Mixing in an untreated room

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Xcaliber

Xcaliber

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I know this is probably going to make some people's blood boil because the topic gets beat to death around here and it's also a topic that is pretty clear what the answer if from prior conversations. I am curious if anyone here records and/or mixes music in a home studio environment that is not treated. I don't have a room in my house (at the moment) that I can dedicate to a studio space so my equipment is set up in a corner of my finished basement. There are couches, a table and chairs, a pool table, a counter top/bar, etc. in there so it's not empty, but I can't treat the room and it's a very large space. Should I just pack up my stuff and put it on CraigsList and give up on trying to do this until I have a "proper" environment/room or is it possible to record and mix at home in this type of environment?

A little more info...I program drums using EZ Drummer (I know, I know, another topic with lots of opinions) and record guitars by plugging directly into my interface and using Amp modeling software. I'm not worried about the acoustics of the room for recording.

That being said, I'm having a heck of a time mixing music others have made and posted on the "Mix This!" forum here and I'm convinced (through what I've read here and elsewhere) that it's due, in part at least, to my mixing/listening environment. I will say I've tried using headphones and I'm still struggling so it might be my lack of experience too.

I am doing this for fun as a hobby and not for money or even (at this point) doing it for others for free (i.e. friends)

Thanks in advance.
 
don't give up! that's crazy talk, just treat your room, having a large space is ideal so you are already halfway there, the basement could be ideal.

why isn't it possible to add bass traps or acoustic treatment?
 
Btyre2013 said:
don't give up! that's crazy talk, just treat your room, having a large space is ideal so you are already halfway there, the basement could be ideal.

why isn't it possible to add bass traps or acoustic treatment?
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yup yup...

Havin a large space is great. If/when you can treat it, just build some nice superchunks for the corners. They'll be a good start and look good too.

In the meantime, what I used to do was to just mix, burn a CD, play it in different systems, and take notes on what sounded off. Back to the mix, apply tweaks according to my notes, lather, rinse, repeat.
It takes a bit but you're basically just learning your room and your speakers.
You'll get it ;)
 
You might give this a shot (link below) if you don't have the option of ever treating the room. I've never used it, so I'm not sure how well it work. I actually got my hands on one CHEAP a while back...so cheap, in fact, that instead of using it I sold it on eBay then proceeded to acoustically treat my room (in the process now). But if you have a decent pair of cans, it may be worth the purchase to prevent going around endlessly to your car/living room/friends apartment/etc. just to see if your mix translates.

Amazon.com: Focusrite VRM Box USB Interface with Headphone Output Featuring Virtual Reference Monitoring Technology: Musical Instruments
 
I started into home recording more than 25 years ago, well before DAWs were common in the home environment and well before I knew anything about room treatment. I did eventually learn my mixing environment well enough to where I could do half way decent mixes in it by knowing how to compensate for the issues of the room. But there was still a lot of trial and error and mix testing on other systems.

When I finally got to the point where I built some corner traps and treated some first reflection points, everything changed. I could mix to what I was hearing rather than having to compensate in the mix for the room.

I resisted room treatment for a few years. It just wasn't as cool to spend money on Owens 703 as it was to buy a new piece of gear. But for the price of a couple SM58s, I got my first 6 traps and 4 panels. Well worth it and to this day, probably the best money I've ever spent on my recording setup.
 
Thanks guys. I'm basically taking up a corner of our finished basement which is used as a 2nd family room. My kids go down there with friends, I have game nights there, and when we have parties people hang out down there. My wife hates that I even have a "desk" set up in the corner with all my recording gear out in the open.

Putting bass traps in the corners and hanging panels on the walls (especially in multiple places in the room) would just add fuel to the fire. I'm hoping some day I can re-purpose my kids playroom (which is a separate, but not totally closed in room in the basement) into a studio, but I'm a few years from that. Even then I'm hoping my wife will agree to make it into a studio and not something else.
 
Nate74 said:
I started into home recording more than 25 years ago, well before DAWs were common in the home environment and well before I knew anything about room treatment. I did eventually learn my mixing environment well enough to where I could do half way decent mixes in it by knowing how to compensate for the issues of the room. But there was still a lot of trial and error and mix testing on other systems.

When I finally got to the point where I built some corner traps and treated some first reflection points, everything changed. I could mix to what I was hearing rather than having to compensate in the mix for the room.

I resisted room treatment for a few years. It just wasn't as cool to spend money on Owens 703 as it was to buy a new piece of gear. But for the price of a couple SM58s, I got my first 6 traps and 4 panels. Well worth it and to this day, probably the best money I've ever spent on my recording setup.
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I understand how important it is and if I could I would treat the room, but it's just not an option right now. Not because of the cost, but because of the logistics of where my desk is right now. If I start treating the walls in the basement I will need to be able to afford my own apartment because my wife will kick me out. :)
 
Well, first you've got to come up with a compromise with your wife. You can build bass traps and first rflection point panels yourself, and have her help choose the fabric used to cover them. Make them nice, and they become part of the decor. Conversely, you keep the traps stacked in the garage or over by the furnace, and when you ar emixing/tracking, grab them and hang 'em up. Put them away when done.
When I started needing more room in the room I'm using and my wife started saying something, I gave her the option - 'ok, you take this as YOUR hobby room, and I'll take the 3rd bedroom upstairs'. That quieted her right down!

I resisted traps for too long, but as you already know EVERYONE can benefit from them.
 
You don't know my wife! She has no hobbies and I have too many. That line of reasoning would not work with her at all.
 
I got lucky. My wife just voluntarily gave up the third bedroom. I was like, "Wow, really?" and then I just shut up and took it. Didn't give her a chance to realize what she'd done till it was a studio complete with drums/bass/guitars/piano/desk/large computer/monitors/near-and mid-fields. The whole enchilada. Spent about $8000 to make it come off and now she realizes, but can't back out...:) Then she went and had $10,000 in medical procedures and just about bankrupted us...:(
Win some, lose some. BTW, a nice tarp will protect your equipment from most kids and beer spills...
 
Xcaliber said:
You don't know my wife! She has no hobbies and I have too many. That line of reasoning would not work with her at all.
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I feel your pain, brother. Same here - wife with 0 hobbies and me with all of the most expensive ones you could think of - recording/guitars, golf and gunsmithing.

My wife is in law school, she's already got the attitude of an attorney though, so it took about 2 weeks of fighting when we moved into this house for me to get a dedicated room outside of the basement for my music stuff. All that to say that it can be done; may not be a compromise but it can be done. We've lived here for almost 2 years and I don't even hear about it anymore... :D
 
What I did was buy another building away from the house, my wife does not even go there. Lets call it a mens shed LOL.

Alan.
 
Marital advice and recording advice all in one forum. How sweet are we?

Seriously though, I totally get the thing with the wife. Mine understands that music is a big part of my life, but as she says "it's not a big part of hers." We've found compromises through the years but that just means neither of us is really that happy sometimes...

When I was mixing back in the day before I got myself a treated room, I picked up a cheap set of stereo speakers at a thrift store and had them on my desk along with my monitors. I'd switch back and forth sometimes to see how mixes were translating between the two. Not ideal I guess looking back now, but saved a little time. Just a thought. Good luck man.
 
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