Live room broadband absorbtion

O

Olijanovi

New member
New project here. I have a pretty big room and I want to turn it into a live recording room. I started putting broadband absorption panels on the walls, it makes a terrific difference. I have three questions here:

1- Should I put bass traps in a live recording room?

2- Should I put something on the ceiling? If so, what should I build/use?

3- Anything else to be done to a live room?

Thanks
 
1. Yes, or just make all the absorbers thick enough to handle low frequencies.

2. It depends on how high the ceiling is, but the answer is almost always Yes.

3. Most large live rooms have a reflective floor, with absorption on the other five surfaces to obtain a reasonable RT60 time that's uniform over a wide range of frequencies.

--Ethan
 
1- thanks

2- The ceilings are pretty high, about 4 to 5 meters -----) 12 to 14 feet. What should I build? Any recommandation?

3- What is a RT60 time that's uniform over a wide range of frequencies? Should I take off the carpet, and leave the hard wood floor empty?
 
The problem with carpet is that it is only absorptive over about 500 Hz, and in many cases has a very narrow band of absorption. If you only have some rugs under a drum kit or something of the sort, I wouldn't worry about changing it. But if you have the option to do wood flooring instead of 100% carpet, I would certainly go for it and just use some thicker absorption hung on the ceiling (what we call "clouds).

What Ethan meant by #3 is what normally is wanted is an even amount of energy throughout the whole frequency spectrum. In most rooms, we see more energy and notes ringing out longer in the low end. You want to achieve equal energy throughout, which is done by making absorbers thick enough to reach down low, or using tuned/membrane traps to fix low frequency issues.

Some relevant questions for you,

1. How many broadband absorbers do you have currently?

2. What material/thickness are they?

3. Where are they placed?

4. What is your budget?

5. What are your goals, or what problems need fixing?
 
For the carpet I understand, so I will put a carpet under the drums only. As for the 'cloud' I will look the forum to understand how it is built. It seems to me that it's a blanket with some Roxul into it?

1- I currently have at least 10 regular size broadband absorber + 2 'door' sized broadband absorber + 1 big squared broadband absorber + 2 rectangular smaller sized broadband absorber. The reason of their shape is that I was able to find old objet and reuse them. For instance, I also found 2 closet door, I installed Roxul on its side and made a moveable gobo with them.

2- Roxul/3 inch thick

3- They could be placed anywhere, I will certainly follow your suggestion

4- It depends, I am still in test mode. But if it works, I have 3 projects that needs a studio right now

5- Record my bands/project + do musical production + record voice
 
Acoustic Basics
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Careful. Just like potato chips...bet ya can't eat just one.:D
And once you slide down the rabbit hole..well, you'll find out:p Just asking questions like...
Should I build some of that too? Then how do you place it all?
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Welcome to the world of "Schools of Thought". May your journey be short lived.
 
Alright, so I've read the Ethan Winer document. A lot of knowledge is shared, thank you very much for it.

For a live room, you say: 'Important places for absorption or diffusion in a recording room are surfaces closer than about ten feet, and especially on the ceiling above drum overhead microphones.'

I understand the reflection over the drummers overhead mics. But could you develop further on the beginning part?

As of now, I feel confident on how to set up my control room, but not necessarily in my live room.
 
I am coming to the end of my 6 week studio build (that has taken 7 months), it is a bit of a project to build one. You are in a great place to start, great ceiling height to boot! Ethan can give you some awesome advice as can others here, but you may want to just hire someone to analyze the room, and tgen give you a plan of what you need. I know there are some people on here that can do that. I hired Gavin Haverstick, not only did he do an amazing job, but he has basically held my hand through the build process. But, after a 6 hr long (straight, no breaks) day of analyzing my rooms, he went through and showed me the spots in my studio to be aware of, complete flat area, idea for cool slap back, found a place that can be used for a reverb tank (hall) and where to place the mics. Then, within a week and a half, I was given full plans of all treatments and where they go. Great experience., I am sure there are those hear who can do that for you, if the budget allows, like I said, I am coming to the end of the build, and looking back, there is no way I would have done this alone!!! The best decision I made in everything was to hire someone for the acoustics. Good luck, I can't wait to see it!
 
Thanks for your comment. I do understand the value in having a professional coming in, but I am on a do it yourself kind of budget... I built all the broadband absorber panels, bass traps ... You probably have a much better sounding studio that I'll end up having. Although I trust my ears in order to guide me. I know I won't end up with a couple of million dollar sounding studio, but perhaps something decent.
 
I did the same thing, I built all of my own acoustic treatments, from panels, diffusers, and bass traps. And I promise you that you will have much less in acoustic treatments than me due to your ceiling height. I cut everywhere I could on the budget to make allowance for the acoustics. He just analyzed and gave me a list of what and where it goes. But I had to build and install it. Just an idea, and his services cost less than my 703 did. I am sure, that what you will decide will work well for you.
 
Olijanovi said:
For a live room, you say: 'Important places for absorption or diffusion in a recording room are surfaces closer than about ten feet...
Click to expand...

Reflections that arrive within about 20 milliseconds of the direct sound are considered "early" reflections, and they're stronger and more damaging than echoes that arrive later. The speed of sound is about 1 foot per millisecond, and sound travels from you (and the microphone) to the wall and back. So reflections from a wall 10 feet away arrive back at the microphone about 20 milliseconds later.

--Ethan
 
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