The evolution of a fingerstyle recording

[ptr]

I think the sound is a little bit clearer on the 40 dB recording using the same volume on my stereo/headphones but that is to be expected I guess.

Do you think the noise in the last two recordings is mainly caused by my (lively) room?

Thanks,
Peter

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ptr

I
Do you think the noise in the last two recordings is mainly caused by my (lively) room?

Room acoustics and noise are really 2 separate things. Acoustics is about the reflections in your room, as well a resonances. Noise is just noise, anything from chair squeeks to computer fan noise to cars going by.

[ptr]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Room acoustics and noise are really 2 separate things. Acoustics is about the reflections in your room, as well a resonances. Noise is just noise, anything from chair squeeks to computer fan noise to cars going by.

Yeah sorry if I am not making much sense, I am overthinking things and should probably get some sleep soon.
I get that you need good acoustics when you record and I do hear a sound that is fatiguing on my ears, I think I just need to be patient for now and spend some more time to experiment.

Thanks for your support!

[rick-slo]

A live room will certainly allow whatever noise sources there are to be more of an issue in your recordings. When I walk into my room that has the acoustic dampening treatment of the walls and ceiling there is quite a remarkable damping of sounds. It's almost eerie and unsettling.
If your serious about your recorded sound you will need to attend to room acoustics. It does not really cost much to do though your room will look a bit odd (i.e. get it past the wife).

[ptr]

I will definately work on room treatment and test my way forward, hopefully to better and quieter recordings..

In the meantime i'll try to find a good spot in my room/other rooms in my apartment..

Peter

[ptr]

I'm now working on a plan for treating my room, going to put in some (mid/high dampening) panels tonight and start evaluating the room ringing.
I also have a measurement kit that I can use so I might post my room's frequency response should I get that far, I don't think I have a big problem
with standing waves but I may just have gotten used to how the room sounds so still want to check if I have any bumps.

This should be fun, I'm hoping!

I'll be using below pic as sort of a guideline for placing the panels, though I won't do all the walls but instead work my way out from the front corners in the room and maybe dampen the side walls a little bit also.

[ukejon]

Noise in the form of background hum or hiss on recordings comes into rooms in so many different ways: through furnace systems, electrical systems, plumbing, big appliances (refrigerator), computers, road or nature noise from outside (I live next to Lake Michigan and those waves are an issue for me recording), and so on. So once the reflections are dealt with to your liking, treating the source of unwanted noise may be step two.

[ChuckS]

Where will you be positioned when recording and where will the mics be?

What material, and thickness, are you using for the sound absorption panels?

[runamuck]

In case you're unaware of this:

http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[ptr]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Where will you be positioned when recording and where wil the mics be?

What material, and thickness, are you using for the sound absorption
panels?

Right now I have a sofa mid-way into the room where i'll be sitting and the mic's will be placed in front of it, I also have floor standing hifi speakers/amps in the front of the room,
it's a dedicated room and nothing is really set in stone so i'll move around until I find some good spot(s) for recording.

The material i'll be using for the panels is 10 cm (~3.93") thick mineral wool (stone wool to be exact) from a brand called Knauf.

[ptr]

Originally Posted by ukejon

... So once the reflections are dealt with to your liking, treating the source of unwanted noise may be step two.

That's my train of thought at the moment, I know it's usually advised to start working with bass panels as they're even broader absorbers but my plan is to start small/cheap and build from there.

I have a feeling that the room is actually "pretty good" in that the room is not completely square, have a slanted ceiling and I don't experience huge bass problems when listening back on the stereo - so only treating the reflexes might actually go a long way. I've had previous rooms that felt much more problematic..

[ptr]

Originally Posted by runamuck

In case you're unaware of this:

http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

Thank you, this looks like a good read.

[ptr]

I have three isolation slabs in place now, two in the front corners and one on the right side wall, from clapping in the room I can tell the echo has been dramatically reduced,
going to get three more and put another two in the front corners to hopefully treat some lower frequencies and the last one will be against the clear sidewall.

After this i'll start measuring and also do some test recordings..

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

A live room will certainly allow whatever noise sources there are to be more of an issue in your recordings. When I walk into my room that has the acoustic dampening treatment of the walls and ceiling there is quite a remarkable damping of sounds. It's almost eerie and unsettling.
If your serious about your recorded sound you will need to attend to room acoustics. It does not really cost much to do though your room will look a bit odd (i.e. get it past the wife).

Thanks for my first laugh of the day!

Regards,

Ty Ford

[ptr]

For the sake of completeness here is now a picture of the finished panels..
There is 6 in total each with 3.93" insulation...two behind each speaker and one on the side walls.

I would've liked to use my room mode analyzer kit to measure before/after but the software is windows only unfortunately so I'd need to use something like parallells to get it running on my macbook.