Can a create a descent sound in my bedroom?

J

JakJak

New member
My setup is:
Macbook Pro, Tascam audio interface, SE Electronics 2200a Condenser mic, Shure SM58 Dynamic mic, Epiphone acoustic guitar and a Yamaha keyboard.

My bedroom is:
12 foot by 9 foot (3.5 metres by 2.7 metres)
And about 9 foot in height (2.7 metres)

I am soon going to start up a band and record drums, electric guitar, bass and keyboard in my room.
Do you reckon if I recorded there I could create not a professional sound but a good quality sound for an album?
If not, what else would I need?

Cheers,
Jack
 
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For a start, I think you might have lost a few decimal points in your dimensions. I guess your room is really 11' by 14' and 10' high, or 3.3m x 42m and 3m high.

You would probably get more informed responses in the 'Studio Building and Display' forum. I'll reclassify this post.

There are a number of difficulties with a room. You will find you will have to give it acoustic treatment to prevent (a) it resulting in a very boxy sounding recordings, and (b) nodes and resonant frequencies interfering with recording quality.
 
Thanks for the repost and corrections :)
All has been altered.
In terms of the 'acoustic treatment'.
What kind of equipment would we be looking at?
And for roughly how much?
 
Can a create a descent sound in my bedroom?
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Define DECENT. For starters, there is no such thing as "sound". It doesn't exist outside of your brain. What we call "sound", is in reality vibration propagation through a gas(air) until it reaches your eardrums, which transposes vibrations into electrical stimuli. Your brain interprets this stimuli as what we define as "sound". So, what you have to understand is, what contributes to various attributes of these vibrations, how we interpret these attributes, and how these vibrations are affected by various physical and environmental elements.

However, the REAL question is not whether you have decent "sound" or not. In recording, the question is how to get your recording, decent or not, to TRANSLATE to other systems and rooms in a consistent way. In other words, how do you make the room you are recording in NOT contribute to the "sound" you are recording, and then have a monitoring system that tells you the truth. Not an easy task. But doable.


Besides, "decent" is in the mind of the beholder. If your recording sounds "decent" to you in YOUR environment, but sounds like shit in other environments, then you'll understand my point. However, understanding the phenomena of sound is only the beginning. Applying the correction is the real battle. And the enemy is deceptive. Your best defense is knowledge. I would suggest reading as much relevant information as you can. In that regard, I would agree with
gecko zzed



You cna start here: RealTraps - Acoustic Basics
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Once you start to understand what you are dealing with, you'll be better prepared to ask the right questions which will help you actually realize your goal.

One other thing. Getting a decent "sound" starts with decent musicians. A perfect recording of crap still translates as crap.:D
 
A descent sound would be the sound of something falling.

Try a sawtooth wave on your LFO.
 
Don't spend any money just yet. Learn to record first. You can get by without a treated room. It's not ideal, but it's do-able. I recorded this song in a completely funky, shaped small room. The room was 9' x 8' with a double door width open arch into a kitchen with all hard surfaces. It also had a small little 4' x 3' wide, hall of the main 9' x 8' area into the main hall of the house. Funky!

The song was recorded with nothing other than a reflexion filter on the vocal mic. Is it a pro sounding recording? No, but it's definitely good enough for most listeners with untrained ears.

Standing Tall by ryanpollock on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

Learning is pretty much free with all the great online articles and sites such as this one. Buying a bunch of crap that you may or may not need can be an expensive venture, so I'd recommend buying gear once you start to realize why you need it, and then you'll know what role it's actually playing in making your recordings better.
 
Basically my question would be,
If I recorded vocals,bass, guitar and midi keyboard in my room as it is.
How far would it be from professional? Would it be ok to listen to for un trained ears? Would there only be subtle differences compared to a recording in an acoustically treated room?
 
How far would it be from professional? Would it be ok to listen to for un trained ears? Would there only be subtle differences compared to a recording in an acoustically treated room?
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How far? Oh, ten or twelve miles or so.:) I mean, come on. How far? :rolleyes:

Here is the reality. Do what StevenJacksonMu said...try it. Unfortunately, you WON"T be able to tell HOW FAR unless you play it back on a few other systems and rooms/car. THEN and ONLY then will your ears get some experience on TRANSLATION. After you do it...THEN come back and ask HOW you can make it better...NEXT TIME.;)
 
Getting a "descent", or even a decent sound depends a lot on the room, but also on a lot of other things.

How decent a sound can you get? Well, how much do you know about room treatment, mic placement, gain staging, mixing, tracking, phase cancellation, drum tuning, and probably a few other things I'm not including.

It's an impossible question to answer.
 
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im going to stick my neck out and say no...you will struggle to get a professional recording/mix, they have way too many advantages over you and they are meant to


will you be able to get a decent listenable mix? Id say yes, Ive heard them in hear and make them myself...as Rami has pointed out there are many things that stand in your way or need addressed..Id say talent is the biggest one and the ability to learn next...without those buying equipment is like burning money

Id also say the important this is to get started and then approach each hurdle as a question...research, practice, ask in here, but most importantly learn from it and achieve small goals so you can recognise your improvements and what process you used..A good way is to finish projects..they dont have to be perfect or even good...the experience of completing a song from beginning to end will help you learn more than focusing on details in the beginning...you can always retrack or re-mix when your skills improve

just get started


all imho :)
 
im going to stick my neck out and say no...you will struggle to get a professional recording/mix, they have way too many advantages over you and they are meant to


will you be able to get a decent listenable mix? Id say yes, Ive heard them in hear and make them myself...as Rami has pointed out there are many things that stand in your way or need addressed..Id say talent is the biggest one and the ability to learn next...without those buying equipment is like burning money

Id also say the important this is to get started and then approach each hurdle as a question...research, practice, ask in here, but most importantly learn from it and achieve small goals so you can recognise your improvements and what process you used..A good way is to finish projects..they dont have to be perfect or even good...the experience of completing a song from beginning to end will help you learn more than focusing on details in the beginning...you can always retrack or re-mix when your skills improve

just get started
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Couldn't agree more....
 
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