Acoustic Treatment for a 10ftX10ftX room

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thehymns

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I need some advice on treating the 10x10 room I record and mix in. I know, this isn't ideal, but it's all I have. There is a small closet that has two hanging wooden sliding doors that take up 4 feet on one wall, and the closet is not large enough to become a vocal "booth"...I just keep my microphones in there.

I need some cheap treatment ideas. I don't have the money to hang studio foam everywhere (unless http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/422602/ is all I would need). If that Auralex package is all I'm going to need, how do I strategically place it in the room?

Also, since I don't have a dedicated vocal booth, how I can optimize an area of the room for just that? Would placing a lot of studio foam on one area of the wall where and singing into that wall work best? I'm pretty clueless, as you can tell, but I'd love some help!
 
I'm just doing this myself, so I haven't been able to try it and see for myself how well it works, but i just purchased some rockwool insulation for super cheap ($30 for 8 panels) and then purchased covers for them from www.modularacoustics.com (more expensive, $30 each). The rockwool is acoustically very similar to 703s, and in the covers you can hang them on the wall or mount them on mic stands to move them around. So, you can hang them on your walls and ceiling to cut down early reflections for your mix position, or you can create a little vocal booth with them, or do whatever like that. Something to look into.
 
In a 10 by 10 room, you could use absorbers as gobos and keep from sufficating in a closet.

For 100 bucks you could make 3 to 4 good fiberglass absorbers yourself and use them like gobos and then hang them in the corners when you mix. Keeping them portable would be a good idea if 100 bucks is all you'll ever be spending on treatment.
 
Where did you get the TeaBagz for $30 each? On the modular site they show the price as $65 each plus shipping.

Back to the original topic....

In a room that size, pretty much everything is going to need to be broadband. You just don't have the space to have the luxury of thick panels for bass and 2" panels for reflections, etc.

I'd go find some 4" rockwool or somewhere local that you can get 703 and build 4 - 4" thick panels to straddle the 4 corners - movable if necessary. You'll still need at least 2 on the side walls and one behind you for reflections. That's a minimum of 7 4" thick panels. If you need to scrimp, you can have the ones on the side and rear wall be just 2x2 instead of 2x4.
 
That's the price when they ship it with insulation. Get your own and it's much cheaper. Lower shipping too.
 
bpape said:
I'd go find some 4" rockwool or somewhere local that you can get 703 and build 4 - 4" thick panels to straddle the 4 corners - movable if necessary. You'll still need at least 2 on the side walls and one behind you for reflections. That's a minimum of 7 4" thick panels. If you need to scrimp, you can have the ones on the side and rear wall be just 2x2 instead of 2x4.
Click to expand...

For the record this is exactly what I am currently doing, except not building the panels myself, so I second that recommendation. Oh, and BPape, the site is a little misleading, I got confused a couple times as well.
 
I think I'd be able to construct something similar to the MA-1 and MA-2 panels on the Modular Acoustics website. They use 4" fiberglass, what is the difference between using that and 703 or rockwool? For 703, it would be $0.60 for 2" a square foot, so the cost of 6 4" thick, 4' tall panels would be:

$0.60
x 2 (to get to 4")
x 8 (to get to 2'x4')
= about $10 for insulation

What is the best wood and thickness for side panels? Are side panels even necessary, or will they stand up straight on their own? What is a good material to cover the isolation with?

Finally, how do the mic-stands support the teabagz? The picture is blurry, but it looks like they have handles that are held up by bungie cords.
 
I want to keep them moveable so I can arrange the six panels around a drum kit/guitar amp/singer and then places them back on the walls when mixing.

I need to upload a picture of the room so you guys can get a better understanding of what I'm working with.
 
I haven't received mine yet, but my impression was that the teabags have supporting lines that just slip into a normal dynamic mic mount.
 
I just found out that my next door neighbors kids own a roofing business, and I can get isolation cheap. Considering how small the room is, I think four boards would suffice. When mixing, I can hang them on the walls, and when I'm tracking I can take them down and build a wall around whatever instrument I'm trying to record.

I didn't know what 'gobos' were until I saw this: http://www.jeffstrong.com/gobos.html

So I guess I'll really be making gobo?
 
Yes. That sounds logical doesn't it - small room - less panels. Actually, in a small room (especially one that is basically square) you actually need MORE bass absorbtion per sq ft of area than a larger room.

Since the panels are going to be going up and down, I'd definitely frame them. Since you're using 4" material, 1x6 ripped to size (or left as is for an air gap in the rear) would be my material of choice.
 
So six panels instead of four? What is the best way to logically place them through out the room? How high off the ground? I could only place one horizontal above my computer desk, is still efficant?
 
Four corners (straddled if possible) from the ceiling down.

2 half width panels for the side wall reflection points.

1 half width panel sideways on the rear wall for those early reflections.

1 half width panel sideways on the wall behind your monitors if you can - or on the ceiling to catch those reflections.
 
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