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  #1  
Old 11-10-2010, 08:59 PM
Gtrfinger Gtrfinger is offline
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Default To reflect or not to reflect, that is the question

Have heard conflicting advice on recording with reflective surfaces in room. Some say its good to get sound bouncing around the room. others say you want as dead a sound as possible, and add reverb later.

At Home I only have 2 choices; room with large mirror all across one wall (on sliding wardrobe) and room without.

For solo fingerstyle recording should I record in mirrored room or not?
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Old 11-10-2010, 10:30 PM
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Simply record in each room and see what sounds better to you.
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Old 11-11-2010, 11:18 PM
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What Rick said. Then take a couple of comforters, bed spreads, sheets...etc. and make your own acoustical set-up by hanging them across different areas of the room. You have to improvise and adapt to your surrounds, not let the surroundings dictate to you.
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Old 11-12-2010, 06:56 AM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Depends on the sounds of the room and whether you want that. Consider the song "Under the Milky Way" by The Church. HUGE reverb. Maybe more on the vocal than on the guitar. But it's a nice sounding reverb. Your room, on the other hand, might not sound as pretty.

Then there's "the wow factor." You get enamored of some wacky reflected sound that happens in your stairwell or some other place and everything has to be recorded there. On one or two instruments maybe, but be careful of "the yearbook effect." Open your high school yearbook if you've been out of high school more than 10 years and look at the hair styles and glasses. Not so cool now are they?

I was in radio for 17 year; on-air and in production. We could always tell when a company came out with a new audio effects box because production directors at radio stations EVERYWHERE were using it. The most obvious one I recall was the Eventide Max Headroom stutter effect.

So sure, there's a place for more room just as there is more cow bell. Just use it wisely, knowing that anyone at any time can go a little nuts.

Regards,

Ty Ford
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Old 11-12-2010, 11:22 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Originally Posted by Ty Ford View Post
but be careful of "the yearbook effect." Open your high school yearbook if you've been out of high school more than 10 years and look at the hair styles and glasses. Not so cool now are they?
Never heard it called that--love it, ty--i'm stealing it.
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Old 11-12-2010, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Gtrfinger View Post
Have heard conflicting advice on recording with reflective surfaces in room. Some say its good to get sound bouncing around the room. others say you want as dead a sound as possible, and add reverb later.

At Home I only have 2 choices; room with large mirror all across one wall (on sliding wardrobe) and room without.

For solo fingerstyle recording should I record in mirrored room or not?
Hi gtr-f…
The one surface I like 'hard' is the floor. Mids and highs are soaked up by carpets and drapes - low freq are not.

But it's pretty easy now days to place your recording rig in different rooms and experiment with some sample recordings.

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Old 11-12-2010, 03:14 PM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Never heard it called that--love it, ty--i'm stealing it.
There will be a slight licensing fee....a pack of phosphor bronze mediums for every 50 uses. Honor system.

Regards,

Ty
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Old 11-12-2010, 03:40 PM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Fair enough.
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Old 11-13-2010, 01:34 AM
alohachris alohachris is offline
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Default Aloha Hugh, Is That Da Beaver's Dad?

Aloha Hugh,

As I've put together my home digital recording signal chain in recent years & been learning how to use a DAW-based system at home, one thing has truly struck me: ROOM TREATMENT is as important now as it was when I first recorded on analog systems over 40 years ago! Maybe even more so because we're all recording at home now - not ideal spaces for recording in most instances.

But room treatment really must be a priority for you to have the flexibility you deserve in recording your music - any kind of music - & to maximize your investment in your signal chain.

Mr. Beaumont, I had a similar challenge to you in that my whole house has high windows & sliding glass doors all the way around on both floors with 20' high ceilings. So what to do, right? On a limited budget?

Instead of throwing futons, quilts, rugs, & blankets around, you really can make it look much better than that & still get the treatment you need to creatively use your space. Without upsetting the lifestyle of your home. It may take some experimentation to perfect your space & how to apply the treatment. But it is completely worth it!

Fran Guidry provided this link which proved invaluable.

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2009/...-on-the-cheap/

I found 703 locally, but it sometimes can be somewhat difficult to find. It really works!

I made 12 of his 4"x4'x4" 703 fiberglass broadband absorber panels & four 4"x4'x8' as well. I covered them in attractive, earth-toned, appropriately-healthy & safe fabrics. They are self-supporting & so no need to frame 'em out. I found the sweet spots in my large rooms & created little rooms within those rooms for recording both vocals & my acoustic instruments. I can easily store the panels when not in use.

I also hung double layers of mover's blankets (again with nice fabric on the room side stitched in) in front of all the glass surfaces in the main room where I record - 4" off the glass/walls, then another layer hung 4" in front of the first. I used bamboo from the rainforest around my home to create the "hanging rods."

I also bought some low end bass traps for the four corners of the rooms. I leave the floors the natural all-wood, Hawaiian ohiawood strips they are & either hang movers' blankets or a panel or two from the ceiling above the playing areas.

Total investment was under $1K. It's the first investment any would-be recordist should make, IMO. Of course, even four of those panels would work. even a single layer of mover's blankets can make a big difference!

My rooms look attractive with or without treatment. I can easily store the panels & roll up the blankets. It's easy to set up. Took some thought at first though.

This treatment has made the single most important positive contribution to recording my music than anything else in my signal chain. ANYTHING! The differences are dramatic.

I can place the panels in an infinite number of configurations to give me intimate solo voices or acoustic instruments. I can back them off to use the great wooden acoustics of the large rooms for doing a variety of miking patterns beyond the close miking I had to do before I treated the rooms.

It's given me the flexibility to add or subtract the room from the equation. And it maximizes the potential of all the great condenser mic/preamp combinations I've been acquiring for different applications. It's the key.

And....I am a complete amateur, with zero interest at all in making any money at all off the space or recording, only the truest recordings of my voice & acoustic instruments. It's all I've ever wanted.

To Mr. Hugh Beaumont, and anyone else who ever thought of saving room treatment for down the road, please think again. It will completely change your whole way of thinking about & doing the recording your music.

A Hui Hou!
alohachris

Last edited by alohachris; 11-13-2010 at 01:41 AM.
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  #10  
Old 11-13-2010, 08:46 AM
moon moon is offline
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I used to think that room treatment was an expensive luxury but recently I noticed a large jump in low frequency bass at the back of my room compared to the place where I usually sit. It's huge - some kind of standing wave I guess. I can't work out whether my usual monitoring position is a bass hole or of the back-of-the-room position is a bass amplifier but what I do know is that suddenly I've become much more interested in room treatment.
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Old 11-13-2010, 09:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gtrfinger View Post
Have heard conflicting advice on recording with reflective surfaces in room. Some say its good to get sound bouncing around the room. others say you want as dead a sound as possible, and add reverb later.

At Home I only have 2 choices; room with large mirror all across one wall (on sliding wardrobe) and room without.

For solo fingerstyle recording should I record in mirrored room or not?
Some of the confusion about this is due to the distinction between an Ideal tracking( recording) room and an Ideal mixing (control) room. Particularly now , with the upsurge of home recording, often with both the recording and mixing having to be done in a single room . As opposed to what might be available in a high end pro recording studio, where they would have a tracking or live room and a separate control room. In these cases the the tracking room often has a certain amount reverb designed into into it and the control room has less or more tightly controlled , designed in. The single room situation will usually end up being more of a compromise and ultimately less ideal, but as Alohachris said can definitely be improved with good room treatments.
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Old 11-13-2010, 09:36 AM
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Here is a pic of the single room situation I have in my basement. The black panels were purchased from GIK Acoustics but could be DIY with Owens Corning 703 insulation with cloth stretched over. basically 4 inches deep X 4 ft. tall X 2 ft. wide. Ideally I still should place a somewhat larger pannel ( an acoustic cloud) on the ceiling between the two track lights, over the mix position

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  #13  
Old 11-13-2010, 09:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Here is a pic of the single room situation I have in my basement. The black panels were purchased from GIK Acoustics but could be DIY with Owens Corning 703 insulation with cloth stretched over. basically 4 inches deep X 4 ft. tall X 2 ft. wide. Ideally I still should place a somewhat larger pannel ( an acoustic cloud) on the ceiling between the two track lights, over the mix position

I use similar panels and put several on the ceiling which help quite a bit also
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Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs

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Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love
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A voice from heavens above
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