my little room

[shem]

Hi, i have a little room( 10'x10') with a desk with my DAW and instruments all around, there is also a window on one wall. I do most recording with instruments direct to the mixer but occasionally have someone sing vocals and have nothing but a sm57 style mic. and good fx. How can I make the vocals sound the best they can acoustically?(i.e. curtains, egg boards, sound boards?)thanks

 

[MISTERQCUE]

Shem, r-u from Brooklyn!!??

 

[Wallycleaver]

Get rid of the paralell walls and some dampening will help tons.

 

[shem]

No, im not from brooklyn just am poor. So let me understand this, I should tear out my parellel walls and then douce everything with gallons of water to "dampen"? Sorry im being sarcastic because i dont understand. How do I achieve those things on a tight "brooklyn style" budget?

 

[KaosDG]

hey! I resemble that "brooklyn" style budget remark!


From what i've read around this joint for a small area like that (similar to mine) I'm guessing you could hang some heavy blankets, and make like a small isolation booth...

someone hit me with a shovel if I am wrong.

 

[shem]

That sounds good(and cheap ) What kind of booth do you mean? So the point with vocals is to completely isolate yourself?

 

[Jerry Kahn]

Is the DAW a portable, or PC based? This may sound like a stupid suggestion, but if it is, then try recording takes in other places?

Duh now Ill shut up.

 

[shem]

My station is a pc and so is pretty much stayin put ( unless i move) I do have a closet though??

 

[ausrock]

Shem,
hard flat surfaces (ie; walls, etc) allow for reflection of soundwaves. Put these walls parallel and you will get "standing waves" (ie; reflections bouncing back and forth) which isn't desirable. As it seems that building a solid false wall out of parallel is out of the question, I would suggest you consider the blanket option seeing as it is cheap.
If possible look at suspending some curtain rods off the ceiling, maybe on adjacent walls and again consider hanging two seperate layers.........1 against the wall, the other maybe 4" or so out from the wall. Also the thicker the blankets the better.
Try this and then treat the other two walls if necessary but maybe not as severely. Remember too, that bookcases, etc., will tend to disperse reflections, so if you have anything like that dont cover them with blankets.

My 2 cents worth...........

Peace............ChrisO

 

[shem]

Thanks I appreciate your advice, that is an idea ive heard a little of,I think I may try it! So isnt it cool that you and others all over the world can talk to eachother like you were next door? I am always impressed with this, i even have free internet to do this!

 

[shem]

You guys sure are reading this post!! Theres nothing that exciting going on here though I wonder why the phrase "my little room" means so much to people?

 

[Jerry Kahn]

I think that's because it sounds pathetic. And most of us relate to that very much.

 

[darrin_h2000]

If you wish to rid yourself of the parrelel walls take one wall and put a bookcase there and fill it with books, videios and stuff of all differnt sizes. this will diffuse the sound from one of the walls to eliminate the standing waves. then take 2x4 fiberglass ceiling pannels and put them on the walls in spots where you hear echos after you clap your hands.(be sure you cover these with cheap cotton cloth because who wants to look at these things on the wall).

 

[shem]

Jerry, LOL So darrin, do you think your idea might be better than the blankets around the room? It sounds good and cheap which i especially like!

 

[darrin_h2000]

Inexpensive good cheap bad

Sure Its inexpensive the 2x4 pannels from your local home depot are only 3.00 each. You can cover them with any color of material you wish to match the room, and they asorb the sounds just as good as the foam.

I didnt mention though you might get you some cylindrical forms (you know the stuff that they fill with concrete to make a pillar )for the corners. what you do is cover them with carpet and stuff them full of fiberglass insulation. place them in the corners and now you have bass traps that only cost about 6.00 ea.

By the way something cheap wont do the job cheap stuff sucks.

Inexpensive stuff has better quality.

 

[darrin_h2000]

I often work here on the assumption that maybe you have stuff arround the house that can be utilized. so yeah 6.00 is low maybe, but Ive seen the 100.00 package from that company and it would take ten of them to really solve that guys room problem. meanwhile hes out 1000.00 he could have spent on hardware. while hes only put out 40.00 on my reccomendations and now has the money to get a good console, or hard disc recorder.

While companies cash in on the fact that the room is an important componant in your studio. the magazines still show you how to build baffels and soundproof your room using materials that you can get a the home depot for a small fraction of the cost.

Gear Is still king and your big money should be spent there. not on foam that sells for twice the price of gold.

 

[shem]

You guys all have some great suggestion! I have learned alot and im sure anyone else curious has too (which happens to be around 250 at this point ) So thank you and I will definately put a little of all suggestions to work for me!

 

[crosstudio]

let me jump in with my home remedy

1rst, since i have a DAW, i got some extender cables and put my PC in an adjacent closet and drilled small holes at the baseboard to pass the cables through. this got rid of the PC noise.

2nd, i just happened to have an air matress with really thick covering, so whenever i'm recording i pump up the air mattress, put blankets over it on both sides, and place it against the wall.

Now, i'm going to home depot to get some wood and hinges so I can build a collapsable baffle frame. For now, I'll just put blankets over it, but eventually I want to get some type of 3" or 4" foam. my own version of the Auralex MaxWall.

 

[plan B]

What exactly did you use to extend your computer into the closet? What brand and where did you get it?

thanks