I mount a couple 2x4x2" panels on the top half of the wall that the mattress doesn't cover?

What about the left and right walls? Same thing? Try to cover at least about 75% of the wall with 2" thick panels? Should I use a couple 4" in some places?

I'd like to just be able to setup the mic in the middle of the room, or wherever and record without having to worry about the room.

Do you think auralex on the ceilings would be good enough or will I have to mount some panels on the ceilings? I'm not very handy when it comes to stuff like this so I don't want any panels falling on my head.

Where should I start? The left/right walls and ceiling?

I'm broke and saving up for a new guitar also, so I plan on just getting a panel each week or so when I get paid until I eventually have the majority of the room covered.

Also, when mounting panels on the walls I should use a spacer, right? And space them a couple inches from the walls to have a decent air gap? This will help the 2" panels absorb better than they normally would?

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

Well I can lean the mattress up against the rear wall before recording, and it covers about 80% of it in width and about 50% in height. Should I mount a couple 2x4x2" panels on the top half of the wall that the mattress doesn't cover?

What about the left and right walls? Same thing? Try to cover at least about 75% of the wall with 2" thick panels? Should I use a couple 4" in some places?

I'd like to just be able to setup the mic in the middle of the room, or wherever and record without having to worry about the room.

Do you think auralex on the ceilings would be good enough or will I have to mount some panels on the ceilings? I'm not very handy when it comes to stuff like this so I don't want any panels falling on my head.

Where should I start? The left/right walls and ceiling?

I'm broke and saving up for a new guitar also, so I plan on just getting a panel each week or so when I get paid until I eventually have the majority of the room covered.

Also, when mounting panels on the walls I should use a spacer, right? And space them a couple inches from the walls to have a decent air gap? This will help the 2" panels absorb better than they normally would?

You have probably already seen this but in this link there is a diagram showing you where to place treatments. The air gap behind the panels is a good move.

check this out:http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[bpape]

I'd recommend doing a liberal amount of broadband bass control in that room and then spaced panels on the walls with a cloud on the ceiling. I wouldn't do the whole room - it'll be way too dead and dry in the upper mids and highs even to try to bring back later IMO.

Bryan

Originally Posted by Gorty

You have probably already seen this but in this link there is a diagram showing you where to place treatments. The air gap behind the panels is a good move.

check this out:http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Yea I've read that quite a few times. Just trying to make sure I did in fact understand everything right and that I know where to put the panels once I get them.

Originally Posted by bpape

I'd recommend doing a liberal amount of broadband bass control in that room and then spaced panels on the walls with a cloud on the ceiling. I wouldn't do the whole room - it'll be way too dead and dry in the upper mids and highs even to try to bring back later IMO.

Bryan

Ok, thanks. So should I go with all 4" panels?

[bpape]

Somewhere in between. Some of the wall panels can be 2" but you'll need some 4" and some corner mountings.

Bryan