When your Tracking room will also be your listening room

[PyroDano]

Hello everyone,First time poster here,plz be gentle,lol.

I was wondering what things to consider as far as acoustically treating a room when my tracking room will also be my listening room.

I'm not going for epic productions here,I'm just trying to figure out what to do with what i have to get the best results i can.TIA.

[Weasel9992]

You're looking for balanced results. You're definitely going for as much low end control as you can get. That means bass traps in all four corners and probably on the back wall as well. Treat the first reflection points to your right and left, above your head (between you and your speakers) and the wall between your speakers.

Understand that every room is different, and what I'm giving you is how you'd generally treat a room. It'll get you 97% of the way and make the other 3% all the more obvious.

Here's a link where you can see a basic room set up: http://www.gikacoustics.com/room_setup.php

Frank

[PyroDano]

Thanks for the reply.I guess i should treat the room as a listening room first then?I'm not sure if there is a difference in what results your going for between a listening room and a tracking room as far as bass traps ect.

I have been reading a little bit about bass traps,acoustical panels,treatment here,your site,and Ethans for the last few hours.My brain is now fried.I didn't really see anything anywhere addressing considerations if you only have one room to try and do everything.

I think i saw a thread here somewhere like Crapiest room or something,,I'm sure mine would rate right up there,lol.

If you can't tell I'm pretty much a n00b at all this.Just trying to figure out what i need to do in advance.

A few more mics,a DI box,a headphone amp,Then i will build bass traps.
Thanks again.

[gainstages]

my room is both a control room and a tracking room. the front portion of the room ,where i do my monitoring, has more panels on the walls, and a nice cloud over my head. the music is well controlled and pleasing and quite accurate in this area. If i move back just a few feet, the room becomes more live, but still controlled, and it makes a great space for tracking with a little room sound.


it's working quite well for me so far.

[Weasel9992]

No sweat man.

The difference between the two approaches is that with control room you're concerned with a stable listening environment...you want to get an accurate stereo field and broad spectrum frequency response.

With a tracking room you're more concerned with accurately capturing the sound of instruments recorded in that room, so you're trying to minimize undesireable filtering effects.

There's some overlap concerning treatment methods though, and there is a way to provide a balanced treatment of the whole room if you're engaged in both activities. No worries.

Frank

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by PyroDano

I didn't really see anything anywhere addressing considerations if you only have one room to try and do everything.

I record and mix in the same large room. One end is highly treated for mixing, and the rest is more live. There are many bass traps in corners and along several walls. In a small room I'd optimize the mixing in the front of the room, and record toward the rear. You never told us the dimensions so I can't be very specific. Maybe this will give you some ideas:

RealTraps - Maximum Studio

--Ethan

[PyroDano]

The room measurements are approximately 11' 3"W 15' 1/2" L 7'1/2" H

I don't know how to attach an image here so i try my best to illustrate.
<---- 15'1"----> 3 windows 1 door.The window on the left and upper right have 6" of insulation stuffed in them,The walls are paneling with a mix of egg crate foam and carpet,and the ceiling has 2 4x8 pieces of egg crate foam.
__w_______w__
| |
w |
| |
| |
---d------------

[Weasel9992]

Ideally you'd want to get some symmetry, but it doesn't look like you're going to get that no matter what you do. Set up so that your monitors are firing lengthwise down the long axis and position things the way Ethan said to. Use the "setup" link I posted to get a general idea of how to place treatment...that should take care of 95% of your issues.

As an aside, you might as well get rid of the egg crate foam. It's probably not doing you much good aside from maybe some high mids-ish attenuation.

Frank