First Adventure into Room Treatment

C

Chrisjob

New member
Hello Everyone:

I have a 15'x13 1/2' bedroom studio (i.e. it actually has my bed and whatnot in it). The ceiling is lowered about a foot for about a forth of the way into the room (over the front wall)
I use the room mostly for mixing, as well as recording acoustic guitar, auxiliary percussion, and 'reamping' drum tracks (playing sequenced drums through my speakers for a some room sound). Everything else (electric guitars, keys) are recorded direct or sequenced.

I've done my best to make my room symetrical, and have spent some time getting my monitor speakers (Yorkville YSM-1) in the best positions. The room has a pretty noticible ring (which I take to be "flutter echo") from a series of early reflections. The bed acts as a great absorber, and the book shelf and dresser serve as okay diffusors.

I've purchased 48 1'x1' squares of 3-inch foam from www.foambymail.com on ebay (48 squares for $84) I also have 4 LERND basstraps that I got during the Mars closeout. I plan on getting a few acoustic blankets, if necessary. [I also have some fairly dense eggshell pads. I know they only work in the highs, but I do have a pretty severve ring...I sure they can't hurt]
I have no idea where to put my new foam (in a very attractive orange!) I believe I need to make my front wall absorpant at all frequencies, and do a little work on the ceiling immediately over the desk. I need the bass traps to be movable so I can use them in my closet/isolation booth when necessary. Would it help to mount them (using T-pins) directly behind each monitor..?

I'll need about 8 pieces to finish my iso booth, so I have 40 3inch pieces to work with. I'd be willing to spend about $25-30 more for a piece of 703 or some blankets, but other than that I need to alot my funds elsewhere.

Any suggestions would be wonderful :D Below is a (badly drawn) layout of my room....not perfectly to scale, but hopefully a good representation.

Thanks A Million
Chris
 

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How high is your ceiling?

The best places for your foam are any spots that are going to reflect the sound from your monitors back to your ears. Get a mirror and someone to move it along the walls & ceiling while you sit in your mix postion. Anywhere you can see your monitors in the mirrror needs to be treated. If you have any left over place it in alternating spots on opposing surfaces. I recommend putting most of the leftovers on the ceiling.

If you can mount the foam away from the wall/ceiling it will be more effective.

Here's a tip: unused speakers and instrument cases double as bass-traps. I store my PA speakers/cases in the corners of my studio, and it does make a difference.;)
 
Thanks, M. Brane :)


My ceiling 7'8" for most of the room, and 6'9" where it drops (which I presume is for duct work)

I believe I'll give the mirror trick a shot. Does it work for the vertical axis and the horizontal?


One more bit of info: My speakers are about 2 feet from the wall. Because I have to live in my room as well, this is as far out as my desk can be without cluttering my walking space. If I were to move my desk out a foot or two just when I was mixing/auditioning sounds, would I have to rearrange my new foam for the new position? It seems if I went the mirror route, it would make a huge difference


Thanks for your time
Chris
 
Part II: When you suggest mount the foam away from the walls, do you mean on wooden frames or something of the like?

This is a temporary spot, so I can't do anything too destructive. I plan on using T-pins to secure the foam to the wall.


Thanks Everyone
Chris
 
Chrisjob said:
Part II: When you suggest mount the foam away from the walls, do you mean on wooden frames or something of the like?

This is a temporary spot, so I can't do anything too destructive. I plan on using T-pins to secure the foam to the wall.


Thanks Everyone
Chris
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think he means a wooden frame...something to bring the foam out from the wall a little bit - probably with a little air behind it.

Don't forget about the ceiling over your mixing desk. I'm sure you're going to put the bass traps in the four upper corners of the room?
 
Have you read this?

If you can make frames to hold the foam, and mount it with an air gap between it and the wall it will work much better than simply pasting it against the wall. If you use a backing for the frames it should allow some sound to pass through. A heavy fabric or some pegboard would probably work fine. c7sus has some good ideas for attachment. Any good drywaller/plasterer should be able to make the holes disappear.

A panel-trap is something else entirely, and is explained quite well in Ethan's FAQ.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I don't believe I'll be able to take on any construction projects simply because I don't have the funds for the necessary supplies. Plus, my tool box only contains a screwdriver, needle nose pliers, and a roll of electric tape. I had to go buy a tape measure to do my measely room drawing :)
I'm gearing up to produce a whole record, and I need to get a few essential pieces of equipment before working on my room to any huge extent. I realize the importance of acoustics in every environment, but I'm simply a student with very limited resources. For me, to have a termporarily acoustic sound room with nothing in it to record with won't do much good.

My options are pretty much limited to my new foam, the bass traps, and some scraps of carpet, and maybe a few heavy blankets.

Brane- I've read Mr Winer's Acoustics Primer a few times, as well as all the info at John Sayers' SAE site. I'm planning to go over them again tonight or tomorrow before I throw my foam up on the walls.

C7- I'm well aware I need to work on the wall behind my monitors. How high or low on the wall should I be concerned
with? Surely not covered from floor to ceiling? I don't think I could even do that with what I have. My front wall measures 13' 6" X 6'9". My chair sits about 4 feet from the wall, about 2 feet from my speakers

Keep the suggestions coming..You all have been a huge help ;)

Peace
Chris
 
Do you honestly think I need to get the foam away from the walls that badly...?I reckon I could make a gobo for each side, but money is still an issue. What about attaching the foam to a panel of drop ceiling tile? Then again, it's probably not cheaper than plywood.
I'm still concerned about the wall behind my gear, which seems, to me, like it needs to be absorbant at all frequencies. 3 feet above my monitors is almost the ceiling (as I have my desk under the short part of my ceiling. Working on the front third or so is also an issue, because I have such a telltale ring if I shout, or bang on a snare drum. Might some mattress foam assisst in this if I run out of acoustic foam....can't hurt, I imagine.

I guess attaching the LERND traps to the top four corners (with a few body pillows underneath) is the most effective?


Thanks again
Chris
 
You don't have to mount the foam off the wall, but it'll absorb much more that way. If it was me, I would glue the foam to some thin pegboard, and just hang 'em like pictures spaced out from the wall a bit.

If I was using those LERND traps I would make a stand for 'em with a piece of pipe sticking straight up, and simply impale them on the pipe. This gets 'em away from the walls, and makes 'em moveable.
 
Brane- How thin pegboard? 1/8th inch? Would such a small distance make a huge difference? Soundwaves are very interesting....

I think I will make some stands for the basstraps...then where might I put them? A foot or so from the corner? Seems to me they'd be able to suck up waves from all 3 directions as such


Thanks
Chris
 
1/8" should work fine. The whole point of the backing is just to give the foam enough support so it can be suspended away from the wall a bit without sagging, and to give you something more substantial to fasten it with. Since you've got 3" foam, I would space it off the wall at least 2". More if you can.

The bass traps I would keep in the corners, spaced out from the walls about the thickness of the material.

The advantage to making the treatment moveable is you can adjust it to suit what your doing at the time (tracking vs mixing), and it's easy to take it with you when you move.
 
Now I see......Don't put the pegboard directly on the wall, but use it for support to suspend it the whole unit away from the wall.

So now the new big question.....what do I use to attach the pegboard to the wall.

I don't have to be entirely temporary. My room is actually in the basement of my parent's house, and I'll be recording here for another two years or so. But my funds say no large construction projects. I'm not entirely sure I can even afford a slab of pegboard..:(


If I were only to attach the foam directly to the wall, would the mirror method for placement suffice?


-Chris
 
I used the picture-frame method to hang the foam in my room. You can put some short pieces of wood or plastic pipe on the corners to hold it away from the wall.

I hear you on the budget thing. I'm so broke right now I couldn't finance a sandwich.:eek:

Yes the mirror method will work regardless of what kind of treatment you use, and how you attach it.:cool:
 
Hey Chrisjob and guys - just one thing about this business of having it dead behind your monitors, I think Craig mentioned it.

You are treating the room so that the monitors sound better - right? speakers are directional - the frequency range that foam absorbs is from around 800hz up. What coming from the speaker is directional i.e. heading past you for for the rear of the room - not the front. what does go to the front is low frequencies and they are not going to be affected by foam.

If you want to use your foam wisely - use it behind and above you.

cheers
John
 
You guys are making too big of a deal about the air cavity behind the foam. A few inches hardly does anything dramatic. You need a foot before you can even affect the low mid range.
 
John Sayers said:
You are treating the room so that the monitors sound better - right? speakers are directional - the frequency range that foam absorbs is from around 800hz up. What coming from the speaker is directional i.e. heading past you for for the rear of the room - not the front. what does go to the front is low frequencies and they are not going to be affected by foam.
Click to expand...

Excellent point about foam not being effective at low freqs where most cheap speakers are pretty much omnidirectional.


If you want to use your foam wisely - use it behind and above you.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about the sides. ;)
 
Thanks alot everyone :)


Mr Sayers: Is there anything to be done to try to suck up some of the stuff below 800 hz on my front wall. An article in RECORDING magazine by Dave Moulton (08/02) suggests the best thing to do is to make the front wall absorbant at all frequencies, and the first third of the ceiling down to around 500 hz. Apparently, my 3 inch foam doesn't make it past 800. Is the best thing to do just worry about broadband reflections above 800 cycles and just let it go until I can build a room with dimensions that don't support standing waves as much?


Thanks
Chris
 
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