Puddle of Bass

[rayc]

After playing fairly loud electric guitar, bass or a mix for a while my little space develops a Puddle of Bass.
I can turn all the gear off yet within the room there's still a bass presence, often with a soft throb. This seems to bleed into the corridor but not upstairs or into the front room.
I don't have any traps etc but did have the room reasonably sorted by placement of double heavy curtains, large shapes to break waves, book shelves etc.
After a little rearrangement the puddle seems deeper.
Is it just auditory faitgue, delusions, aural illusions or bad design?

 

[Ripthorn]

It is inadequate absorption. The curtains won't do hardly anything for bass, and if you have strong modes, then the diffusion won't help much either. What you need are some thick (4"-6") panels of mineral wool or rigid fiberglass placed so that they straddle the corners of your room (wall-wall and ceiling-wall corners). This should help preven the buildup of bass energy in your room. You can check out someplace like atsacoustics.com for raw materials, or there are a bunch of suppliers of pre-made panels.

 

[rayc]

Ripthorn,
I'm aware of the need for traps etcto soak up the bass & I'll look into the supplier you mentioned.
Is what I hear - the long hanging & softly pulsing bass after the event (and I mean 20min - 1/2 an hour later) - a common experience?

 

[Dani Pace]

Ripthorn,

Is what I hear - the long hanging & softly pulsing bass after the event (and I mean 20min - 1/2 an hour later) - a common experience?

I don't thing a room resonating that long is at all common. Are you sure the sound you are hearing is real and not some sort of low ringing in your ears? Ear fatigue from playing loud or from long periods of exposure can cause us to hear things that are not really there or not hear things that really are.

Another thought is that you may be hearing a viberation or resonance from some appliance elsewhere in your house. Sometimes viberations travel through floor or wall cavities or through ductwork. If this is the case it may be hard to stop. Finding the source is the first step in stopping the noise.

 

[Freudian Slip]

After playing fairly loud electric guitar, bass or a mix for a while my little space develops a Puddle of Bass.
I can turn all the gear off yet within the room there's still a bass presence, often with a soft throb. This seems to bleed into the corridor but not upstairs or into the front room.
I don't have any traps etc but did have the room reasonably sorted by placement of double heavy curtains, large shapes to break waves, book shelves etc.
After a little rearrangement the puddle seems deeper.
Is it just auditory faitgue, delusions, aural illusions or bad design?

Don't worry about it. You're insane. that's all

I have heard A/C and heater units make air buffeting before. It sounds throby and is very low, like you feel it. If you have ever rolled down just the back windows in a large truck, car or suv, you have likely heard what I am talking about. More of a fluctualtion in air pressure than anything.

F.S.

 

[Ripthorn]

20 min to half an hour is not at all common. Acoustic energy shouldn't hang around for more than several seconds. It could very well be that there is something like F.S. was talking about. You might want to check your seals around windows and the like and also think about a sound lock with a good heavy door and possibly magnetic seals if nothing else works (the heavy door with magnetic seals can be very expensive, so put that suggestion on the back burner until everything else is done to remedy the problem). If you have any kind of analyzer function on your computer, hook it up, excite the room and watch the results. If the mic picks it up (assuming your mic works in the frequency range of interest), what frequency is it?

 

[Slowjett]

Some studios been having problems with Bass players from years past. Long since dead they come back to haunt you for not setting them in the mix right. its really freaky man.

 

[Lt. Bob]

20 min to half an hour is not at all common.

I don't think it's even possible in any sort of normal room.
I'm betting that as you mix/track .... you get extremely focused and simply become far more aware of something that's there at other times. An AC ..... frig .... maybe something in the neighborhood.
Whatever it is ...... I just can't believe that it's a resonance that's ringing for that long.
Even big echoey arenas will have a decay measured in seconds or maybe a minute or so at most.

 

[Supercreep]

Are you sure the sound you are hearing is real and not some sort of low ringing in your ears? Ear fatigue from playing loud or from long periods of exposure can cause us to hear things that are not really there or not hear things that really are.

My thoughts too.....