Ok now i know i'm Crazy....

[themdla]

so i was thinking (my first problem i know)

what if you mixed outside? (hypothetically)

i know it's a weird question but i've been thinking alot about standing waves and acoustics issues related to mixing in small rooms so...

wouldn't mixing outside...

kill the standing waves/bass modes and nodes issue?
kill reflections and comb filtering issues?

or am i loony toons???

 

[Chibi Nappa]

The sound WILL reflect back outside. There simply isn't a place in the civilized world without something close enough to echo it back. And since the reflective surface will probably be far away, you could be looking at loud delays on the order of 1 second.

Then there are issues like birds, wind, jet planes, cars, people making noise, people complaining about your noise...
You could make a usable mix outside if that was your thing I suppose. But it wouldn't be any more convenient than mixing inside.

 

[mixsit]

The sound WILL reflect back outside. There simply isn't a place in the civilized world without something close enough to echo it back. And since the reflective surface will probably be far away, you could be looking at loud delays on the order of 1 second. ..

Hmm. At least the more distant the surface the lower the relative volume of the reflection.
Modes should look pretty good..

 

[witzendoz]

Now, if only we could get everyone to move their stereo systems out side before listening to the music...........

Alan

 

[kcearl]

you need to put some rockwool on the birds

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

If a complete lack of reflection were actually desired, pro recording studios would be built like the anechoic chambers used in laboratory testing.

But they're not. The typical high-budget live room (note it's called a live room, not a dead room ) is built with hardwood flooring, ceilings that diffuse/disperse/redirect sound more than they absorb it, and walls that only tactically and partially absorb or diffuse sound, with the rest of the surfaces usually actually being quite reflective. This is not due to lack of budget, they are designed that way on purpose. Because a good sounding room is a thousand times more preferable than a room with no sound at all.

G.

 

[Greg_L]

If a complete lack of reflection were actually desired, pro recording studios would be built like the anechoic chambers used in laboratory testing.

But they're not. The typical high-budget live room (note it's called a live room, not a dead room ) is built with hardwood flooring, ceilings that diffuse/disperse/redirect sound more than they absorb it, and walls that only tactically and partially absorb or diffuse sound, with the rest of the surfaces usually actually being quite reflective. This is not due to lack of budget, they are designed that way on purpose. Because a good sounding room is a thousand times more preferable than a room with no sound at all.

G.

He said mix outside. Thanks for the long irrelevant post though!

 

[NYMorningstar]

kill the standing waves/bass modes and nodes issue?
kill reflections and comb filtering issues?

or am i loony toons???

It would kill those issues as would turning down in the studio but you still may get some comb filtering if you used multiple mics on the same source when tracking.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

He said mix outside. Thanks for the long irrelevant post though!

LOL. Long post??? Christ, your doctors are obviously doing you a disservice, you're getting worse by the day. Do you really need to keep reminding everyone here all the time that you're dyslexic and getting worse? As if anybody here cares. You need to be talking to your doctors, not us.

And tell them that you obviously can't associate thought by yourself either. If you could, you'd know the same desires apply to control rooms, which are not anechoic either.

G.

 

[Kingofpain678]

you need to put some rockwool on the birds

 

[moresound]

What you need to do is have your self declared clinically insane.
Then move all of your recording gear into that padded room and all will be fine. he, he ~ Ho, Ho ~ Ha, Ha.

 

[mcmetal]

Now, if only we could get everyone to move their stereo systems out side before listening to the music...........

Alan

That's what i was thinking.Most of us listen to music in our homes,cars,etc.As long as you have a decent room to mix in then it sholud translate well in all enviroments.

I wouldn't worry about the boom box on the shoulder of the stoned teenager walking down the alley 80's style.

They all use those earbuds now anyways.

 

[Chili]

The sound WILL reflect back outside. There simply isn't a place in the civilized world without something close enough to echo it back.

That's a far stretch... yes, it'll reflect back, but at a much lower power density. If you're mixing in a field where trees or other objects are 50 ft away, what reflection are you going to get? Let's see... source is 85 dB... square root of the distance (and back)... carry the one.... hmmm, it's considerably less. And if you do get an echo, it's more of a delay rather than a standing wave or modal ringing. A standing wave of 50ft, wouldn't that be below the audio range?? Would it have much effect on the spectrum of the source material like it does in a room?? Nah, it might be distracting, though.

But for some reason I can't explain, I think you wouldn't be able to get a decent mix when mixing outside.

just my opinion, anyways....

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Now, if only we could get everyone to move their stereo systems outside before listening to the music...........

Alan

Not a problem.

 

[moresound]

For one thing you can't fill up the outdoors with sound.

 

[NYMorningstar]

Not a problem.

Days like this are to kill for. Looks like a blast!

 

[themdla]

lol i love the responses so far

just to clarify i am just talking about mixing not tracking.

also let's pretend i'm in the middle of a field with nothing to generate reflections for 100ft or more. Also in this example let's consider that i am on near fields (6 to 8") relatively close to them (within 6ft) and i am mixing near 85db or lower.

i agree with glen that the tracking has the "standard" of room tone/reflections/color involved but i was under the impression that we were striving to mix in a really flat environment.

the bigger the mix space the better right??

what could be bigger than an open field?

No relections at that low of a level and no bass issues...

but what issues, aside from the ambient outside noise, would i run into??

also i want you guys to know it's not likely that i will attempt to mix something outside... this is meant to be intellectual and comedic discourse with the egghead geeks of HR.

i've never seen this question asked (and prolly for good reason)

 

[themdla]

you need to put some rockwool on the birds

ok, do you think i should go with 3lb or 6lb density?

 

[themdla]

That's a far stretch... yes, it'll reflect back, but at a much lower power density. If you're mixing in a field where trees or other objects are 50 ft away, what reflection are you going to get? Let's see... source is 85 dB... square root of the distance (and back)... carry the one.... hmmm, it's considerably less. And if you do get an echo, it's more of a delay rather than a standing wave or modal ringing. A standing wave of 50ft, wouldn't that be below the audio range?? Would it have much effect on the spectrum of the source material like it does in a room?? Nah, it might be distracting, though.

But for some reason I can't explain, I think you wouldn't be able to get a decent mix when mixing outside.

just my opinion, anyways....

my gut agrees with you... my brain OTOH wants to believe

 

[themdla]

Now, if only we could get everyone to move their stereo systems out side before listening to the music...........

Alan

maybe, maybe not...

we spend all our time fighting the mix room due to standing waves distorting our perspective of bass response and reflections distorting mids and imaging then we acoustically treat that room (alot in smaller rooms) to get a flat response with no frequencies nulled or boosted then why not mix in an environment with a totally flat response? an environment with almost no percievable reflections?

i know i'm nutz