Recording in an empty....

[A7X]

Hey I was wondering if recording in a empty concret room would make a difference in sound, well obviously since theirs no carpet or things to bounce off.
But has anyone tryed it before and recommend not to?

Thanks..

 

[TragikRemix]

really, its better than some other situations..

my sit. is a room in a basement, with thin sheetrock walls, held up by two by fours, with nothing on the other side of the wall.. no insulation, no sheetrock on the other side, nadda.

really a crappy ass room. i think i'd be better off with concrete.

 

[littledog]

You didn't say how big it was.

But you could have some very strong early reflections that may end up comb-filtering the sound. If that is a "cool effect" that you are going for, than fine. But if you don't want that - you'll have to start thinking of room treatment.

The smaller the room (including ceiling height), the more severe the phenomenon.

 

[ofajen]

Hey I was wondering if recording in a empty concret room would make a difference in sound, well obviously since theirs no carpet or things to bounce off.
But has anyone tryed it before and recommend not to?

Thanks..

Now you might be talking about a basement with a plywood subfloor ceiling, which will be less extreme than my case. My studio is in a storm cellar, with 8 inches of concrete in the ceiling and interior walls and a 12 inch concrete foundation on the outer walls. When I first moved in, I hooked up the bass amp and played in it with no treatment. the bass modes were so strong, I couldn't even tell what notes I was playing, except by looking at the fretboard!

High frequency reflections are easy to tame with diffusion and a little absorbtion. It's the monster bass modes that are the real tough nut to crack in such a room, especially the vertical modes if the ceiling is low. OTOH, once you do, you can have a really quiet tracking room, since the concrete does a good job of keeping outside noise out. You will need to carefully treat your doors to keep up, or they will be the weak link that allows outside noise in. Of course, if you still have a plywood subfloor type of ceiling, it won't be that much different from a framed room with drywall as far as exterior noise levels and your vertical bass modes won't be nearly as bad.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[A7X]

Yeh, I think my best bet would be is just to try it, and i'm not sure about the roof of the room. But it is a big a room...

 

[seismetr0n]

a friend of mine routinely records in the venue where he runs sound.. and his recording turn out very good..

 

[Dani Pace]

Be prepaired for some really boomy bass. Bare concrete will bounce the bass around quite a bit.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

i know someone who tracked drums for an album he did with his band in an abandoned warehouse...talk about natural reverb