Another question about trap placement

M

McParadigm

New member
So I've got this 11 x 16 room that I'll be using as my home studio from now on. The desk obviously will be centered along one 11 foot wall. The southwest corner is nonexistant, as there is an entryway there instead (no door).

I have 4 self-made bass traps, and 6 Gik traps (2x2 foot each). I've read and read and read, and I'm pretty sure that I know where to place them to get the most use, but I tend to want to double-check here because a lot of times my notions are WRONG. Where should I place them?
 
where are YOU planning on putting them?
obviously the bass traps in the corners of the room...then I'd put the GIK at the first reflection points.
 
I was planning on putting one up directly behind the desk, one up behind the drum kit (at the opposite end of the room), and then 2 across (turned diamond-style) on each of the long walls, starting directly parallel to the front of the kit.
 
Nobody? Here's a really tragically rough sketch of how I figured it. Bass traps in red and Gik traps in blue.

I know, I know, I did a fabulous job on the drums there... :cool:

room.JPG
 
Turn the room so you can trap both the corners in front of the mix position and have better symmetry for mixing.

1 panel directly behind each monitor.

1 panel on each side wall for reflections when mixing.

The rest on the ceiling over the drums - and you'll need more.

Bryan
 
bpape said:
Turn the room so you can trap both the corners in front of the mix position and have better symmetry for mixing.

1 panel directly behind each monitor.

1 panel on each side wall for reflections when mixing.

The rest on the ceiling over the drums - and you'll need more.

Bryan
Click to expand...

I'll be getting more at the end of summer. I have to spread this spending out now. After the first $5000 my wife started to get irritable.

I hadn't thought of putting the drums at the opposite end of the room! My only concern there is that, without a door in the entryway, the drums are then basically right at the bottom of the stairs. Seems like even moving them to that far end of the room protects my family from a LITTLE of the noise.

Also, I record acoustic guitar a lot more than drums. Is placing those panels directly over the drums the best possible use of them?

Thanks for the help!
 
For recording drums, a hard floor and absorbtive ceiling usually produces the best sound.

Putting the drums at the other end may help a little in the isolation but having the mixing at that end will be hurt - it's a tradeoff. You might want to seriously consider putting in a door.

Bryan
 
bpape said:
For recording drums, a hard floor and absorbtive ceiling usually produces the best sound.

Putting the drums at the other end may help a little in the isolation but having the mixing at that end will be hurt - it's a tradeoff. You might want to seriously consider putting in a door.

Bryan
Click to expand...

When I can afford it, yeah. But, like I said, I record a lot of acoustic guitar. Say about twice as much guitar as drums. Would I be better off putting the panels somewhere besides the ceiling, with this in mind? Or, let's say I could buy two more panels. Where would you recommend I put them, assuming I put all the others right where you told me?

I really appreciate the help.
 
I should also mention that I have an extra bass trap (4 traps, but only 3 corners, you know). I was thinking I might look into installing it across where the wall meets the ceiling, if I can figure a good way to do that, but I wasn't sure if it would be of more benefit up behind the drum kit or up behind the monitors.
 
McParadigm said:
I should also mention that I have an extra bass trap (4 traps, but only 3 corners, you know). I was thinking I might look into installing it across where the wall meets the ceiling, if I can figure a good way to do that, but I wasn't sure if it would be of more benefit up behind the drum kit or up behind the monitors.
Click to expand...
I'd use 2 of your traps in floor-ceiling corners, and then use the other 2 in wall-ceiling.
 
So more like this? Gik traps are still in blue, bass traps in red, with the ones that would be attached or partially attached to the ceiling as hollow squares.

room2.JPG
 
Shit, that looks nice. Thanks for the help!

You're killing me, though, with this insistence about putting the drums by the entryway. The wife will NOT be pleased.
 
Sorry but you wanted the best answer. What Panda drew is exactly how I would lay out out at this point. Nobody says you have to have the drum kit all the way at the other end. Put it more toward the middle. That'll also kill the quick slap off the walls when you're that close.

Put a couple of your absorbers on stands so you can move them around as appropriate when doing drums vs guitar vs mixing.

Bryan
 
Another thing to think of also, and I don't know what your budget and other scenarios are.... but.... Have you considered building a very cheap partial room for the drums, a few 2x4s and a couple sheets of plywood is all it would take, and it would be a free standing unit that could be moved or taken donw at any point... If you put up the wall on the right side of the drum kit(when looking at the diagram), and put sound absorbtion on the wall in front of the kit, I don't really see how much sound is going to go out toward the house...
 
89gtsleeper said:
Another thing to think of also, and I don't know what your budget and other scenarios are.... but.... Have you considered building a very cheap partial room for the drums, a few 2x4s and a couple sheets of plywood is all it would take, and it would be a free standing unit that could be moved or taken donw at any point... If you put up the wall on the right side of the drum kit(when looking at the diagram), and put sound absorbtion on the wall in front of the kit, I don't really see how much sound is going to go out toward the house...
Click to expand...

:eek:

Holy duh, Batman! Talk about an easy way to solve a problem.

Would I be alright just creating one, to go next to it, and otherwise putting the sound treatment exactly as in the diagram above?
 
Last edited:
I would probably do an L shaped wall.... Also, one of those two sides should extend all the way to one of the existing walls in this room, that way you are actually keeping air from being able to pass, thus creating actual isolation to some degree... Put one of your broadband absorbers on the new wall that is closest to the opening going to your house.
 
89gtsleeper said:
I would probably do an L shaped wall.... Also, one of those two sides should extend all the way to one of the existing walls in this room, that way you are actually keeping air from being able to pass, thus creating actual isolation to some degree... Put one of your broadband absorbers on the new wall that is closest to the opening going to your house.
Click to expand...

I'm having a hard time visualizing that. So do I take one of the broadband absorbers from behind the kit to put on the side wall of the L-wall? And do I need to put this L-wall at a slight twitch to avoid creating right angles in the new space?

I am assuming that I would want to center the drums based on the placement of the new wall, rather than the existing floorplan.
 
basically, in the diagram in this thread, just to the right of the drums, make a wall that comes from the north wall downward (so there is now a wall between the drums and the house) then once the wall goes down far enough, hook the second wall of the L to the left maybe four feet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top