Mixing in a room with brick walls!

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tone_aot

tone_aot

Owner of ToneJonez.com
Hi Folks! I'm mixing in an average sized bedroom with brick walls :mad:. It's an apartment complex so i can't really build anything. Right now, i have studio foam on the wall in front of the monitors so the sound points directly at the foam. I know that isn't doin much but it made the room look cooler! Anyway, what can i do to create a more accurate listening environment that doesn't require me building anything? Not sure if the landlord would like me tearin up the walls! :D
 
I'm thinking about going to goodwill and salvation army today to see if i can find some heavy drapes to hang around the room. I'll get some bass traps and stuff at a later time. I have something heavy in every corner anyway so i guess that can be my "fake" bass traps for now.
 
tone_aot said:
I'm thinking about going to goodwill and salvation army today to see if i can find some heavy drapes to hang around the room. I'll get some bass traps and stuff at a later time. I have something heavy in every corner anyway so i guess that can be my "fake" bass traps for now.
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I use drapes around my room in conjunction with bass traps and a few Absorbers and a book shelf on the back wall behing me. My room is far from perfect but it is better than it was when i had nothing there. One thing is that i have gotten used to my listening environment so i can make accurate enough judgements on mixes and so forth that translate well to other playpack systems and rooms. Theres alot of cheap designs around here (which perhaps someone will have a link to) that will definetly help you get to a solution that is practical for your needs and space available. You should look into the designs on Absorbers. Here in Ireland i cant really find the 703 stuff that you guys seem to swear by, i did get an equivelent. But Have definetly had some success in fighting the problems of accuracy in my listening room.
 
I'm in the process of setting up my studio in the basement of our new place... I haven't had any time yet to really tweak and fine-tune, but I hung some thick packing blankets over the concrete walls behind my monitors and have already noticed a difference...

Let me know what works for you as you experiment and I will do the same...

:)
 
Well, i've come back empty handed. Couldn't find anything. I can't get my hands on that 703 stuff either. I've heard good things about the kits from primacoustic. I looked at the prices and quickly got off the website tho!! Too much money for my salary. I really would like to treat my room and be able to mix and record my vocals in it. I tried the closet thing with some foam and a sleeping bag in there, which i thought sounded good at first. After time, i've come to realize the "boxiness" of the vocal sound and i realize the closet is just too small of a space to get a good sound out of. Where in the world can i get some heavy "cheap" drapes or heavy packing blankets? What i'm gonna do is go get me a tape measure today so i can measure my room then i'll post the dimesions so maybe someone can give me an affordable solution to getting a good mix/tracking room.
 
In case someone asks, gear list:

Computer
Behringer Truth Monitors(I'm used to the sound now)
Sony CD 180 headphones(Great)/cheap koss headphones(awful)
Triton LE
FL Studio 4
Acid Pro 4.0
Adobe Audition
M-Audio Audiophile
Behringer Mixer
Behringer Autocom 1400
Studio Projects C1
Old Fisher Turntable
Yamaha Psr 540
40 and 160gb harddrives
Waves Plugins
Guitar
Saxophone
and finally, a recorder from like 1st grade! :D

Upgrade plans:

switch from behringer pre's to m-audio dmp3

buy a few more mics for different flavors
 
Heavy packing blankets can be purchased from moving companies, and they'll help control flutter, but won't do much for bass. You can also build your own mobile acoustic panels for about $20-30 each. If you can't find 703/705, try to get some similar density mineral wool (look in the yellow pages under "insulation" for a local supplier). I just ordered some from SPI (Specialty Products & Insulation Co.), a chain of insulation supply stores.
 
scrubs said:
Heavy packing blankets can be purchased from moving companies, and they'll help control flutter, but won't do much for bass. You can also build your own mobile acoustic panels for about $20-30 each. If you can't find 703/705, try to get some similar density mineral wool (look in the yellow pages under "insulation" for a local supplier). I just ordered some from SPI (Specialty Products & Insulation Co.), a chain of insulation supply stores.
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There's an SPI near me that i called for the 703 and they acted as if i was speaking foreign language. Is there a certain brand name or anything for the mineral wool you got? I have no clue how to build panels but it's worth a shot.

Also, room dimensions are 12(length), 11(width), 8(height).

Just did that with my tape measure.
 
tone_aot said:
There's an SPI near me that i called for the 703 and they acted as if i was speaking foreign language. Is there a certain brand name or anything for the mineral wool you got? I have no clue how to build panels but it's worth a shot.

Also, room dimensions are 12(length), 11(width), 8(height).

Just did that with my tape measure.
Click to expand...

Roxul is one brand. I ordered 8# density (8 pounds per cubic foot), 4" thick mineral wool board. It comes in 24"x48" sheets. The price at my SPI was $1.32/SF. I purchased all they had in stock (216SF) and they charged me $25 for delivery to my house.

Their website allows you to submit a request and they'll e-mail you with the price quote: http://www.spi-co.com/rfq/show_product.cfm?id=17&nChart=getinfo
 
tone_aot said:
I have no clue how to build panels but it's worth a shot.

Also, room dimensions are 12(length), 11(width), 8(height).

Just did that with my tape measure.
Click to expand...

As for building panels, I'm no expert, but I'm working on some currently. I'll post some pics soon. Basically, I bought some 1"x4"x8' lumber at Lowe's for $1.98 a board and cut them to the desired lengths to make frames. Most of mine will be 2'x4' and 2'x6', plus some taller ones to stradle the corners. I picked up some clearance muslin-like fabric from a fabric store (burlap is cheaper and should be easy to find) and am attaching it to the frames with a staple gun. That's about it, really. All mine will be mobile, so I can position them according to whether I'm tracking or mixing.

Here are some tutorials for panels similar to what I'm building:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=87464
http://www.radford.edu/~shelm/acoustics/bass-traps.html
http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/wp.htm
 
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