Musicians Collaboration Studio
How To => Studio Design Tips => Topic started by: digitaldrummer on December 18, 2006, 09:43:46 PM
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An older article but I ran across it again and realized I was still doing some things wrong (acoustically). Read this and you can make some big improvements for free. I rearranged my room and I am seeing (er, hearing) immediate improvements.
http://www.realtraps.com/art_vibes.htm
Mike
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Thanks Mike.
IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE
I visit many audio newsgroups and web forums every day, and every day I see people who are dissatisfied with their mixes ask what gear they should buy next. I am convinced that the most important "gear" you can own is proper room acoustics. After all, who cares about 0.01% versus 0.001% distortion, 192 KHz sample rates, or jitter that's 120 dB below the music, when the frequency response in your mixing room varies by 30 dB or more? I hope this brief overview of acoustic treatment inspires you to treat your room. You will be astonished by how much your mixes improve.
Sad but true......
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I am in a small room. 9' X 10.5'. Did you know with a 12" sub it takes 10' to form the bass wave? I downsized my sub to 10". I also installed acoustic foam. Next I need to install some bass traps.
I had Patty walk around the room with a mirror on the walls and anywhere I could see the monitors reflection from the mixing station, I treated with foam.
My room amplifies 62hz. I can reduce that by by making a "T" with a boom stand and hanging a blanket on it. I moved it around the corners and back wall until the I saw the 62hz even out. That ended up being at a 45 Degree angle in one of the corners that was treated.
You fix the room, you fix the mix!
Nick
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Heh... I reckon it'd be a lot of trouble to fix my room. It's about the shape of what's drawn below, that's front on, with an corner desk where marked. I'm sure it doesn't take mu imagination to see how that's screw mixing up a bit. :P
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I can't even fathom where to start in my new room ... well I guess I need the gear all in here first! LOL For now I'm likely not going to do very much to the room itself as I've decided not to do the reno's for the new setup yet, I want to wait until I have a bigger budget ;)
That mirror trick is helpful, but it's also good to remember that sound does not work the same way as light does. There's also a ton of other factors to take into consideration -- like the distance from the back wall to the main speakers ... this link has some pretty good info for bass issues (and some stuff waaaaay over my head, see the formulas at the bottom, eeek). It's semi-specific to their monitors, but there's a lot of good general info for problem solving too. http://www.genelec-ht.com/learning-center/faq/acoustical/bass/
I've seen a couple of large rooms mapped out for frequency response, etc .. it's pretty intense. When EAW pitched a new sound system install into one of the large upscale theaters here in toronto they did a full analysis of the room. They charted out the actual response curve at every seat in the theater with their simulations! After they did the install they also went and measured the curve at every seat. Rumor has it they hit their mark ;)
Mark