DIY tube traps and basement home studio

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bitrot

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I have read the posts here about diy tube traps and basement treatments, but I have some other questions regarding this treatment and my goals:

I am a weekend warrior with a home "studio" in the corner of my unfinished basement (1800 sq feet, unfinished, joists on 8 ' ceiling, concrete walls and floor). My space is both control room and recording room, and I can't change that. I'ts all I've got. My computers are very quiet (I've built iso boxes for them, more or less), so that's not really an issue.

I have just aquired some more sensitive large diaphragm condensors, and am recording acoustic guitar, sometimes at loud volumes.

I have a solid, semi-pro monitering system: tannoy passives with a matched amp, and solid Midiman Delta converters. My moniters are placed correctly over my console (well, my mackie 1202...) and desk. My desk faces the open basement, and the moniters are about 14' feet from the wall behind me and about 5' from the adjacent wall. If you were to draw a rectangle, I'd be in the northwest corner facing east.

Before I treated the walls the wrong way (carpet, target foam, etc), I had some slapback and ringing no matter where/how I recorded. So I added some target foam (1' out from walls) here and there in my studio area, and the ringing was dampened. Then I was hearing a lot more bass than I should have (regardless of position in basement or proximity to mic) in my acoustic guitar recordings, so I rolled up a target foam pad, shoved it in the nearest corner and rounded the corner out with a thick sleeping bag over it. My "bass trap". This seemed to work well for that corner, but as I moved around my studio space, the bass seem louder in some spots than others.

So I went nuts making a 14' X 28' "enclosure" using hanging carpets and cheap foam in the northwest corner. Now all my highs are gone, the mid to mid-lows seem emphasized and muddy. Typical newbie errors, as I have read. I am taking all that down and starting again.

So here are my questions:

1) given my situation (I cannot put up dry walls, don't have time and money is devoted to other more domestic house projects), do I even need to enclose a space for recording? I hear bigger rooms have less mid-bass problems than smaller rooms, and 16000 cubic feet seems pretty good to me, even with an 8' ceiling. In short, can I record in the middle of the basement, and just deal with the highs freqs with wall treatments? And maybe add a few bass traps in the corners?

2) Has anyone built diy pipe insulation tube bass traps, and how did they work out? It seems like most bass treatment is effective in an enclosed room with given dimensions... I am not sure how these would work in my situation, with a very large room, but low ceilings. If I did make them, do need them in the actual corners of the whole bassment, or would they be effective in corners of a a hanging-carpet, walled off "space"?

3) does anyone else here have a corner studio in a large unfinished basement? Perhpas we could exchange notes on what you've done for your recording vs. control room spaces.
 
3) does anyone else here have a corner studio in a large unfinished basement? Perhpas we could exchange notes on what you've done for your recording vs. control room spaces.

I'm suprised no one replied... anyhoo...

years ago when I was living at home (HS and college) I utilized semi-unfinished space in my parents basement - which was a small basement, and we solved the bass problem the same way you did - old comforters balled up in the corners. Whether correct or incorrect, I remained uninformed about audio acoustics and did this "comforter thing" for years to come even out of the basement.

I also found out something by accident - hanging the comforter(s) behind you against the wall, but suspended about a foot away from the wall, does a lot to eat the bass but not so much the mids/highs. Not sure if my folks' basement was a fluke, or coincidence, but that was my observation back then.

Like you, I'd like to learn how to build "real" bass traps in the corners. Otherwise, I might be daring and call auralex and find out the cost of their "lenrds" as they call them.
 
I'm planning on building some of those DIY tube traps ... but haven't had any time to pee these days ... let alone order them and put them together. They seem to be pretty easy to construct, though. I think if you went that way, it might be best for you to build a little enclosure out of those instead of just putting them in the corners or around the perimeter of this large room you describe. I think that would work pretty well.
If I ever get to the project of building them ... you can bet that I'll post my results and some pics here... I desperately need some acoustic control in my rooms ... so, when I actually do it :), I'll let you know.
 
1)moderation/experimentation is the key!!! it seems that when a little didnt work, you went all out. you say you made newbie mistakes, but you say you are a "weekend warrior". this site is all about building on a budget and with limited materials. there are alot of domestic products out there that reduce alot of sound problems quickly (have you ever been in an unfinished house with out carpet, and then come back when the carpet is in?)
lots of people here have less than great rooms that have "sweet spots" and "not-so-sweet spots", it is a fact of life in home recording. you hang carpen/blankets/matresses/posters from the roof/walls and whatever else you can attach things to. if you take out too much high, remove some of the damping. experiment, there are no rules, just suggestions.
2) have you thought about making a small isolation booth? it sounds like you are recording acoustic guitar in a big room. you dont need that much space for acoustic, just a small space. i make a "tent" of blankets for recording acoustic around the performer. this helps to reduce the room sound.
 
Iso booths

Thanks for the replys guys.

I hear you about "tuning" the room. It's what I'm doing recently... putting stuff up and taking them down again as needed. The upside to having an unfinished basement is that I can hang stuff wherever I want.

I have actually thought of building some cool diy gobos out of 2X4's, 1X6's, R-19 or 703 insulation. General purpose broadband absorping walls on castors. Like broadband helmholz resonators with upper absorption as well.

I am going to build 4 of these traps, round out the corners with heavy drapes and move from there.

I did happen upon a custom foam shop willing to give me 2X2' 6-12" thick heavy open cell foam from old (but not nasty) furniture, and I've been using that, stacked in the corners with blankets over them, and in some tests with 808 long kicks, I hear a difference already.. but these are broadband absorbers obviously... with a cutting knife I coul fashion some auralex style bass traps....
 
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