Does my ROOM sound weird?

[Funky_]

I record in a little room about 20x20 ft. No windows. Standard ceiling hight and one door.

It's basicly a big box.

From experience with this room, it seems to add a strange kind of room noise to the tracks which is not really noticable untill you listen to the whole mix.

What can I do to improve the sound! Blankets? Pointing amps at walls? Away from walls? Drums in the center of room or in the corner?

Info like this would really help me out! Thanks

Funky

 

[fldrummer]

This might help
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[Cloneboy Studio]

I'm not an authority in acoustics, but I've heard mention that perfectly square rooms sound bad. I forget why that is... maybe research that topic?

 

[photoresistor]

parallel walls create standing sound waves.

i forgot exactly what the explanation is but i believe that this causes interference which then causes certain sound frequences to be 'understated' or nonexistant from certain places in the room.

thats about all i know on the topic.

 

[Funky_]

So would pointing an amp in lets say the corner of the room work better?

Anyone have any experience with positioning amps and the like in BOX rooms for good acoustics?

 

[Bulls Hit]

Is the floor carpeted? If not try rolling out a rug.

You can hang duvets on the walls - they will help dampen mids & highs. Don't overdo it though.

Any waves with 20ft wavelengths in your room will create standing waves. A 20ft wave is about 55Hz. Ditto for 110Hz, 165Hz, 220Hz etc waves. These will bounce back & forth in phase between the walls, reinforcing themselves, and also creating nodes at certain places in the room where there is no sound at that frequency.

These are typically your bass frequencies. If too much bass is your problem, you might need to invest in a couple of bass traps.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Funky,

> a little room about 20x20 <

Square rooms are bad because they resonate twice as loudly at the common dimension's frequency and its multiples. So in a 20x20 room you'll get a big emphasis at 28 Hz, 56 Hz, 85 Hz, and so forth. You'll also have lots of nulls in the low end response at various frequencies.

> What can I do to improve the sound! Blankets? Pointing amps at walls? <

For the complete story see the Acoustics FAQ, second in the list on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

It's a lot to read, but when you're done you'll know exactly what to do.

--Ethan

 

[Jack Russell]

I've also read that a cube-shaped space, 20x20x20 would be the worst of all, because of the reasons pointed out above.

Perhaps you could build a storage space at one end, thus making the dimensions 20x17?

 

[packratlouie]

I've spoken with e\Ethan before and the best thing you can do to begin understanding the concept of room design, and the way sound interference develops, as well as the ways to treat it, is to visit his faq page. Read it; Treat it as a guidebook, not as an essay. Come back to it when you have a good question, and most often it will be answered in there.

He also has 2 very interesting videos on his realtraps website regarding basstrapping, and frequency nodes. Something to really check out.

He also links (I do believe) to a program that allows you to calculate frequency nodes (where there is a severe drop in db for a specific frequency) in your room.

My best suggestion?

Get blankets, and put them in the corners of the room. Or better yet, if you have any rigid fiberglass (like the ceiling tiles) places some of those in the corners around the room evenly. One side will be fiberglass, and the other may have a shiny plastic coating. The plastic facing outwards will reflect the higher frequencies whereas the fiberglass facing outwards will absorb the higher frequencies. So make sure you evenly distribute them. Or, add them in different places until you get the sound you want.

Just by placing some standing in the corners of your room, you will notice a SIGNIFICANT change in the acoustics.

Like Ethan has said, smaller rooms have many more problems than larger rooms.

Check out the bass trap plans he has on his site (if he still hosts them). They work great, I built them myself over a weekend.

Good luck. Make sure you check out his site.

 

[packratlouie]

I've spoken with Ethan before and the best thing you can do to begin understanding the concept of room design, and the way sound interference develops, as well as the ways to treat it, is to visit his faq page. Read it; Treat it as a guidebook, not as an essay. Come back to it when you have a good question, and most often it will be answered in there.

He also has 2 very interesting videos on his realtraps website regarding basstrapping, and frequency nodes. Something to really check out.

He also links (I do believe) to a program that allows you to calculate frequency nodes (where there is a severe drop in db for a specific frequency) in your room.

My best suggestion?

Get blankets, and put them in the corners of the room. Or better yet, if you have any rigid fiberglass (like the ceiling tiles) places some of those in the corners around the room evenly. One side will be fiberglass, and the other may have a shiny plastic coating. The plastic facing outwards will reflect the higher frequencies whereas the fiberglass facing outwards will absorb the higher frequencies. So make sure you evenly distribute them. Or, add them in different places until you get the sound you want.

Just by placing some standing in the corners of your room, you will notice a SIGNIFICANT change in the acoustics.

Like Ethan has said, smaller rooms have many more problems than larger rooms.

Check out the bass trap plans he has on his site (if he still hosts them). They work great, I built them myself over a weekend.

Good luck. Make sure you check out his site.