Recording in the city

L

Live42

New member
I live in new york city. I have a fairly primitive home recording setup that I use to record mostly acoustic stuff and vocals. I record for mostly my own purposes, and to share with family and friends. The problem I have is that my bedroom/ recording room has a huge window in it that is about 5 feet across. 7 stories below that window is 3rd avenue in manhattan, which is never even remotely quiet at any hour of the day.

The noise is bad enough that I couldn't even use my LDC for vocals on the last track I did, because it wasn't directional enough to eliminate noise from the window. I had to do the vocals with a SDC pointing away from the window, because it was the most directional mic I had. As you can imagine, the result was less than optimal to say the least.

Is there anything I can do to soundproof the window, or am I just doomed until I move out?
 
I assume this is an apartment and being as such, you do not have the luxury of installing a window PLUG correctly, as you would have to caulk any gaps at the perimeter frame to insure its potential performance. Not only that, just building it within an apartment on a 7th floor would be difficult enough ...ie, bringing enough mass(drywall sheets) up elevators.

Thats not to say it can't be done, but I would suggest you consider other alternatives. Howeve, let us know if you want to proceed with a window PLUG project.

Btw, your situation is a common problem for people who like to record. Its not just the city either. Isolation is a big pain in the ass for MOST enthusiasts, so for what its worth...don't feel alone.
fitZ
 
I had been thinking about what I could possibly put over the window to reduce the noise level. The problem is that I can't think of anything that would be effective enough without permanently covering the window, and thus turning my bedroom into a dungeon.

I even thought about running cables into the living room so that I could at least put a wall with a closed door between myself and the road. The problem with that is my living room is all hard surfaces, and its probably the brightest, and most reverberant space known to man. It would probably sound like I fell down a well and decided to record there. Not to mention the trouble of running cables and figuring out how to start/stop recording from the other room.
 
I had been thinking about what I could possibly put over the window to reduce the noise level. The problem is that I can't think of anything that would be effective enough without permanently covering the window,.
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That's the problem, the ONLY thing that works is mass...PERIOD. Which in the case of a window plug, needs to be sealed. Little air leaks can reduce its effectiveness.

and thus turning my bedroom into a dungeon
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That's the other problem. ALL studios are dungeons. The solution is to attractivly light and color them. When it comes to natural lighting, for studios, you can't have your cake and eat it too.:rolleyes:;) You have to make a choice...unless you can afford to build a studio in the country with windows and no environmental noise or neighbors...OR build it with windows with enough TRANSMISSION LOSS that it doesn't matter..although, this requires VERY DEEP POCKETS.:D


I even thought about running cables into the living room so that I could at least put a wall with a closed door between myself and the road. The problem with that is my living room is all hard surfaces, and its probably the brightest, and most reverberant space known to man.
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Do you understand what acoustical "treatment" is about? However, building a WALL in an apartment is a whole nuther animal. You think a window plug is difficult?..try building a WALL in a 7th floor apartment. Ha! You don't have a clue to the problems you face. First off, you might impair the existing HVAC supply/return shceme...not to mention getting a permit. Your Landlord may have something to say about this as well....like NOT!! :rolleyes:

Depending on how deep your pockets are and how much space you have, you might investigate a portable booth solution, or building 2-3 gobos/panels for enclosing a corner. There are people here who have used hinged SOLID CORE doors as a "pseudo" booth. Howevr, because of the bleed through the open top, and connections, they may not be effective enough depending on the your existing noise level.
fitZ
 
Thanks for the response. I think we have a little misunderstanding here. I meant "put a wall" in the sense that if I moved out into the living room, there would be a wall there, the one that makes my room... well...a different room. I have no ambitions of building anything permanent, hence my dilemma about the window plug.

I also understand that most studios are dungeons, and for good reason. The problem I have is that I live in my "studio", and I don't want to turn into a vampire, or make my female counterpart think I'm completely insane. I guess when I move out of nyc, I may have the luxury of a little more space, but until then I'll have to make do.

I think my best bet is definitely going to be to build some panels and to use them to try to close off a corner. Like I said, Im not demanding perfection here, but I just don't want to have a semi truck shifting gears on my track
 
I mean, it'll definitely be better if you move in toward the center of the apartment, away from the exterior walls/windows. There's simply more mass between you and the outside world that way.

Frank
 
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