Where do I need bass traps?

[Rachael_Rosenbaum]

Hello everyone! I’m a folk singer-songwriter, and currently in the process of putting together a simple home recording studio. The room is small but with a few quirky corners. If anyone could advise me on where I need bass traps and about how long/deep they need to be, it would be a tremendous help!! Here are photos of all of the corners in the room.

 

[Rachael_Rosenbaum]

Here are the rest that it didn’t let me post:

 

[rob aylestone]

I'm a little concerned that your room treatment so far has been carried out in an attractive, but very random fashion, with pretty, but quite poor performing product. You have fell into the trap of cart before the horse.

First thing is the usual recommendation that bass traps go in the corners - because a 90 degree corner is where longer wavelengths converge and add extra bass (perceived by your ears) that you really don't have - which means you mix to sounds not just from the speakers but reflected from the corners, a little like a lens. The pretty tiles do do something - they absorb a little right up the top. I actually have some in my studio because I get a little top end reflected across the room as it has a strange shape. They do work - but there are about twenty either side, facing each other. Putting a couple of tiles up on an otherwise blank hard wall frankly does bugger all! You need to consider the wall area, and the tile area. The thin 25mm tiles let most energy below 8K or so go straight through and bounce back - so if your tiles stopped 100% of the sound, your few dotted around would still be removing what? 10% of what that wall reflects? Pointless as they do nowhere near 100% absorption.

First thing you need to do is listen to your room. play back some pink noise, stick a flat response mic where your head will be and see what it hears. Your test will reveal where the room 'components' gang up and change the sound. If you have lots of extra bass, then roll up some duvets and put them in the corners floor to ceiling and repeat the test. Does the bass response reduce - look at the HF too - see what the bodge treatment does. Apart from pink noise, play some music you know very well. Listen to what the duvets do, and where they are less effective and where they really do something. If you find the room is boomy, and the duvets reveal it is two corners, then that is when to buy proper traps to reduce it more than the duvets could. This means proper traps. those triangular corner foam things are NOT traps, just more HF foam.

The sound of your room is vital to the selection. sit in it and clap. what do you hear?

Duvets on boom mic stands in a T shape, with the duvets draped over will let you hear what each part of your room does. All the photos say is its a squarish room with a few obstructions - covered with some pretty shapes that do nothing to modify the sound - start with your ears and try to work out what you are hearing. If you want to really understand what the room is doing, take the speakers outside on a wind free day and record the pink noise there. Bring them back to the room and repeat, adjusting nothing and keeping distances of speakers and mic the same. Outside with no reflections will look very different. The difference is your room. Then you will be able to say I have a big peak at 55Hz, a little one at 330Hz and another at 3.5K ajnd something at 13K. Your little thin tiles might fix that one, but probably not the others.

 

[mjbphotos]

Yes, to enforce what Rob said, forget the foam tiles, they do little. I have some 2" ones in my room in areas where I can't put more rockwool traps, but they really don't do much. 4" thick ( at least) rockwool or compressed fiberglass is what is needed for corners and real absorption of reflections.

 

[BillNora]

I recommand you to follow this free and complete course on acoustic analysis and treatment before doing anything, so you can optimize and really control your room's acoustic
It's on youtube: iit Roorkee
Acoustic materials and metamaterials
the playlist is here

 

[Rachael_Rosenbaum]

Hello all. Thanks for taking the time to respond. The foam tiles were not meant as bass traps... But meanwhile I have found a great article that was very helpful. Thanks again.

 

[rob aylestone]

Which one? A sound on Sound article, or one by a twelve year old? Always check before spending money.

 

[Pinky]

Hello all. Thanks for taking the time to respond. The foam tiles were not meant as bass traps... But meanwhile I have found a great article that was very helpful. Thanks again.

I would get the equipment where you want first, then perform a few test recordings to see what issue you might have. It looks like you'll be sitting close to your monitors for mixing, so unless playing back mixes at a very loud level or at distance, the amount of treatment needed is likely minimal.

Treatment is done when needed. Micing close to the sound source (guitar, mouth) removes a lot of the ambient influence. If you're trying to shape a "room reverb" sound, then yes you'll need to tackle this head on. But if you're just trying to capture a clean recording with the guitar/voice recorded close to the mic(s), then you can do that with little treatment and add reverb during the mixing stage.

Fwiw, this is a fairly small room and with only your musical gear in the room you are likely going to need something. Those tiles on the wall might be just enough to reduce obvious reflections. Again, doing test recordings and taking it from there is the best strategy. At minimum, I'd probably put some tiles on the ceiling as well.

 

[rob aylestone]

I’d estimate half of my studios had no trapping because it wasnt needed, while the others needed it badly.