Small Studio acoustics issue

moondoggie999 · #1 11-01-2015, 11:36 AM

Hey All~

So I thought I would run this by you folks as I am always amazed with some of the solutions and advice I have received at the AGF.

I am an amateur hobbyist at recording my songs, bear with me as I describe what's been going on...

So I used to have a 350 sq.ft. teaching studio that I also recorded in, but with the recession a few years ago, I had to build and move into a small 100 sq.ft. studio in my garage. I mention this because the recordings I did in the larger studio turned out quite acceptable with almost no effort on my part. The smaller room in my garage is driving me a little bonkers trying to get a well balanced sound recorded.

When I first moved into the smaller studio, I had it filled with lots of books, cd's, guitars, furniture, stuff on the walls etc., and the recordings were slightly off from my previous efforts at the larger studio, not too bad I thought, but then I sold a bunch of guitars, donated or sold all of the books and CD's, and took almost everything off the walls. The result is that the "room sound/echo/etc" I am getting when I record is now too much. I have got to figure out a (hopefully cheap) solution to reduce the room reflections I am getting.

The room itself is a little over 9 feet high, and is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long. It's mainly drywall with carpet on the floor.

My plan at the moment is to hang a couple of blankets at the far end from the ceiling, spaced about a foot apart from each other (and from the back wall) and see what happens. I have a reference recording that I did in the old larger studio years ago, and one I just did a couple days ago. After I hang the blankets I plan to do another recording to compare to the first two and see what happens. Hopefully I won't experience any phase cancelation (?) as the mic will still be about 6-8 feet from the blankets.

What advice might you have for me?

rick-slo · #2 11-01-2015, 12:20 PM

First off, there has been much discussion of this topic. You would do well to spend a few hours reading old threads.
More specifically, blankets won't do. Use some acoustic panels (preferably 4" thick) and perhaps bass traps also.
For example of products out there visit: http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS...nels--100.html

Sarasin · #3 11-01-2015, 12:27 PM

Reclutter your room would be cheapest. I've shipped a lot of work laptops over the years and I save the foam padding from the boxes. Hang sheets or blankets also work.

ChuckS · #4 11-01-2015, 12:54 PM

Sheets, blankets, and carpet will absorb the highs but not the lows. if the ATS panels are too pricey you could make your own using 4" thick OC703 or Roxul Rockboard 60 (or 80) insulation. The ATS website has lots of info on DIY materials.

runamuck · #5 11-01-2015, 12:55 PM

Google, "Ethan Winer".

Rudy4 · #6 11-02-2015, 07:48 AM

If your preference was the old sound of the room, why not clutter it up again to get that ideal sound back? Just a thought...

MikeBmusic · #7 11-02-2015, 10:09 AM

Second vote for ATS. Foam, blankets, etc will help with slapback echo (that's what you hear when you clap your hands in an empty room) but won't do anything to remove the mud you get from low frequency build up.

RRuskin · #8 11-02-2015, 10:54 AM

I've found that the most efficient and inexpensive way to tame a room like yours is to treat all the corners/creases with R-19 insulation wrapped in canvas. Measure each area, cut the R-19 to length. Wrap it in several layers of canvass and staple shut. Then staple the package so that it runs the length and straddles corner/crease rather than packing it in. Doing this effectively doubles the thickness of the batting capability when dealing with unwanted echos. I would do all of this work outside, with a particle mask, and wearing throw away clothes. You don't want stray fiberglass inside the room, in your lungs, or embedding in your skin.

MikeBmusic · #9 11-02-2015, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RRuskin

I've found that the most efficient and inexpensive way to tame a room like yours is to treat all the corners/creases with R-19 insulation wrapped in canvas. Measure each area, cut the R-19 to length. Wrap it in several layers of canvass and staple shut. Then staple the package so that it runs the length and straddles corner/crease rather than packing it in. Doing this effectively doubles the thickness of the batting capability when dealing with unwanted echos. I would do all of this work outside, with a particle mask, and wearing throw away clothes. You don't want stray fiberglass inside the room, in your lungs, or embedding in your skin.

That's why using rockwool is much more practical (and the sound absorption is better, too).

rick-slo · #10 11-02-2015, 02:22 PM

After putting up my ATS absorption panels I ran a hepa air purifier in the room for a couple of weeks.

sdelsolray · #11 11-02-2015, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moondoggie999

Hey All~

So I thought I would run this by you folks as I am always amazed with some of the solutions and advice I have received at the AGF.

I am an amateur hobbyist at recording my songs, bear with me as I describe what's been going on...

So I used to have a 350 sq.ft. teaching studio that I also recorded in, but with the recession a few years ago, I had to build and move into a small 100 sq.ft. studio in my garage. I mention this because the recordings I did in the larger studio turned out quite acceptable with almost no effort on my part. The smaller room in my garage is driving me a little bonkers trying to get a well balanced sound recorded.

When I first moved into the smaller studio, I had it filled with lots of books, cd's, guitars, furniture, stuff on the walls etc., and the recordings were slightly off from my previous efforts at the larger studio, not too bad I thought, but then I sold a bunch of guitars, donated or sold all of the books and CD's, and took almost everything off the walls. The result is that the "room sound/echo/etc" I am getting when I record is now too much. I have got to figure out a (hopefully cheap) solution to reduce the room reflections I am getting.

The room itself is a little over 9 feet high, and is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long. It's mainly drywall with carpet on the floor.

My plan at the moment is to hang a couple of blankets at the far end from the ceiling, spaced about a foot apart from each other (and from the back wall) and see what happens. I have a reference recording that I did in the old larger studio years ago, and one I just did a couple days ago. After I hang the blankets I plan to do another recording to compare to the first two and see what happens. Hopefully I won't experience any phase cancelation (?) as the mic will still be about 6-8 feet from the blankets.

What advice might you have for me?

Adding eight to twelve 4' x 2' x 4" Corning 703 hard panels will tame that room - close to deaden it. Hang at corners, celling and walls with a couple left over to act as gobos. You will likely find that you will need to add a bit of reverb to your recordings to add some space back in, but it will be good controlled space and not a honky small room space.

moondoggie999 · #12 11-03-2015, 12:35 PM

Everybody, thank you so much for all the responses, I always learn so much in this place!

And now on to the experiments...

clintj · #13 11-04-2015, 08:01 AM

I'm fighting a similar issue after moving to a roughly 25% larger room. Clutter helps!

I figured out from experimentation that I needed to treat the wall opposite my drum kit when recording, so I installed a few of those MDF organizers with fabric drawers and loaded up the empty cubes with some books and other stuff. That knocked out a large part of the tendency of the bass drum to bounce off that wall and get really muddy sounding. I need a few of the rockwool panels still for acoustic guitar and vocal work, but it's already much better sounding.

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