Had to move into the basement

[Soundtech]

Help!

Lost my studio space upstairs in a bedroom that sounded pretty good. I think it was because of the trey ceilings and room dimensions ect. anyways now im in the basement. Concrete floors, cinder block walls, 9 foot ceiling with wooden joists/flooring.
I hung up some canvas drop cloths around the area where I put everything and some scrap carpet pieces. Any suggestions on what else to do thats cheap to make it any better? I record acoustic guitar and vocals/unamplified everything else is direct. Im going to buy a dehumidifier today because I dont want me gear to get ruined. I have a hydro meter down there and I have seen it as high as 60% usually stays around 50%.

 

[RAMI]

Concrete floors, cinder block walls, 9 foot ceiling

Concrete floors is a good thing. So is 9' ceiling. Cinder block walls will need some treatment, but carpets and canvas drop cloths are not the way to go.

I realize you say almost everything is recorded direct, but having a good room is important for monitoring, regardless of how you record stuff. You can't mix what you don't hear properly. Spend some time in this forum reading on rigid fibreglass, bass traps, etc....The first thing I'd do is get bass traps in the corners and on the ceiling over your desk, in my opinion.

 

[jhbrandt]

....The first thing I'd do is get bass traps in the corners and on the ceiling over your desk, in my opinion.

+1

Do that first and then move on to treating the first reflection points. More information on my publications page, Realtraps, and GIK.

Cheers,
John

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Concrete floors, cinder block walls,

In "normal" rooms, with wood framing and drywall, you get the benefit of FREE Low frequency absorption by virtue of the drywall membranes from stud to stud. And by virtue of TRANSMISSION, some of the energy will transmit through the wall never to be heard from again, which is also good.

However, when you have an envelope made of very rigid mass, such as concrete and concrete block, most of the Low Frequency energy is reflected back into the room, which means you need lots of LF absorption...such as bass traps and broadband absorption for the mid's/highs. By all means, read the links that John posted. You'll gain some insight into what this all means.

 

[Soundtech]

Thanks guys for all the info. When I first setup It definately sounded like bass bouncing all over the place when I played the electronic drumkit thru the P.A. so thats why I hung up the canvas drop cloths. I didnt mention its also my live rehearsal/jam space. I will study up on bass traps first, thanks for your help. I guess I should take the canvas drop cloths down? I took the scrap carpet off the floor except around the drum kit.

 

[RAMI]

I took the scrap carpet off the floor except around the drum kit.

OH, I might have mis-informed you there. I thought you meant that you put carpet on the walls, which is why I said don't do that. But a little bit of carpeting on a concrete floor isn't all that bad, and maybe even necessary. Sorry if I misled you.