is something wrong with these?

desk position can be tricky - there is the 38% rule, the symmetry rule - which are both recommendations. Everything I have seen says corners are bad for monitors. But the real problem is you can't tell until you actually get it set up and test it.

I have done a huge amount of acoustic treatment, installed about 12 panels so far. I still have major problems from the COMB effect.

It's a pain in the ass to test it, but try this - if you haven't already download REW or something with a frequency tone generator in it that will just cycle from like 40Hz to 10khz every 30 seconds or so. Then run that in your monitors and move around the room. In certain places you will get peaks and nulls where a certain frequency seems to get really loud or really quiet - and it will change depending on where you are in the room.

If the place where you are sitting while mixing has some major spikes or nulls then you need to try and reduce those, with either A) Bass or broadband traps, or B) moving your monitors (and possible mixing desk too).

This is the essential goal of all traps - to try and reduce the COMB effect which causes the peaks and nulls in specific frequencies - these come from the waves bouncing off surfaces and interfering with each other.

So - The reason I recommended the corner traps is because that is where bass (the hardest frequencies to deal with) naturally congregate and placing traps there will give you the most effective results.

If you can afford it I would get another case of the 24x48 and make 4 more 2x4' panels for placement around the room. You have to stop those bass waves from bouncing around. If you make those panels free-standing (use 1x6's for the base) then you can move them around which can be helpful during recording.

I don't record live drums so I dunno about the corner, although I see many people record drums in small iso rooms, so I dont think corners would be a problem. I would take the free standing panels and surround the kit while recording, build a stonehenge around it with bass traps :D - then when mixing, move the traps around the room to kill the reflections and soak up the bass.

These are all broadband traps by the way, not just bass - they absorb all frequencies - and that's good :)

anyway HTH
 
huge help.
From what I gather I need to build that stuff first. Then worry about the rest. I'll go pick up that stuff this weekend.

Now, I'm not a genius builder but I can definitely follow instructions. Are there some detailed instructions for that stuff around here?
 
And more questions: (sorry I know I have a lot! :D)
First things first- its taking up room. Since it apparently is useless and I plan on building stuff now. Should I take off all the foam and throw it away? Its been a year it was 70 bucks.
2.Diffusers? How necessary are those? Should I get to building?
3. Ceiling treatment?
 
If it were my room, I would move the desk to the wall with the big window (treat it with a bare minimum of really friggen heavy blankets) and put the drums in the corner adjacent to the door. At least your monitors are front ported, so monitors against the wall will be a bit less an issue. I don't see you having the room to move them out much. Definitely follow acadeko's corner treatment advice. With your limited space, you may want to consider treating the ceiling corners too. You definitely want a broadband absorber on either side and above desk at first reflection points. Having the hardwood floor, I would definitely treat the ceiling somehow. I have heard of using the drop in type acoustic panels, but I would build 2" rockwool panels myself. In my current room, I use foam above cymbals to stop those pesky sizzling reflections in the overheads, but I have carpet on floor now. The new drum room I am building has concrete floor and exposed ceiling joists 24" on center, so I am filling them with rockwool. Not sure you have the option of opening you ceiling up. That would be the most ideal. I found cloth for my new round of traps at WallMart for $1 per yard. Any 'breathable' material will work fine. Much bigger selection can be had a cloth stores like JoAnn Fabrics and such. My first round was for curtain liners @ $2.50 yd.

Keep the foam for spot treatment later. Diffusers are much more useful in larger rooms. If you were to build some, I have seen them made by just bending thin luan plywood in a frame (from above would look like a 'D'. Not sure where I saw that or how effective they are. Been meaning to research that.....
 
Is that thick memory foam in front of the window a negative, a positive, or a non factor?

As it is now I have this myth that it makes it tougher for sound to escape the window behind it :p
 
Good stuff Jimmy.

I don't have plans for those corner traps, but essentially you just make a handful of cuts.

For the 1 x 8 I would measure and mark off 26", then make a 45 degree mitre cut at 26" (making the back of the board shorter not longer).
Then mitre the other side of that piece so you have 26" on one side and roughly 12" on the short side.

Just look at the ends of the trap in that link I gave you, its basically a triangle with the tip cut off.

_________
/ ................ \
`````````````

like that - with the dotted end 26 inches, that will leave you with a 6' piece of wood with a 45 degree angle on the other end like this

______________________
\_____________________|

now you just use that first piece as a template, lay it over the remaining board (flipped so it matches on the end) and draw a line for the next 45 degree cut.
______________________
\\______/______________|

mark it then draw a line and cut it now you have two matching pieces, the top and bottom of the trap

connect them together with 4 equal length 1x2's (either make 4' stackable or one big 7.5' trap)

The facing 1x2's should be aligned to the front edge so you get a clean face for the fabric.

/ ...................\
/........................\
[ ] ____________ [ ]

keep using the template to cut out all of the bases

- it's easier to just make 2x4 panels with 1x8's using two 24x48x6 roxul but they take up a lot more room - these snug into the corners nicely

the square ones are the same minus the mitre cuts
 
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kidkage said:
Is that thick memory foam in front of the window a negative, a positive, or a non factor?

As it is now I have this myth that it makes it tougher for sound to escape the window behind it :p
Click to expand...

Well, the memory foam is a closed cell type. It will do nothing for the interior of the room as far as absorption. It may have qualities for limiting sound transmission to the outside, as mass is your friend for 'soundproofing'. Only real way to know for sure would be to test it. Either with a db meter, or by just listening outside with/without. It is good for guests to sleep on for sure. :)
 
jimmys69 said:
Well, the memory foam is a closed cell type. It will do nothing for the interior of the room as far as absorption. It may have qualities for limiting sound transmission to the outside, as mass is your friend for 'soundproofing'. Only real way to know for sure would be to test it. Either with a db meter, or by just listening outside with/without. It is good for guests to sleep on for sure. :)
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I'm just gonna leave it there. I did some work in there today, including moving the desk in front of the mattress/ window area as recommended.
I finally am getting rid of those two cabs that i dont use for the greater good.

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The doorway- Since i can really fit a floor to ceiling corner trap there. Should I make a tiny one, or make a floor to ceiling "freestanding" rectangle trap.

Trianle floor to ceiling trap on the 3 main corners, another triangle on the corner opposite the door- in that little alcove type thing- and then a rectangle one in the corner beside the door?
 
kidkage said:
I'm just gonna leave it there. I did some work in there today, including moving the desk in front of the mattress/ window area as recommended.
I finally am getting rid of those two cabs that i dont use for the greater good.

View attachment 68195

The doorway- Since i can really fit a floor to ceiling corner trap there. Should I make a tiny one, or make a floor to ceiling "freestanding" rectangle trap.

Trianle floor to ceiling trap on the 3 main corners, another triangle on the corner opposite the door- in that little alcove type thing- and then a rectangle one in the corner beside the door?
Click to expand...

That is a strange spot that will be hard for any of us to judge. If it were me, I would put a typical corner trap in the corner between the closet and the wall to the left of door. As well as possibly a panel on the wall there. And maybe a 2" panel on the door. Keep in mind that if that is a hollow core door, it may not be building up as much bass frequencies as you might expect from a solid wall. Still, taking care of the other three corners is going to get you closer to an ideal situation. I would start with the obvious ones, and make a judgment based on testing of the room after treating them. See how it sounds then. When dealing with a room like you have, initial treatments will give quite substantial results. Base further treatment after you get the big offenders tamed a bit.
 
jimmys69 said:
That is a strange spot that will be hard for any of us to judge. If it were me, I would put a typical corner trap in the corner between the closet and the wall to the left of door.(The corner we cant see in the picture?) As well as possibly a panel on the wall there. And maybe a 2" panel on the door. Keep in mind that if that is a hollow core door, it may not be building up as much bass frequencies as you might expect from a solid wall. Still, taking care of the other three corners is going to get you closer to an ideal situation. I would start with the obvious ones, and make a judgment based on testing of the room after treating them. See how it sounds then. When dealing with a room like you have, initial treatments will give quite substantial results. Base further treatment after you get the big offenders tamed a bit.
Click to expand...

So then I was right on assuming the room is a little abnormal in that sense.

Yeah I took all the treatment off the walls. Not the walls though- double sided tape. And my mom is already not too happy with the fact that I want to take her curtain rods off for corner treatment :facepalm:.

jimmys69 said:
More pix please! :)
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I dont have a camera right now, but I may make another/shorter video on the progress so far.
But
here are some old pics. Back when there was carpet. And in between the carpet/laminate floor perdiod.
 

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"(The corner we cant see in the picture?)" Yep.

Have your mom call my mom. She will understand eventually. :)
 
Alright, cool.
And yeah. That's a daisy rock. My sister bought it. It's actually pretty sweet.
 
Hey arcadeko, you mentioned 6 yd of material for cover and 11 yd of 40" wide material. Am I double layering covering? Btw how wide should that 6 yards be?
 
I downloaded REW (V5). I'm don't know how to use it properly though. I calibrated something and measured something twice. Not sure if I did it right though:confused:
 
kidkage said:
I downloaded REW (V5). I'm don't know how to use it properly though. I calibrated something and measured something twice. Not sure if I did it right though:confused:
Click to expand...

That's a whole other thread.

- The material is not double layered - but you can get the cheapest breathable fabric they have for the backs and sides which are hidden - it doesn't matter what it looks like - nice facing fabric like felt is usually more expensive than cheap cotton. You could do it all in the same fabric if you find a good deal. Most traps I have built have a substantial area that is not really seen so it doesn't have to look perfect.

If you look at some of my past threads - I think the chronology thread - there are links to some good instructions for building traps although I modified those a bit, you should be able to see the differences in the pics.
 
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