Recording Studio and All Black Blankets.

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pellouch

New member
Hi - trying to setup a home recording studio in my garage (I have a three car garage, finally cleared out the third spot -- hoping to convert it to a recording studio for my budding artist kids).

I have read online that moving blankets make great sound absorbing surfaces. So I would like to carpet the concrete floor, and hang moving blankets on the walls and overhead (ceiling). I would like to get all black blankets. Not black with white thread, but 100% all black. I looked on Amazon, and the only thing I could find was black with white thread.

I don't care what color the other side is - could be flamingo pink for all i care (won't see it).

Any suggestions here?

-phil
 
pellouch said:
Any suggestions here?
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Yes, don't carpet the floor. A hard, reflective floor is what you want. Either hard wood or cement. Many studios are going with cement these days. But only throw a couple of rugs here and there, like under the drums.

And, I hate to tell you this but moving blankets do not make great absorbers. They do absorb sound, but not low frequencies, which is 99% of the problem in 99% of rooms. I would read up on proper bass traps before spending a penny. You need to control the low end, which involves bass traps in as many corners as you can cover, as well as first reflection points, above your listening area, etc.....There's a lot more to sound treatment than just throwing blankets and carpets around. In fact, those 2 things are contra-indicated.

If you use the wrong materials, like carpet on the wall (believe it or not, people actually do this), moving blankets, or anything with the word "foam" in it, you'll think you did a good thing because you'll clap your hands and hear less echo. But all that did was cut your high end and mids, so now you have a bass-y box-y sounding room, generally.
 
A reflective floor and an obsorpive (is that a word) ceiling is generally how it's done. I'm not sure of the scientific explanation (I've heard a few different ones), but one reason is probably because it would be hard to walk on bass traps. :D

To expand on what I said in my first post, it's not about "muffling" everything. When we first start out, we tend to think it's all about making a room "dead". I know I did. But it's really about controlling frequencies (99% of the time bass frequencies) and standing waves (there's something to Google for you :) ). It's not majorly complicated, but aslo not as simple as just throwing up blankets and carpets. That's why I said that it's worth doing a little research before spending your money the wrong way. :cool:
 
RAMI said:
Yes, don't carpet the floor. A hard, reflective floor is what you want. Either hard wood or cement. Many studios are going with cement these days. But only throw a couple of rugs here and there, like under the drums.
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I have carpet on half of my studio floor and wood on the other half...but underneath is a really smooth/solid cement floor, and I've thought about going with just the cement, since it's not a heck of a lot different than a hardwood floor....but I just can't get past the notion that it would look like a studio at Home Depot. :D

I think if anything, I would just do all wood at some point....I just like the look of a nice wood floor, but it's not cheap, and for those on a budget, the cement floor might be the ticket. They have stains you can apply to the cement to give it a marble-like finish, and then I guess you wax the crap out it, so it can look pretty nice if you wanted to go that far.
I dunno'...when I get motivated to redo the floor, I'll have to think about it some more.
 
Yeah, nice hardwood is nice. But, in my last place, my studio was in the garage. I sealed it with a nice grey and bought these nice shiny sprinkles that actually made it look pretty good.
 
I guess you then just tossed rugs down as needed...?

For me it's also about the tactile aspect. I tend to spend most of the year barefoot and with flip-flops when inside and when working in the studio, and the semi-carpet/wood floor is a bit easier and warmer on the feet. That damn cement is ice-cold no matter what, since it's just a slab on the ground.
 
pellouch said:
I would like to get all black blankets. Not black with white thread, but 100% all black. I looked on Amazon, and the only thing I could find was black with white thread.

I don't care what color the other side is - could be flamingo pink for all i care (won't see it).

Any suggestions here?

-phil
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72" x 60" Mover's Blanket

Put 2 of them back to back and you can even slip some real acoustic material (OC 703 for example) in there.

I use these in my portable gobos.
 
I saw those mover blankets advertised at the local Harbor Frieght this week. $10 each, I should definitely grab a couple for treatment on the wall behind me when I'm using a condensor mic.

Wondering why the OP said 'all black. no white thread', though ...:confused:
 
miroslav said:
I guess you then just tossed rugs down as needed...?
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Yes, that's exactly what I did.

OP, I'm sure there will be a few people that will come in and say they use blankets, and I'm sure they have their uses for separation and tracking in general. But it's not the proper way to treat a LISTENING room. It's not a bad thing to have for tracking, but you need bass traps in the corners, first reflection points, over your listening area, etc....The proper way to treat a MIXING room is not with blankets or carpets. A tracking room is another story, but I'm assuming you're using your room for mixing as well?
 
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mjbphotos said:
I saw those mover blankets advertised at the local Harbor Frieght this week. $10 each, I should definitely grab a couple for treatment on the wall behind me when I'm using a condensor mic.

Wondering why the OP said 'all black. no white thread', though ...:confused:
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Because white thread removes the groove.
 
I just wanted to make sure you realize that the packing blankets or any of the other things discussed in this thread will not keep the sound from leaving the garage and bothering the neighbors. It will only make the inside of the room sound better.

I would also caution against an entirely black room. I tried it with my first studio, it was terrible. First, you can never get enough light in a place like that because most of the light in a room is reflected off the walls and ceiling. It also takes on a heavy, slightly oppressive feel.

After a few weeks, I had someone come in and paint the studio brighter colors. If you really want black, make sure you leave the ceiling white, just to make it easy to light the room..
 
Instead of hanging the blankets against the wall, i would suggest putting up some PVC pipe and hanging the blankets like curtains on rings, spaced slightly away from the wall to create a bit of dead air gap. You can even even create an impromptu vocal booth in this hanging blankets way. And the blankets that are separating the studio area from the rest of the garage can be slid out of the way on the overhead piping in case you occasionally need the space for other uses.
 
A three car garage shouldn't actually need a whole lot of treatment. It's a luxuriously large space compared to most of what we end up working with.

Unless, of course, you're actually talking about walling in that third stall to create a separate room, in which case it will end up a bit too small, but you'll have much better options than packing blankets for treatment.
 
ashcat_lt said:
A three car garage shouldn't actually need a whole lot of treatment. It's a luxuriously large space compared to most of what we end up working with.

Unless, of course, you're actually talking about walling in that third stall to create a separate room, in which case it will end up a bit too small, but you'll have much better options than packing blankets for treatment.
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I am guessing that this is a temporary 'practice room' - kids will eventually grow up and move out. Meanwhile, the other two garage bays will have cars, lawnmowers, etc etc.
 
A tracking room might not, but a mixing room needs trapping no matter how big it is. 4 corners, first reflection points at the very least. But hey, go out and buy all the "blankets" you think you need. :D
 
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Throw a rug down , put some blankets up , and do some recording, if you keep going long enough you then can start learning what you hear, or don't hear in your room and then treat it accordingly, or don't.
 
mjbphotos said:
I saw those mover blankets advertised at the local Harbor Frieght this week. $10 each, I should definitely grab a couple for treatment on the wall behind me when I'm using a condensor mic.

Wondering why the OP said 'all black. no white thread', though ...:confused:
Click to expand...



I had seen those as well, Mike.
And wounder to myself how many post were gonna show up about them.
 
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