Small room acoustic treatment

[jpmarques]

Hi guys, I finally decided to do all of my recordings on a proper room instead of in the living room, mainly because I don't live alone and want a bit more privacy. I chose a small room, which is represented in the image below, to do this, but right now it is impossible to record there because there is no acoustic treatment.

I intend to hang some drapes against the wall and use some bookcases as basstraps, but don't really know if I should cover all the walls in drapes, or use a different material.

I also wanted some tips, on the best spot to record voice and acoustic guitar in the room, as I do all my mixing with cans this room will be mainly used for recording (still saving up for some monitors).

Please keep in mind that my budget is very reduced and I would like to be able to use non-convential stuff like bookshelves or drapes, to solve my problem. Furthermore, the measurements provided are in meters, but if it would suit you better I will gladly change them to ft.

The height of the room is 2.60 mts.



Thanks in advance.

[Joel DuBay]

Mon frere,

Welcome to Gearslutz.

I just posted some information for another chap over here:
Room Acoustics .....again, regarding room treatments. You may want to check that out.
In essence you need the following as a minimalist approach to room acoustic treatments:

1. Farbric that you like and can live with. (More pourous=more absorption at higher frequencies)
2. Acoustics medium: Rockwool (cheap), OC703, not as cheap (either will do)
Mass and thickness (among other things) determine the amount of absoprtion at lower frequencies.

Cut the fabric to the correct size for wrapping your panels. You can use velcro or some sort of mastic, spray glue, etc to secure the fabric to the acoustic medium.

Correct placement of your traps in your space. If you can supply pictures of your space here, or sent to me, I/ we can help you more.

I hope this helps.


Cheers,



Joel DuBay
Ready Acoustics
DIY Bass Traps and Acoustic Panels

[AdamLazlo]

Thats a nice angled room... even if it is small.

Are you using it as a tracking and control room?

If it's just a tracking room, I've been happy with heavy felt that's hung like a shower curtain so I can slide them open/closed. I also took the dimension of, let's say, one wall and tripled it so the heavy curtain bellows when fully extended.

I did a whole modest size room (average bedroom-size) for just under $300 US. It made a huge difference. In the same breath I made industrial grade insulated baffles for the same room before I decided to use them elsewhere and I don't notice a difference between the two other than the flexibility of opening and closing curtains as opposed to drilled in baffles.

My flooring for all areas (performance area and separate control room) are hardwood with living room-type rugs and the ceilings for both rooms have baffle enclosures that are angled without symmetry.

Joel DuBay is obviously a great resource.

The baffle / panels I made were simple 1x6 wood in either rectangle or square frames, industrial insulation (more compact and in squares rather than the usual "pink panther" home insulation strips) and some cheap fabric for wrapping. Each baffle would run me around $20-$30 US when all was said and done.

-- Adam Lazlo

[Ethan Winer]

JP,

> I intend to hang some drapes against the wall and use some bookcases as basstraps <

That's really not going to cut it. Drapes absorb only the highest frequencies, and bookcases are, well, let's just say they're not useful as bass traps. This is not to discourage you! But there's no sense wasting time and effort on things that won't work well either.

> Please keep in mind that my budget is very reduced <

Complete DIY info for all of this is in my Acoustics FAQ:

www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

--Ethan

[Acoustic Cloud]

http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--Ow...f-6--1004.html

This is a pretty good source for 703 I think....


Go to a fabric store with 19 bux, and buy enuff fabric for 3 nice traps@!!

[jpmarques]

Thanks for the tips guys! I've read a part of your FAQ Ethan and showed the drawing to some friends, and based on that I've made a few changes to my initial plans.

Like you so well put it Ethan, bookcases aren't really going to work as basstraps, instead I'm using rockwool bales on two corners (and keeping them baled). As for the walls, I'm putting up some bookshelves on the larger wall and leaving the rest of them untouched.

Furthermore, I'm going to cover part of the wooden floor with a carpet.


What do you think? Thanks for everything.

[Ethan Winer]

> bookcases aren't really going to work as basstraps, instead I'm using rockwool bales on two corners (and keeping them baled). <

Exactly.

--Ethan

[jpmarques]

What do you recommend for the ceiling? Or a carpet on the floor will be enough? Keep in mind that the room's height is 2,60mts.

Thanks

[bpape]

If you can get some lighter weight mineral wool, it should be very cost effective. Likely one bale will do your ceiling and the side wall reflection points.

Bryan