Shadow_7
New member
The problem is two fold. You don't have enough space for a sound wave to even form for a fairly large chunk of the usable sound spectrum. Speed of sound per second over distance equals Hz per second where a full sine wave can form. And because of this small space you have a lot of reflections (even with treatment) that can and will cancel out the source sound(s). Treatment will help. But by adding it you make a small space smaller and that can actually add to the problem, or create new ones.
Foam by itself doesn't do much. But it can be used as a spacer of sorts for treatments that are more effective. But again, you're making a small space smaller. Foam can help keep an acoustic blanket offset from the wall, which can help with some lower end muddy-ness, where the blanket by itself might not do much there or the foam by itself. The Owens Corning 703 Rigid Fiberglass can be made into acoustic treatment panels. Or just use carpet, or acoustic blankets. Even those thick felt like stage curtains, in combination with a little bit of foam spacing. Will be better than just foam IMO. But again, you'll be making a small space smaller.
If the goal is to protect the rest of the house from the sound, treating the outside of the room might prove more effective. Otherwise the only way I can see to record in that small of a space is to maybe use a highly directional mic like a shotgun mic. But none of those efforts will be better than a larger and properly treated space.
Assuming 1100-ish feet per second as the speed of sound.
Speed of sound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At 4' walls (bear in mind you're probably half the distance from the wall)
1100/4 = 275Hz
Just a little more space
At 5' 1100/5 = 220Hz (one octave below tuning A)
At 6' 1100/6 = 183Hz
At 7' 1100/7 = 157Hz
...
At 10' 1100/10 = 110Hz
...
At 14' 1100/14 = 79Hz (about the size of my bedroom)
Between 4' closet and 14' bedroom is 275Hz to 79Hz-ish. Just shy of 2 "OCTAVES" (69Hz) of frequencies (log2 aka /2 going down, *2 going up per octave). Sound also attenuates with distance, so even without treatment, distance aka space can do wonders and is it's own treatment of sorts. Perhaps that's not sinking in like it should so here's a sound file.
Hz of lower frequencies to help make a point about small spaces by Shadow_7 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
MOST of those pitches in that sample will sound muddied / muffled in that space. But you / we already knew that. Don't believe me, play that sample on your monitor in that room and record it with a mic. Do the same for a larger room. It's not so much that the wave cannot form. It's that it's reflection is strong and will fold back onto itself. And to a certain degree in full phase reversal (i.e. the ultimate noise canceling technology). Since the source / you will be splitting that distance in half. i.e. You will find some pitches very difficult to make speak, when it's not difficult in a different space. So you (the performer) either tries harder to force it to work, or you give up trying and start sounding like a fighter pilot on a helium kick.
Foam by itself doesn't do much. But it can be used as a spacer of sorts for treatments that are more effective. But again, you're making a small space smaller. Foam can help keep an acoustic blanket offset from the wall, which can help with some lower end muddy-ness, where the blanket by itself might not do much there or the foam by itself. The Owens Corning 703 Rigid Fiberglass can be made into acoustic treatment panels. Or just use carpet, or acoustic blankets. Even those thick felt like stage curtains, in combination with a little bit of foam spacing. Will be better than just foam IMO. But again, you'll be making a small space smaller.
If the goal is to protect the rest of the house from the sound, treating the outside of the room might prove more effective. Otherwise the only way I can see to record in that small of a space is to maybe use a highly directional mic like a shotgun mic. But none of those efforts will be better than a larger and properly treated space.
Assuming 1100-ish feet per second as the speed of sound.
Speed of sound - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At 4' walls (bear in mind you're probably half the distance from the wall)
1100/4 = 275Hz
Just a little more space
At 5' 1100/5 = 220Hz (one octave below tuning A)
At 6' 1100/6 = 183Hz
At 7' 1100/7 = 157Hz
...
At 10' 1100/10 = 110Hz
...
At 14' 1100/14 = 79Hz (about the size of my bedroom)
Between 4' closet and 14' bedroom is 275Hz to 79Hz-ish. Just shy of 2 "OCTAVES" (69Hz) of frequencies (log2 aka /2 going down, *2 going up per octave). Sound also attenuates with distance, so even without treatment, distance aka space can do wonders and is it's own treatment of sorts. Perhaps that's not sinking in like it should so here's a sound file.
Hz of lower frequencies to help make a point about small spaces by Shadow_7 on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
MOST of those pitches in that sample will sound muddied / muffled in that space. But you / we already knew that. Don't believe me, play that sample on your monitor in that room and record it with a mic. Do the same for a larger room. It's not so much that the wave cannot form. It's that it's reflection is strong and will fold back onto itself. And to a certain degree in full phase reversal (i.e. the ultimate noise canceling technology). Since the source / you will be splitting that distance in half. i.e. You will find some pitches very difficult to make speak, when it's not difficult in a different space. So you (the performer) either tries harder to force it to work, or you give up trying and start sounding like a fighter pilot on a helium kick.
