another one about(gasp!) FOAM

  • Thread starter Thread starter theD1CKENS
  • Start date Start date
theD1CKENS said:
(the singer is in a corner).........we've been having trouble maintaining clarity and volume on the vocals while battling feedback. the foam seems to have helped a good bit, actually.
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You're compounding problems while trying to fix them.

Vocals in the corner is a horrible idea. That's where you have the most bass build-up in a room. This is the reason you're "having trouble maintaining clarity and volume." The bassiest part of the room is being recorded, which will affect clarity a lot. Now, you added foam, which might have taken away your feedback problem, but also took away the little bit of high-end you had by singing in the corner. So, now you have an even bassier and less clear sound.

Seems like you're looking for any excuse to not do it properly and you're just replacing one problem with another. I undestand that money is an issue, and I can relate, as I'm sure most of us can. But you can still do things that will help you work with what you got. One of them is learning a bit about acoustics so that you can help yourself. For example, without spending a penny, if you move the singer out of the corner, you'd probably end up getting a clearer and nicer sound because A)He's not in the corner, and B) You won't need to use the foam that's making the recording even less clear.
 
Even if the singer's facing out, there's a lot of bass build up in the corner that will get recorded.


But, besides that, I just realized something................Why are you getting feedback at all???? Even if you were using condensers I'd ask the same question, but how do you get feedback with dynamic mics when you're recording??? I'm not sure how feedback becomes an issue when you're recording. You are using headphones, right???
 
RAMI said:
Even if the singer's facing out, there's a lot of bass build up in the corner that will get recorded.


But, besides that, I just realized something................Why are you getting feedback at all???? Even if you were using condensers I'd ask the same question, but how do you get feedback with dynamic mics when you're recording??? I'm not sure how feedback becomes an issue when you're recording. You are using headphones, right???
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he's in the corner(facing out) because of space constraints. the feedback is because it's loud during practice, which is the only time the foam is being used. I mounted the panels to the wall with some wire and nails. keep in mind, the recording space is also the practice space. all of our equipment is on wheels and I have hardwood floors, so moving everything out for tracking is minimal effort if the need arises.

I took the advice to heart about having to deal with bass build-up FIRST(for recording) but during rehearsals, it's not a big deal. we just need to hear each instrument 'good enough' to know who is screwing up and when.

to be honest, I wouldn't even know how to test for bass build-up, aside from just moving my ears around the room and listening, so I could properly place bass traps.
 
theD1CKENS said:
he's in the corner(facing out) because of space constraints. the feedback is because it's loud during practice, which is the only time the foam is being used. I mounted the panels to the wall with some wire and nails. keep in mind, the recording space is also the practice space. all of our equipment is on wheels and I have hardwood floors, so moving everything out for tracking is minimal effort if the need arises.

I took the advice to heart about having to deal with bass build-up FIRST(for recording) but during rehearsals, it's not a big deal. we just need to hear each instrument 'good enough' to know who is screwing up and when.

to be honest, I wouldn't even know how to test for bass build-up, aside from just moving my ears around the room and listening, so I could properly place bass traps.
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Oh, OK. so you're not talking about only recording.

As far as "testing" for bass build up, you've already done that. You said it yourself, you're "having trouble maintaining clarity and volume." That tells you something right there.

You can't go wrong putting bass traps in each corner for starters. That alone will make a huge difference.
 
Foam bad. Corners bad. Rigid fiberglass/rockwool in the 3.5 - 8 pcf range good.

Rami good.
 
yup. Rami's the man...

too bad there's like a billion corners in my room. it's shaped like Utah. EXACTLY like Utah...minus the Mormons
 
theD1CKENS said:
yup. Rami's the man...

too bad there's like a billion corners in my room. it's shaped like Utah. EXACTLY like Utah...minus the Mormons
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:D :D :D

Well, what's a Mormon but a moron with an extra consonant? :eek:

I have no idea what that means.
 
Ideally you would measure the room and treat accordingly but a reasonable starting point would be to put traps in the 4 wall to wall corners, floor to celing, then put traps along the wall to ceiling corners. You have hardwood floors so traps on the ceiling will help. It is about absorbing enough of the sound that you will not be suffering from echoes bouncing around the room. As bass is usually the main problem, bass traps are installed and that goes a fair way to dealing with mid and upper frequencies too.

See Acoustics/Treatment Reference Guide - LOOK HERE! - Gearslutz.com
 
I wasn't kidding. there's something like 30 corners in my room, 8 corners per wall, 6 walls...but that's countingwall/ceiling corners and wall/floor corners, but, I've read contradicting arguments about whether treating these areas is absolutely necessary


on a side note, I'm starting to hear the problems with bass build-up. the foam WAS good for something, and that was making the problems in my room obvious to me. the band suddenly sounds like some nu-metal, scooped mids, garbage...and it's almost like some one turned the volume up. good bye foam
 
There you go. You just had a revelation. Kind of like a "foam call"!



(I apologize). :eek:
 
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