Acoustic treatment

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McK

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Can someone give some simple advice on acoustically treating my recording space? The room is bizarrely shaped. It consists of the largest wall roughly 14ft forming an "L" with another wall roughly 9ft. It's like a normal rectangular room except instead of a normal corner on the other "L", it has 5 angled walls each about 4 feet long. Its hard to explain. Imagine a rectangular room with a heptagon planted in a corner except two sides of the heptagon is just the open room. It has carpeted floors and a suspended ceiling.
I have a little less then half the room marked off with a long wooden sheet reaching about half way to the ceiling. I use the heptagonal corner to record while my laptop and monitor desk is off to the side against the sheet of wood.
My idea was to isolate that section of the room even more by hanging a heavy slacked curtain in front of the wooden sheet. I was then going to attach carpeting to the walls where my monitors were facing.
I realize this plan is heavily flawed in material and layout but just figured I would share it for suggestions. I just need some basic alterations for being able to record decently and would like to keep suggestions on the DIY side if possible. I know about auralex packages and all of that sort. Sorry if I majorly confused you with my layout
 
Post a diagram of the room, with dimensions. Hard to figure out what you are describing from words alone.
 
From the description, I came up with this drawing:

Escher.jpg
 
View attachment Studio layout1.pdfView attachment Studio layout2.pdf


Hilarious. So here's kind of an idea of what I'm trying to talk about. The first photo is just kind of a rough sketch of the room although I kind of distorted that one corner a bit. I think I've pretty much have an idea of what I want to do, just not quite sure how to do it. So I just want to utilize one side of the room where the circular corner is (Line is marked in second photo along with door locations). The other space is not needed and would mean I would have to treat the whole room. So if I can get a way to mark off that half of the room, I can put up some acoustic paneling along the back wall where needed, along with a bass trap in the corner by the door. Right now, I just have large connected wood sheets marking off the recording space. Have also considered using heavy curtains along the line as well. Again, I'm just a beginner so this is just my rough idea and I am grateful for any suggestions, just need to get this project started.
 
Your divided space is WAY too small to use for mixing or tracking with a mic. Is there no way you can use the whole room?
 
It's possible to use the whole room. I just don't see the point if you want to limit reverberation and room coloring to an extent. My monitors are far enough from the wall in that position and there's plenty of room for my mics, equipment, a drum set or far micing if needed. Is there any reason to use and treat the whole room? (not trying to argue, just trying to understand)
 
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Unless you messed up with dimensions, the overall room size is 9 ft x 14 ft with a little extra for that one corner. That's a fairly small room You'll want bass traps in all corners (this takes up some of that small space). Heavy currents will absorb some high frequencies (flutter echo).
If you divide up the room you're left with one room 8x9 and another 6x9 (plus the extra corner bit). Closer walls means faster reflections = more bad sound.
 
McK said:
It's possible to use the whole room. I just don't see the point if you want to limit reverberation and room coloring to an extent. My monitors are far enough from the wall in that position and there's plenty of room for my mics, equipment, a drum set or far micing if needed. Is there any reason to use and treat the whole room? (not trying to argue, just trying to understand)
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Using you term 'room coloring' is a way bigger issue in a small space than a large one. Sound bouncing off of walls in a small area creates chaos.

As Yoda would say; "Mmm. Much more reading. Do you should". :)

If you are in a situation where you have limited space, the best bet is to treat your largest room as thoroughly as financially possible as a control room. Bass traps in every vertical corner. First reflection points from monitors including ceiling. Then more treatment to help control the echo of the room. In a small space like that, you are looking at a bunch.

From the dimensions you listed, you will just make things more expensive with less than optimal results by splitting the room.

Now, if you were able to rip out walls and ceiling? Well, I still wouldn't separate the room into smaller portions. You would kick yourself in the ass for doing so.
 
McK said:
I'll take your ideas into consideration...
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The 'ideas' you are being presented are based upon facts that professionals have graciously given their time to present. Plus there is the scientific basis for why the advice you are being given is justified.

I sense a hint of bad attitude here. If I am misunderstanding then I apologize...

I seriously recommend you start taking the time to investigate for yourself what many of us have known and had experience with for years of failures and learning from our mistakes.

You have to deal with what your limitations are. We all do. But make sure you make the right decisions based upon knowledge, or you will waste money and time defying what others have already found to be wrong.


Basically almost anything that is on the internet that is not validated on this forum, is bullshit/propaganda/or just too stupid to give credit. There are many here that devote their time to making sure bad advice is corrected quickly.


You decide what you think is right. :)
 
No, you're cool. Just so many differing opinions on the internet is frustrating. When you read the exact opposite of what someone is telling you multiple times, and that someone tells you basically to read up more... I'm sure you can understand. And the truth is, you're as anonymous as any other article or person I've taken advice from on the Internet. Nothing wrong with that, just the truth. Thanks for the input.
 
McK said:
No, you're cool. Just so many differing opinions on the internet is frustrating. When you read the exact opposite of what someone is telling you multiple times, and that someone tells you basically to read up more... I'm sure you can understand. And the truth is, you're as anonymous as any other article or person I've taken advice from on the Internet. Nothing wrong with that, just the truth. Thanks for the input.
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I understand man. And this is exactly why I ask you to read more 'here' and understand what the truth is.

Most members here have been through the bullshit crap that we hear about on YouTube. Much of it is just complete nonsense.

There are many here also that have substantial studios that have the types of treatment we are recommending.

There are also total pro's here that have high end studios or build them for a living.

All I offer is that you figure it out for yourself by reading man. Not watching unfounded advice randomly from wherever on the internet.

Focus and look at credentials of whom you are reading info from.


And no, I am not anonymous at all. I give full info as to who I am and what I have done (for whatever that is worth). You can check me out on FB if you like or my outdated website. It is all public.

I volunteer as a moderator of this forum because I care. I am just here to help others to not make stupid mistakes, and learn from those that have much more experience than I do.


This isn't a community that allows any unsubstantiated claims, spam, or incorrect advice. Use it to your advantage man. This is the place to start.

And welcome to HR Mck. Please keep us posted with your build and results. :)
 
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Yoda say: Jimmy speak truth, he does.

This site has a number of professional studio designers, engineers and recordists as well as a lot of people who have been doing their own home recording, sometimes for decades.

John Brandt, who posts here regualrly started a thread titled 'Small Room Acoustics, it's 'stuck' to the top of this section of the forum, read it. Then go to his web site (he's revamping it, but old info is still there) and read all the pages. I particularly like this one about 'VooDoo' sites!
 
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I do agree with what has been said above, I would definitely recommend not splitting the room unless you have to for isolation purposes.
For one, you don't need as much treatment in the single room, because there will be less surface area. But this is really not the big issue. Smaller rooms have standing waves / modes that are higher in frequency, and they're stronger with less room to dissipate. So you will end up with really honky bass tones around 60-200 Hz that will easily be picked up by tom, snare, and bass mics. Even with a significant amount of treatment, it's hard to treat these fully. Also, you'll have MUCH less ambiance to work with, which means you'll in general need more absorption and will not be able to rely on other treatment methods, like diffusion, to balance the space out.
Plus you simply have a larger space to get a good listening position, speaker position, and drum position in the rooms with more space. The smaller a dimension is, the bigger swings you get by moving mics and positions just a few inches.
If you did a set up that is similar to what's shown here, though perhaps a bit more focus on the rear sidewalls, you'd be getting a space that will be excellent for both mixing and recording: Acoustical Room Advice - GIK Acoustics
 
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