Bedroom Studio Basics - before acoustic treatment

[tstu102]

Hey dudes. I'll start by saying that I know almost nothing about acoustic treatment, aside from the massive amount of reading I've done on realtraps.com and here.

Before I begin spending money on acoustic treatment, I really would like to maximize the potential of the room as much as possible.

A couple things:

-I only have about $400 to spend on acoustic treatment, so the idea is to make this room as flat and dead as possible for that money...Basically, I would like to improve this room from the echo chamber it is right now into something that is approaching acceptable in terms of mixing. I realize it will never sound great with this $$, but alas, I am broke. My first and foremost goals are to kill this crazy decay time and echo.

Here are my initial questions:

1.) I would like to keep the wood floor because it looks great, but figure I should have a small rug under the first refection point..yes?

2.) I have the monitors (only my pa speakers pictured here, but I have BM5a's) positioned the long way into the room. good idea?

3.) To block out excessive noise from the street, I figure I will put a matress in each window (it actually fits) and this will double as hiding the fact that it is a bedroom studio from clients. I am right outside of a moderately busy street in Brooklyn. I recognize there is no way to really prevent the low frequency rumblings of a truck, for instance, but what else can I do to maximize the effectiveness of the mattress in the window idea?

4.) What should I do about the ceiling height? Ideally I would like to suspend something over the first reflection point.

5.) where would the best place be to position the vocalist for vocal tracking?

6.) Since the length of my room is nearly 16 ft, how much diffusion do I need on the back wall/its kind of akward because of my bed and closets.

My room dimensions are as follows: L = 15 ft 8 inches W = 10 ft 3 inches H = 12 ft 2 inches


Thanks in advance to anyone who actually takes the time to answer even one of these questions, it's a big help.

[jbjoubaud]

I just spend $200 and built myself 8 broadband absorber... actually I will be finishing them this coming w-e... For the dough, you just can't beat DIY.

[jwl]

In response to your questions:

1. If there is a clean reflection path from the speakers, off the floor, to your ears, then yes a thick rug will help. Much of the time this pathway is obscured by the desk or whatever.

2. Yep. For more on room setup, see our article: RealTraps - How To Set Up a Room

3. I don't think the mattresses will stop much noise. It might help a tiny bit. Real soundproofing requires mass, airtightness, and proven construction techniques. It's not an easy task.

4. You have 12' ceilings so you are better off than most. Put some absorption at the first-reflection points, however you can hang your traps.

5. Generally when recording a singer I have the singer walk around the room, and find the spot in the room that sounds best to them. Record them there.

6. Diffusion is never necessary, but it is often beneficial. I'd start off with 16 square feet or more of diffusion at minimum, on the back wall. Depending on how close you are to them, it may or may not help. In the budget you mention, forget about diffusion, bass trapping and a good RFZ is much more important.

[bpape]

4" panels straddling the front corners, centered behind you on the wall, and over your head will go a long way to taming things and smoothing the bass. After that, some basic reflection panels on the sides will finish it off.

In a smaller room with limited placement options and limited budget, every panel has to be pretty broadband.

Bryan

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by tstu102

1.) I would like to keep the wood floor because it looks great, but figure I should have a small rug under the first refection point..yes?

I would...an area rug near the rear of the room, where you'd do much of your tracking, is a great idea too.

Originally Posted by tstu102

2.) I have the monitors (only my pa speakers pictured here, but I have BM5a's) positioned the long way into the room. good idea?

Yep.

Originally Posted by tstu102

3.) To block out excessive noise from the street, I figure I will put a matress in each window (it actually fits) and this will double as hiding the fact that it is a bedroom studio from clients. I am right outside of a moderately busy street in Brooklyn. I recognize there is no way to really prevent the low frequency rumblings of a truck, for instance, but what else can I do to maximize the effectiveness of the mattress in the window idea?

Won't work. Like James said, mass is the thing you need.

Originally Posted by tstu102

4.) What should I do about the ceiling height? Ideally I would like to suspend something over the first reflection point.

You're good on the height dimension. Definitely add some absorption at the first reflection point on the ceiling.

Originally Posted by tstu102

5.) where would the best place be to position the vocalist for vocal tracking?

Walk around the room with a mic...record various locations and see which one is best. Usually it's out near the center of the room somewhere.

Originally Posted by tstu102

6.) Since the length of my room is nearly 16 ft, how much diffusion do I need on the back wall/its kind of akward because of my bed and closets.

Potentially, none. 16' isn't that deep...you'll still need a good bit of bass trapping, and the back wall is typically best used for that. You could put some diffusion to the rear of your ceiling cloud, on the left and right walls near the rear of the room, on either side of your bass trapping on the back wall or striped between the bass traps on the back wall.

Frank

[tstu102]

awesome, thanks guys, this is really good stuff and I'm beginning to understand what I need to do a little more. The next thing I have to figure out is how to build acoustic panels for cheap, and research the cheapest and most effective material to pack them with (rock wool or 703?). I would like something that absorbs as great a range as possible, because again I would like the room to be as dead as possible (the type of music I track pretty much requires this)

Then I suppose I'll build stands for the panels that will go along the windows. Would heavy curtains help absorb mid-high frequencies so the windows don't reflect as much?

Maybe I'm confused, but should I be suspending the main RFZ panel from the ceiling, or should it be secured right onto the ceiling? Some people suspend theirs a couple feet lower than the ceiling, but by how much? Also, is there a formula to calculating the angle at which it should be? Or does it need to be at an angle at all?

thanks again

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by tstu102

awesome, thanks guys, this is really good stuff and I'm beginning to understand what I need to do a little more. The next thing I have to figure out is how to build acoustic panels for cheap, and research the cheapest and most effective material to pack them with (rock wool or 703?). I would like something that absorbs as great a range as possible, because again I would like the room to be as dead as possible (the type of music I track pretty much requires this)

4" panels made from either would be fine. Those will be broad band panels that will give you the most bang for your treatment buck. You'll probably want 6" treatment on the back wall for bass absorption.

Originally Posted by tstu102

Then I suppose I'll build stands for the panels that will go along the windows. Would heavy curtains help absorb mid-high frequencies so the windows don't reflect as much?

Sure.

Originally Posted by tstu102

Maybe I'm confused, but should I be suspending the main RFZ panel from the ceiling, or should it be secured right onto the ceiling? Some people suspend theirs a couple feet lower than the ceiling, but by how much? Also, is there a formula to calculating the angle at which it should be? Or does it need to be at an angle at all?

Suspending is good...three our four inches would be great. A couple of feet is too much. No angle...hang them parallel to the ceiling.

Frank

[tstu102]

so the window sills are really deep, about 1ft or so. Making stands for traps would be a pain in the ass--am I not better off stuffing the window with rockwool so that it becomes one giant absorber at a couple different reflection points? I'm willing to sacrifice one window

[bpape]

Stands aren't that hard to do. Yes, filling the window could help but aren't as flexible for vocal recording as panels on stands. Again, with limited budget, we want each thing to have multiple uses.

Bryan

[tstu102]

so, since this is my bedroom, is rockwool going to be unhealthy/gross? is 703 healthier?

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by tstu102

so, since this is my bedroom, is rockwool going to be unhealthy/gross? is 703 healthier?

Nope...it'll be fine. There's a ton of research out there that says that rock wool and rigid fiberglass are perfectly safe, and are actually harmlessly excreted by the body in fibrous form. I've got a bunch of articles that I can post if you're interested. Besides, if you cover the panels correctly you won't have any fiber migration to speak of unless you pound on them with a tennis racket or something.

Frank

[tstu102]

ok, cool, that's what I've read, and I just did some research into securing fabric properly. I've read that if you hang your panels a couple inches from the wall (so there is an air gap) its better to have panels with an open back. Is this more likely to emit fibers into the air?

I seriously might consider buying pre-built panels like these because I am shitty at building things and if I **** up I feel like my whole room could end up being itchy...?

ATS Acoustic Panel 24x48x4

Thanks again

[Weasel9992]

Yes, they should be open-back exactly as ours are, but we make sure there's no mineral wool exposed to the air on the back.

Frank