Where to put the foam?

[Sammi]

Hi,
hopefully, you will understand me.
My studio is in my basement. So, the walls are concrete.
When I play drums the sound keeps bouncing back from the walls. (I guess it makes it louder.)
I have seen a lot of artists having just a piece of foam somewhere around their walls.
How do I hear where the sound is bouncing from, so I can put a piece of foam there? Am I suppose to cover all the walls with foam or drapes? How do I insulate the sound?

[Hannes_F]

Into the ears. Most efficient place for foam products.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by Sammi

Hi,
hopefully, you will understand me.
My studio is in my basement. So, the walls are concrete.
When I play drums the sound keeps bouncing back from the walls. (I guess it makes it louder.)
I have seen a lot of artists having just a piece of foam somewhere around their walls.
How do I hear where the sound is bouncing from, so I can put a piece of foam there? Am I suppose to cover all the walls with foam or drapes? How do I insulate the sound?

You are going to want to spread out the treatment around the room as much as possible, but like areas above the drums (lower ceilings) you would focus more coverage to help with slap coming off the ceiling. You may want to do some reading at the following articles to get a better understanding of how acoustics work.
GIK Acoustics presents Acoustics Primer: Some Basics on Acoustics.
GIK Acoustics Articles and Newsletters. Acoustic Panels and Bass Traps.
GIK Acoustics: Room Setup
FYI, most people like panels made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool vs foam.

[Sammi]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You are going to want to spread out the treatment around the room as much as possible, but like areas above the drums (lower ceilings) you would focus more coverage to help with slap coming off the ceiling. You may want to do some reading at the following articles to get a better understanding of how acoustics work.
GIK Acoustics presents Acoustics Primer: Some Basics on Acoustics.
GIK Acoustics Articles and Newsletters. Acoustic Panels and Bass Traps.
GIK Acoustics: Room Setup
FYI, most people like panels made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool vs foam.

Thanks for the info.

[Sammi]

Originally Posted by Hannes_F

Into the ears. Most efficient place for foam products.

haha, I mean for better recording

[Jens Eklund]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You are going to want to spread out the treatment around the room as much as possible, ...

I would say the opposite; since foam products often are too thin, I would twofold the foam treatment and focus on the areas that otherwise gives early, and too strong reflections back to the microphones. On other areas, you should use bass absorbers and diffusers.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by Jens Eklund

I would say the opposite; since foam products often are too thin, I would twofold the foam treatment and focus on the areas that otherwise gives early, and too strong reflections back to the microphones. On other areas, you should use bass absorbers and diffusers.

Sure that would be the best thing to do. Just giving him general usage of foam. Heck we don't even know how thick or what kind it is.
Honestly I would not use the foam at all or use it as just a spot treatment. Thus my ending statement.

FYI, most people like panels made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool vs foam.

[Jens Eklund]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Honestly I would not use the foam at all ...

/Jens

[Sammi]

Hold on, I am in a VERY tight budget. Isn't this very expensive?

[Trev@Circle]

rockwool or OC 703 is cheaper than so called 'acoustic foam' and is significantly more effective.

[Rod Gervais]

Originally Posted by Sammi

Hold on, I am in a VERY tight budget. Isn't this very expensive?

Sammi,

There are 2 things at play here - one is your desire for the room to sound good, in order to record - the other is the depth of your pockets......

One is dependent on the other.........

You cannot "tame" a room cheaply - what you can do is experiment with what you have and see what it brings you.

Once that is done you will have to be willing to make an investment if you need more than you get.

It is in that investment that you will want to maximize the values of your purchases in order to get the most for your money.

High quality foam products are generally going to cost you more than doing it yourself with rigid fiberglass.

Cheap quality foams are pretty much useless........

In order for you to buy any drapery that would serve any useful purpose (and this would only be in the higher frequency ranges) it would cost you a lot more money than even the good quality foam...

Cheap drapes are not going to accomplish anything......

The bottom line is that you do need to deal with the ceiling over your kit - and some of the close early reflections as well..... walls closer to your drums.

are you close micing the kit - or are you using room mics?

Rod Gervais
Director of Education
GIK Acoustics
Gik Acoustics USA
Gik Acoustics Europe
Tel.(US)1.888.986.2789
Tel.(UK)+44(0)20.7558.8976

[Sammi]

Originally Posted by Rod Gervais

Sammi,

There are 2 things at play here - one is your desire for the room to sound good, in order to record - the other is the depth of your pockets......

One is dependent on the other.........

You cannot "tame" a room cheaply - what you can do is experiment with what you have and see what it brings you.

Once that is done you will have to be willing to make an investment if you need more than you get.

It is in that investment that you will want to maximize the values of your purchases in order to get the most for your money.

High quality foam products are generally going to cost you more than doing it yourself with rigid fiberglass.

Cheap quality foams are pretty much useless........

In order for you to buy any drapery that would serve any useful purpose (and this would only be in the higher frequency ranges) it would cost you a lot more money than even the good quality foam...

Cheap drapes are not going to accomplish anything......

The bottom line is that you do need to deal with the ceiling over your kit - and some of the close early reflections as well..... walls closer to your drums.

are you close micing the kit - or are you using room mics?

Rod Gervais
Director of Education
GIK Acoustics
Gik Acoustics USA
Gik Acoustics Europe
Tel.(US)1.888.986.2789
Tel.(UK)+44(0)20.7558.8976

Damn, since I'm in Iceland, it's going to be even more expensive.
I am only close micing it