Home Recording...

[djdarwin]

Just some general questions...

What do you think about the KRK RP6 studio monitors?
Anything better in that price range?
Will they work in a 10 x 12 room?

What would you sugest i do to treat my room (on a budget) to make it closer to a real "control room?"

Bass Traps?
How should i set those up?
What kind of material do you suggest?

Since i will be using the room to record and mix/master the tracks what is your advice on a DIY treatment?

How important is Symetry to the room?

Should i put my desk and monitors in the middle of one wall?

If all i do is record vocals what should i do to the walls to prevent the room reverb from being picked up by my mic?

What should i do so that my neighbors and roommates cannot hear me when i am recoding takes and so that my mic doesnt hear them either?

Is there a quick and easy way to build a Iso booth for vocals without spending too much? Is something just for isolating vocals possible without undertaking a major project?


Thanks in advance...

 

[buryher17]

Just some general questions...

What do you think about the KRK RP6 studio monitors?
Anything better in that price range?
Will they work in a 10 x 12 room?

What would you sugest i do to treat my room (on a budget) to make it closer to a real "control room?"

Bass Traps?
How should i set those up?
What kind of material do you suggest?

Since i will be using the room to record and mix/master the tracks what is your advice on a DIY treatment?

How important is Symetry to the room?

Should i put my desk and monitors in the middle of one wall?

If all i do is record vocals what should i do to the walls to prevent the room reverb from being picked up by my mic?

What should i do so that my neighbors and roommates cannot hear me when i am recoding takes and so that my mic doesnt hear them either?

Is there a quick and easy way to build a Iso booth for vocals without spending too much? Is something just for isolating vocals possible without undertaking a major project?


Thanks in advance...

the monitors i eprsonally have never used. and a 10x12 room isnt big at all, so it'll be fine. a volume button is always a charm or headphones. symetry of a room is always a big factor. Always tyr and keep things organized and in a set up wya that sound wont be fucke dup by boucning off everything and making a bad sound.

bets thing and really only thing about the sound problem is foaming out that room... thats really all you can do. even then, it'll never 100% isolate the sound from anyone hearing it. Buy a 6" door and 4" pro studio foam covering every inch of the room then POSSIBLY noone will hear you lol. but until you get a place of your own to not woryr about other people, sorry dude, pretty much plan out well.

and about the iso booth, you could make it as simple as isolating a closet with $15 thick blankets form wal mart, putting some extra carpet on a wall and having the right set up. I use a at2020 condensor mic through a sutdio rpejects pre amp and its runnign through an alesis 3630 compressor, a lexicon mx200, an alesis midiverb3, and a bbe 362 sound enhancer. so it's all about your set up.

and about the desk/monitors always keep them togetehr against a wall as far from the mic as posisble. for one because it'll bounch off it, and 2 you dont want the mic picking anything up, for me if i scratch my head the mics will pick it up lol.

its all about your equipment really. if you want any suggesitons on the cheapest best sound wya to record, hit me up. ill tell you some good suggesitons so you dont waste your money

 

[drossfile]

KRK Rokit series (all sizes) seem to get good reviews around here. For a room as small as yours (this isn't a burn--mine's 9x14), 5" woofers should be sufficient (KRK makes RP5 monitors for le$$ than the 6s), but if you want and can afford the 6s, i think most ppl would agree it's a good choice.

Desk/monitors in the center: yes, due to the nature of sound diffraction. Really, dead center of the room is ideal, but who the hell can do that?

Bass traps i have no use for. The only thing ppl use them for is to get a more true representation out of their monitors upon playback for mixing. If you use some reference cds to get an idea of what pro mixes sound like through your monitors in your room as is, it gives you a reference point from which to mix your own stuff. If the bass is heavy in the room, mix less bass, etc. Good reference discs: Deftones "white pony" is marvelously mixed, as well as lots of classic stuff (police, beatles, elton john, steely dan). The real point is to find something you love the mix on (my personal, unmatchable fave is the song "Close to the Edge" by Yes.

As for foam in general, remember that foam/carpet on walls, floors, and celings really only absorb high frequencies, so while you're lowering treble, the bass remains the same, which makes it disproportionately loud. If you really want bass traps, you basically want to make your 90-degree corners into 45-degree corners using pretty much any kind of sound-absorbing material (bass goes to the corners). i've seen some slick homemade stuff. Problem is, it's not like throwing a mattress pad up there--it has to have enough thickness to really absorb the bass frequencies (like whole couch cushions wrapped in hammocks). My home studio is in the basement, with clay tile walls (hard, reflective surfaces), wood rafter celing (which has thin mattress pads stapled all the way around), and a carpeted concrete floor. i've found that basically, as long as you tame wild reverberation/bouncing echo, you should have a half-decent recording room. My drums sounded terrible before i carpeted, and now i get a pretty nice sound.

For the iso booth, sounds like a blanket-insulated closet is yr best bet. it'll get effing hot in there tho... If you're just recording in a bedroom, keep the mic at the center of the room to equally distribute the reverb for best results.

Symmetry: If my room is symmetrical enough to record drums in, surely your room is symmetrical enough to record vocals in.

Soundproofing: unless you can spend 4 billion dollars on building a windowless, triple-drywall, R-32 insulated room with independent low-flow, quiet-run ventilation, don't even bother. What you already have in furniture, blankets, etc. will do just as much as dropping a few hundred on "soundproofing" foam. I tried soundproofing on the cheap, and it didn't make a single decibel's difference. If your neighbors or roommates complain, i'm sure you can take issue with something they do to annoy you, so eff 'em.

Happy trails!