Tracking room question

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famous beagle

famous beagle

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Ok, I've got my control room set up now with the absortive panels, traps, and the cloud, and it's doing great. Now for the tracking room.

I've converted part of the garage into the recording/rehearsal room, and I need to make it suitable for recording. I really don't care about how it sounds for rehearsal (and we've already done sound leakage tests and we're not in any danger of disturbing neighbors).

Pretty much all the acoustic treatment info I've read around here has been dealing with the control room for the most part, but I haven't seen much on what the tracking room should have. Right now, it's a concrete floor covered wall to wall with rugs and nothing on the walls. So there's a lot of nasty reflections banging around.

Can someone point in the right direction for where I can learn about treatment for tracking rooms? I know everybody's room is different, but I don't even know where to start.

The room is approximately 10x18 ft with 8ft ceilings.

Thanks for any help.
 
Beagle,

> Can someone point in the right direction for where I can learn about treatment for tracking rooms? <

The basic goals are the same for a small control room and a small tracking room. You need bass traps to control the low frequency response and reduce boominess, and mid/high frequency absorption to tame excess ambience and avoid blatant echoes. You also need mid/high absorption on walls that are near to instruments or microphones to avoid comb filtering, and likewise on the ceiling over the drums for the same reason.

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Beagle,

> Can someone point in the right direction for where I can learn about treatment for tracking rooms? <

The basic goals are the same for a small control room and a small tracking room. You need bass traps to control the low frequency response and reduce boominess, and mid/high frequency absorption to tame excess ambience and avoid blatant echoes. You also need mid/high absorption on walls that are near to instruments or microphones to avoid comb filtering, and likewise on the ceiling over the drums for the same reason.

--Ethan
Click to expand...

Thanks much Ethan! :)
 
Ethan Winer said:
Beagle,

> Can someone point in the right direction for where I can learn about treatment for tracking rooms? <

The basic goals are the same for a small control room and a small tracking room. You need bass traps to control the low frequency response and reduce boominess, and mid/high frequency absorption to tame excess ambience and avoid blatant echoes. You also need mid/high absorption on walls that are near to instruments or microphones to avoid comb filtering, and likewise on the ceiling over the drums for the same reason.

--Ethan
Click to expand...

Another question here: I read up a bit more on your website, and I noticed that you said "you cannot overemphasize the importance of having a reflective surface on the floor when recording" (or something to that effect). My garage has a concrete floor. Would I be better off leaving it as such and just treating the walls and ceiling, or would it be better to cover it with rugs or carpet?

Thanks
 
Beagle,

> My garage has a concrete floor. Would I be better off leaving it as such <

I'd leave it, but that works only if you instead treat the ceiling. You don't want two large opposing surfaces that are both bare and reflective. The advantage of treating the ceiling is you can put 1 to 4 inch thick rigid fiberglass up there. You can't use anything that absorbent on the floor!

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Beagle,

> My garage has a concrete floor. Would I be better off leaving it as such <

I'd leave it, but that works only if you instead treat the ceiling. You don't want two large opposing surfaces that are both bare and reflective. The advantage of treating the ceiling is you can put 1 to 4 inch thick rigid fiberglass up there. You can't use anything that absorbent on the floor!

--Ethan
Click to expand...

Ok ... this is doable. However, what portion of the ceiling do I need to treat? Is it basically over the areas that have mics? Or is it the more the merrier?

And what about the walls? I understand the reason for the placement of things in a control room, because they're based off the listening positions. But I don't really understand on what to base the posititioning in recording rooms.

Thanks much for your help.
 
Beagle,

> Is it basically over the areas that have mics? Or is it the more the merrier? <

Definitely wherever you'll use overhead mikes, and probably other places too. One common arrangement is to treat the entire center portion of the ceiling, leaving a band 1 to 3 feet wide around the perimiter.

> And what about the walls? <

Your biggest problems will be obvious echoes between opposing parallel surfaces, and comb filtering from walls near performers and microphones. You don't need to treat 100 percent of those surfaces. Maybe 50 percent is a good start. I like stripes and checkerboard patterns, versus covering large portions in some places and leaving large portions bare in others.

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Beagle,

> Is it basically over the areas that have mics? Or is it the more the merrier? <

Definitely wherever you'll use overhead mikes, and probably other places too. One common arrangement is to treat the entire center portion of the ceiling, leaving a band 1 to 3 feet wide around the perimiter.

> And what about the walls? <

Your biggest problems will be obvious echoes between opposing parallel surfaces, and comb filtering from walls near performers and microphones. You don't need to treat 100 percent of those surfaces. Maybe 50 percent is a good start. I like stripes and checkerboard patterns, versus covering large portions in some places and leaving large portions bare in others.

--Ethan
Click to expand...

Ok, and should the stripes or checkerboards be the same on each opposing wall, or just the opposite. In other words, if on wall A you had panel-space-panel-space, should you on opposing wall B have the same thing or should you have space-panel-space-panel? Or does it matter?

And when you say cover the entire center portion of the ceiling, do you mean down to the last inch, or could you have, say 6 inches in between each panel or so?

Thanks again so much for all your help. This should do it! :)
 
look for the picture's of ethan's room on the real traps site.
 
Beags,

> should the stripes or checkerboards be the same on each opposing wall, or just the opposite. <

For a live room I doubt it matters. I'd put absorbing opposite reflecting. But in a control room, on the side walls from your ears forward, I'd make both sides the same even though it means the same surface types are opposite.

> when you say cover the entire center portion of the ceiling, do you mean down to the last inch, or could you have, say 6 inches in between each panel or so? <

I doubt six inches matters much, but it might look silly. :eek:

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
I doubt six inches matters much
Click to expand...
Never doubt that six inches matters much, Ethan! (Oh, were you guys talking about ceiling panels? Sorry.)

By the way, Ethan, has anybody ever told you that in your avatar photo you look a lot like a villain in a James Bond movie?
 
Haps,

> Never doubt that six inches matters much, Ethan! (Oh, were you guys talking about ceiling panels? Sorry.) <

You should be sorry! :D

> has anybody ever told you that in your avatar photo you look a lot like a villain in a James Bond movie? <

Really? Which one? Also, that photo is pretty small. Here's a clearer one:

avatar.jpg


Oops, maybe the smaller version is better after all. :eek:

--Ethan
 
Ethan Winer said:
Really? Which one?
Click to expand...
Ernst Stravo Blofeld. The villain with the cat. He was played by several different actors over the years, but I can't find an online photo of the one that your avatar reminds me of in which he's holding the cat. Imagine a combination of these two images.
 

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