building an echo chamber on a budget

[jsswtpmp182]

just wondering if anyone knows how, materials, dimensions, etc... thanks!

[joeq]

if you want to be 'on a budget', any space you already have can be used as an echo chamber. Just set it up with a speaker and mics to return. This can be a dedicated, specifically constructed space, but can also be your live room (presumably empty at mixdown time), the lobby, lounge, swimming pool, barn, garage or Batcave serving double duty.

the only real limitations are how noisy, or how sensitive, your neighbors are.

I personally prefer hard surfaces, tile, cement, (limestone?) etc. But a case can be made for a nice wood room

how about a stairwell?

or a hallway?

or a bathroom?


.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by jsswtpmp182

just wondering if anyone knows how, materials, dimensions, etc... thanks!

If your intent is to make a good reverb chamber that's better than typical software or hardware, you'll need to make a large room with good dimensions. If you just want to mess around and don't mind resonances and other artifacts, then joeq's suggestion makes sense. Understand that a good reverb chamber is very flat, and does not have different reverb times at some frequencies compared to others. It's not trivial (or blind luck) making a good live chamber!

If you want to read up on room ratios and dimensions, see my ModeCalc article:

RealTraps - ModeCalc

--Ethan