Basic room accounstic

[Innovations]

Well, like I guess a lot of us it will be a long time until I have either a room that I can dedicate to being just a studio or thousands of dollars to improve it.

But I do have a whole suburban house (no basement) full of rooms that I could set up my mic while I am recording and lots of flexibility as to where I could set it up within those rooms. I could also spring for a few burlap covered 703 fiberglass panels that I could set up while I am recording.

Should I be going for small but dead spaces with no outside windows, like a walk-in closet. Or should I be going for larger rooms that have upholstered furniture in them like a bedroom?

Then there is mic placement. Is it better to go with placing the mic close to the center of the space so that all walls are equally far away or should I place it closer to one wall and facing the center. Then if I do add some 703 panels which wall should I concentrate on? The one I an singing or speaking towards, the one the mic is pointing towards, or the ones to the side?

 

[TexRoadkill]

That's a lot to cover. Peruse the Studio Building forum and there are a lot of threads about room acoustics and absorber panels.

Generally the best sounding rooms are bigger than 10'x15', have high ceilings, irregular shapes with no parallel walls. Most importantly the room should just sound good. If it is boomy or has a very obvious echo it will definately show up on the recording. Sometimes you can use a room's sound as an effect and really exploit it. Other times you want a room that is neutral and isn't very obvious.

Walk around the house and clap your hands, sing, play a guitar, tamborine and whatever else you have and see how different instruments sound in the rooms.

Usually the dead center of a room is the worst place because the echoes are most noticeable there. A good rule of thumb is to split the room in thirds and put the mic on one of those lines. In the end whatever sounds good is the right choice. Just experiment and record and get to know your rooms.

 

[Chris Fallen]

What you asked for:

http://www.acoustics101.com/

 

[Innovations]

Tex, thanks for the suggestions it will help me a lot with the testing. As I walk around my house it actually looks like my real choice will be dictated by the lack of environmental sounds. In most of my house I can hear birds chirping, the refridgerator running, the heater blowing, Since buying heavy double-pane windows is not in the budget I am being nudged toward a windowless walk-in closet about six by eight feet with clothes racks onone end and one side. It should be a pretty dead space

What you asked for:

http://www.acoustics101.com/

Actually Chris, that site, like much of our own studio building forum, is oriented around constructing a dedicated studio.

 

[TexRoadkill]

As I walk around my house it actually looks like my real choice will be dictated by the lack of environmental sounds. In most of my house I can hear birds chirping, the refridgerator running, the heater blowing,

Turn that stuff off and kill the birds. Actually bird chipping and sporadic noise isn't a big deal unless it is a solo passage. The main thing is to get rid of constant noises like the fridge or AC.