Acoustic Treatment vs. Reference Tracks

[Wonderlick]

Hey everyone!

Long time lurker, few posts (note number of posts vs. join date!)

Anyways, I was thinking...

I'm going to start working on putting together an "album", if you will, as my band has been practicing for a year or so and we're looking to start distributing music and booking shows this summer and fall. We're not all that great, but we want to give it a whirl.

I have very limited acoustic treatment in my bedroom studio - the lowest of low budget. Six 2" Rockwool panels. Through my research, I know that acoustic treatment is one of the more important upgrades one can make to improve the overall quality of a recording and subsequent mix.

I predominantly record DI (drum machine, bass, guitar, and synths). I'm not looking for "pro quality", necessarily - I'm just a hack who has fun doing this.

My question is - if I use reference tracks to match my mix to, how does a lack of acoustic treatment affect this? I would think that regardless of the room, a mix targeted on copying a reference track would come close to achieving a decent sounding track.

I have to work with what I have, but this thought came to me yesterday. I hope it makes sense. Any conversation really can't change anything I can or cannot do, but it got me thinking.

Have a good one!

Daryl

 

[Massive Master]

Two different versions of inaccuracy don't cancel each other out -- Peaks and nulls are wild and freaky things.

(A) You will only ever hear as accurately and consistently as your monitoring chain allows you to hear.

(B) Your monitoring chain will only ever be as accurate and consistent as the space they're in allows them to be.

The key of the song, the density, the instrumentation and the space are all working together.

Sure, go ahead and try it -- But I can almost guarantee that you'll have "Mix A" and "Reference A" sounding almost exactly the same and then you'll go to another system and they won't even sound like distant cousins. Not without a good amount of luck, anyway...

 

[Wonderlick]

Sorry about the late reply - and I thank you for your response - recently started a new job, and not a lot of time to get on the computer.

The more I learn about the science of sound, the more the variables surprise me - although I guess it shouldn't, as I know it's pretty complicated.

I'll continue to work on improving my monitoring situation - again, much obliged for your input!

Daryl