Hi Slutz,

This August I moved from smoggy, industrial Beijing, to the North Coast of Mombassa, Kenya. I'm now living in an amazing house overlooking the Indian Ocean.

I've finally managed to get permission from my Landlord to make some alterations to the room I want to use as a mix room. I'm getting windows put in as well as AC to minimise damage to my gear due to the humidity and ocean air.

Unfortunately the room is almost square It's never going to be ideal, but I'd really appreciate some advice on setting the room up with trapping to get the most out of it.

Unfortunately I can't shoot the room as my gear is all still in transit

The room roughly measures 4m by 3m
The walls are concrete and the floor is wood.

Currently I have 3 of Ethan's mini traps which I plan on using as a ceiling cloud.

I also have 9 home made broadband traps. These are 48/25/14cm in size. They have one layer of rigid fibreglass, with the 4 inch pyramid style Auralex foam (!) mounted on it.

I will have a big Argosy console in the room and my monitors (too big for the room!) are ATC SCM50pros on Unity Monolith stands.

Obviously, I need to add some serious corner trapping! I'm looking to build some hefty bass/broadband traps also. I'm debating whether to use the homemade traps as mobile gobos for recording drums etc on the landing, or whether to incorporate some of them in the room.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on setting up this room.

Many thanks!

Measuring isn't really needed.

Do you have the Standard or HF type MiniTraps? If they're standard they are semi-reflective at mid and high frequencies, so you should use them for bass traps in corners. Use rigid fiberglass or thick foam instead for a cloud.

All the usual advice applies:

Acoustic Basics

--Ethan

The Acoustic Treatment Experts

I do recommend testing the room at some point. It can help you make sure you have the speakers and mix spot set up correctly. It can also help you track progress of the treatment. Here is a video on setting up REW
Room EQ Wizard Tutorial - GIK Acoustics

Congrats on the new place (in a new place!).

With concrete walls, you're going to need a good deal of low frequency treatment, as the concrete will 'contain' the bass waves within the room rather than letting some pass through.
I would concentrate on bass traps and first reflections

Hi Ethan,

I picked these traps up second hand so I'm not 100% certain.
Is there anyway I can find out?

Thanks Glenn,

The videos are very informative.

I've been in touch with Dave in the UK about some additions

Hold a trap in front of your face and "talk into" it. Do this for the front and the rear. One side will reflect, and the other will be totally dead. Standard MiniTraps reflect on the front, HF types are totally dead on the front.

--Ethan

Cheers, Ethan. Will give it a go. The wife will think I've gone nuts!

4x3 Metres is not square. You can hear the membrane layer of Minitraps if you tap them with your finger. It is obvious. I would focus on getting the listening environment right. Drums like a wild room, just find the right spot by moving and listening/recording. Focus on the Kick drum, the lead instrument in Rock n Roll.
DD

Just ordered a load of extra treatment from GIK.

Looking forward to trying it out!

I have to report back and say the gik acoustics stuff I ordered is great. In combination with the realtraps I had before my new room sounds fantastic. Bryan was excellent with his advice and Dave made the shipping etc really easy.

Great to hear! Keep us posted if you have any other questions.