home grown

[James Thorsen]

I'm moving back home over the summer and my parents are finally cool with me doing some serious rehearsing at my house...However, the basement where I have the availability to play is not yet ready for any type of recording. I was wondering if anyone had any info on starting to set some stuff up...I guess I would want something to help me 1) isolate sounds 2) not necersarilly soundproofing the area entirely, but doing something to deaden the sound outside of the basement so it is not too much of an intrusion 3) general things to keep in mind while starting the recording process. I've done some minor recordings last summer on one of those blue Tascam 4 tracks that record onto cassette tape, but they usually came out not how I liked...I'm going to be working with reel to reel equipment now, so maybe you could keep that in mind while pointing me in the right direction. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dwillis45]

For tips on setting up your basement, take a look at the studio construction section of this BBS.

Isolating outside sound is a tough issue because the only sure fire method involves large amounts of mass. Short of that, you are left with several expensive alternatives like building a room within a room (in your case, a room within a basement) or layering walls with soundboard, drywall on special resilient hangers, insulation, and vinyl sheetblock. You would also have to float your floor (build a false floor mounted on absorbant rubber) to reduce low frequencies transmitted through the ground. And, finally, you would need to treat your ceiling and any windows to prevent sounds from coming though these areas. Again, to do this effectively, you need to spend thousands of dollars. Don't waste time and money lining you walls with carpet, mattress pads, egg crates, or foam. They will do little to prevent sound from getting in or out.

That's the bad news. The good news is that lot's of people record in their basements and find creative ways to deal with sound isolation issues. It's obviously less of a problem if you record direct to a recorder and don't have to worry about a mic picking up outside sounds. So if you play electric instruments or synths, you may have less to worry about. For vocals, a closet may provide adequate sound isolation for your purposes or you might be able to construct a small vocal booth.