Help Isolation room

[MaximeLajoie]

Hi everybody, I'm moving in a new appartment next month.

I'm worried about the acoustic of the rooms. The only thing I wanna record is hardcore/punk/metal vocals and guitars.

I'm playing on a mesa boogie 50 w single rectifier on a Vertical 2x2 mesa cab. I assume I would have to buy a hot plate to get the sound reduction or to use it like dummy load.

But the thing is that I find that recording the cab with a SM57 gives me a better feel because of the air it pushes, which you cant really obtain on a direct line in/dummy load situation.

I was wondering if I could easily install something temporary on the walls so I can play guitar without bothering too much the neighbors since its in a block.

The rooms are small but usable, the floor is all in wood. Its a 3.5.

Thanks

 

[Capriccio]

I was wondering if I could easily install something temporary on the walls so I can play guitar without bothering too much the neighbors since its in a block.

In a word, no. To limit the amount of noise that escapes from your apartment you need mass, mass and more mass, tons of it - so much that it is unlikely the existing structure could carry that much additional load.

It gets called soundproofing, the technical term is isolation.

Your best bet will be to save the Boogie rig for the studio and live work and use either a modelling FX unit like the Line 6 Pod range or record direct and use software modelling such as Native Instruments Guitar Rig.

Singing will probably still need some isolation assitance but as the human voice is not quite as loud or bassy it will be easier to achieve. Without knowing how much isolation - by how much the siund leakage needs to be reduced - it is impossible to make specific recommendations.

 

[Bobbsy]

I'm afraid Capriccio is entirely correct. "Sound proofing" is the product of lots of mass plus decoupling an inner structure from an outer one to avoid vibrations being transmitted directly through the solid walls--the classic "box within a box" that is used for most studios.

Anything you could hang on the walls--for example heavy drapes or so-called acoustic foam--will control reflections within your room but will only attenuate sound leaving your apartment to a very small degree, particularly at lower frequencies.

Bob

 

[mjbphotos]

You can put the speaker cabinet into a 'box' built to soak up the sound, but this will affect the recorded sound somewhat, too.

 

[grimtraveller]

I was wondering if I could easily install something temporary on the walls so I can play guitar without bothering too much the neighbors since its in a block.

If any aspiring inventor or scientist out there ever comes up with such an invention, that person will be hailed as God like in the home recording universe ! They will become rich. Very rich. They will be loved, revered, constantly spoken well of. They will be lorded over as the bringers of inter~neighbourly and ultimately, world, peace. They will be revolutionaries, counter revolutionaries........and I think I'd better stop now.

 

[Bobbsy]

You can put the speaker cabinet into a 'box' built to soak up the sound, but this will affect the recorded sound somewhat, too.

That's a trick I've used for live work--put the cab in a heavily insulated road case and mic it there. It does affect the sound but still can be better than creating too much stage wash. I'm less sure about it as a recording technique though...and it would take quite a case to effectively mute the gear we're talking about.

Something I have had better luck with though is getting a guitarist to recreate their sound with a smaller practice amp then mic that. It can sound quite similar to a big cabinet done this way...just quieter.

Bob

 

[rfahey86]

Its a myth when people say the amp has to be loud to record. I usually only have my half stack master volume on about 2 and it works great. You can also install a toggle switch in the cab to shut off 2 of the speakers. This way you can turn it up slightly louder, but have less volume in the actual room. I would get some bass traps and set them at your reflection points. Sound foam is good for the highs, but too much will make all of your recordings sound very boxy.

 

[Bobbsy]

The problem arises if part of the OP's "sound" is to drive the amp/stack into distortion as is so often the case. Turning down the level also cleans up the sound and, even though I'm just a back room engineer, I agree that adding artificial distortion never sounds quite the same.