best room (in apt) to record acoustic and vox

mookie · 14th January 2007

hey ya'll,
i'm moving around my house trying to figure out where will be best to set up my rig for the next few weeks while i record acoustic guitar and vox... no drums.
i have a reflexion filter which deadens the vocal sound a bit.
i want a nice warm, ambient sound, but not TOO much sonic chaos in the mix.
what sort of room should i be looking for? small, big? reflective, dead? any experience you have will be helpful. i know more about writing and playing music than recording it at this point. thanks.

A. Linna · 14th January 2007

Sorry for the boring answer, mookie, but:

Try recording a snippet of yourself in each of the available rooms, playing and singing something into a recording setup more or less similar to the one you plan to use, and then sit down to listen to the resulting samples. Whichever one sounds the most like the vision in your head is probably the right room for you.

For more ambience, generally rid the room of soft things like furniture, drapes, or clothes lying on the floor. An empty room will generally echo the most.
Do the reverse to deaden the room.
But, even if you get ambience, it may not be the kind of ambience you want. So, find the room with the right sort of ´verb and then tweak the amount yourself.
Also, find the right spot in the room to perform. For more low end, position yourself closer to a wall, or a corner. Again, pay attention to the kind of low end this gives you. You might prefer the added low end achieved by moving the mic closer to the source.

In short, find the room, treat the room, find the spot to perform, find the mic (if you own several), find the pre (if you own several), find the spot to stick the mic. And not necessarily in this order. Finally, find the effects (if any) that´ll take you the rest of the way home.

It´s about constant experimentation, but with gained experience, you´ll get better at predicting what measure to take in order to achieve a certain sound or effect (the one in your head). I wish I could give you an easy answer to your particular question, but as long as music is subjective, I don´t feel I can.

Remember: there are very few rules. Just because someone else is recording in a certain room (or with certain equipment, for that matter), it doesn´t mean you have to. As far as recording goes, use and trust your ears, that´s the biggest favor you´ll ever do yourself.

mookie · 14th January 2007

that was a very thoughtful answer. thank you.

hopeless_opus · 15th January 2007

how are you liking the Reflexion Filter, I've been thinking of picking one up to do exactly what you're doing. Does it manage to dampen out things the high frequency comb filtering (I think that's what it's called) you get in a small room, as well as most of the relfections?

sorry, I don't really have any advice for you...

DeeDrive · 15th January 2007

If you're working with an untreated room, my advice is to just go for a dead sound and use reverb to add space to it.

The sound of an untreated reflective room, especially those horrid cube shaped rooms so commonly found it apartments will almost certainly not be good. Do everything you can to get a dead sound, and I'll bet you'll be much more pleased with the results.

I'm not saying a dead room is the best, of course, but given a choice between dead and untreated reflections in a small room...go with the dead sound.

mookie · 15th January 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by hopeless_opus

how are you liking the Reflexion Filter, I've been thinking of picking one up to do exactly what you're doing. Does it manage to dampen out things the high frequency comb filtering (I think that's what it's called) you get in a small room, as well as most of the relfections?

sorry, I don't really have any advice for you...

i'm not sure what high frequency comb filtering is... is that "ring" by any chance? cuz the reflexion filter seems to help with that. i think it helps to isolate and deaden the sound a bit too..

thanks everyone for the feedback. i'll keep it all in mind as i experiment.
i could get some sound treatment for the little breakfast nook off the kitchen that i don't use (what would be good for that?) or maybe i'll head back into the bedroom or maybe i'll try the wood floored living room...thumbsup

Seamus TM · 15th January 2007

P.S. Remember to try it with and without the flux capacitor thingy-ma-doo-bob.

Ethan Winer · 15th January 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookie

i'm not sure what high frequency comb filtering is

I made a video that explains all about comb filtering. It's fourth in the list here:

www.realtraps.com/videos.htm

--Ethan

14th January 2007	#1
mookie Gear nut Joined: Nov 2006 Posts: 87 Thread Starter	best room (in apt) to record acoustic and vox hey ya'll, i'm moving around my house trying to figure out where will be best to set up my rig for the next few weeks while i record acoustic guitar and vox... no drums. i have a reflexion filter which deadens the vocal sound a bit. i want a nice warm, ambient sound, but not TOO much sonic chaos in the mix. what sort of room should i be looking for? small, big? reflective, dead? any experience you have will be helpful. i know more about writing and playing music than recording it at this point. thanks.

15th January 2007	#5
DeeDrive Lives for gear Joined: May 2005 Location: Hillsboro, OR Posts: 986	If you're working with an untreated room, my advice is to just go for a dead sound and use reverb to add space to it. The sound of an untreated reflective room, especially those horrid cube shaped rooms so commonly found it apartments will almost certainly not be good. Do everything you can to get a dead sound, and I'll bet you'll be much more pleased with the results. I'm not saying a dead room is the best, of course, but given a choice between dead and untreated reflections in a small room...go with the dead sound. __________________ "When life gives you lemons, just say f@*k the lemons and bail" http://www.myspace.com/mattdistad http://www.myspace.com/froghollowdaycamp

15th January 2007	#7
Seamus TM Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2004 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 1,605	P.S. Remember to try it with and without the flux capacitor thingy-ma-doo-bob. __________________ Seamus Upstate New York

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14th January 2007	#2
A. Linna Gear interested Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 12	Sorry for the boring answer, mookie, but: Try recording a snippet of yourself in each of the available rooms, playing and singing something into a recording setup more or less similar to the one you plan to use, and then sit down to listen to the resulting samples. Whichever one sounds the most like the vision in your head is probably the right room for you. For more ambience, generally rid the room of soft things like furniture, drapes, or clothes lying on the floor. An empty room will generally echo the most. Do the reverse to deaden the room. But, even if you get ambience, it may not be the kind of ambience you want. So, find the room with the right sort of ´verb and then tweak the amount yourself. Also, find the right spot in the room to perform. For more low end, position yourself closer to a wall, or a corner. Again, pay attention to the kind of low end this gives you. You might prefer the added low end achieved by moving the mic closer to the source. In short, find the room, treat the room, find the spot to perform, find the mic (if you own several), find the pre (if you own several), find the spot to stick the mic. And not necessarily in this order. Finally, find the effects (if any) that´ll take you the rest of the way home. It´s about constant experimentation, but with gained experience, you´ll get better at predicting what measure to take in order to achieve a certain sound or effect (the one in your head). I wish I could give you an easy answer to your particular question, but as long as music is subjective, I don´t feel I can. Remember: there are very few rules. Just because someone else is recording in a certain room (or with certain equipment, for that matter), it doesn´t mean you have to. As far as recording goes, use and trust your ears, that´s the biggest favor you´ll ever do yourself.

15th January 2007	#4
hopeless_opus Gear addict Joined: May 2005 Posts: 429	how are you liking the Reflexion Filter, I've been thinking of picking one up to do exactly what you're doing. Does it manage to dampen out things the high frequency comb filtering (I think that's what it's called) you get in a small room, as well as most of the relfections? sorry, I don't really have any advice for you...