My room has more corners than a Rubiks cube.

[Hamlet S.]

As my music projects are getting more serious it's time for me to improve my writing and mixing space in what ever it needs (preferably with something I can take when moving to a bigger space further on). My room is oddly shaped, although I have to say that I have worked in worse sounding rooms. Maybe all those corners aren't the enemy I first though they'd be.

 

The room is 2.81m high, 5.96m long and moves from 2.08 to 2.68m deep. I know the science of acoustics runs deep and dark. Any light on making improvements would be very welcome. Help me solve my Rubiks cube

 

PICS REMOVED- NEW ONES BELOW

 

Interestingly, when I record instruments/vocals in front of the sofa space they sound crap compared to the area to the right (as I sit) of the DAW. So I intend on using that space for my vocal tracking with an acoustic foam kit and a maybe thick curtain.

 

Don't shoot me on the decor. She looks a lot prettier in real life than in sketchup 8)

 

Update:

I'm getting rid of the filing cabinets and possibly the sofa. These are the three positions I think it's narrowed down to:

 

http://i41.tinypic.com/w7lndl.jpg

 

http://i42.tinypic.com/289kirp.jpg

 

http://i40.tinypic.com/k9tb0k.jpg

 

I"ve downloaded Room EQ Wizard, but I'm wondering if my Neumann KM140 will be a flat enough measurement mic as it has a bump at about 9khz.

Edited January 17, 2012 by Hamlet S.

[Hamlet S.]

Bump

 

Any feedback welcome!

[shivermetimbers]

I would say to rotate your desk 90 degrees so it faces the file cabs and the couch end of the room. Then slide it back and forth from that wall to get most of the low end to cancel/even itself out. Use the room depth/length to your advantage.

 

The room is really small and whatever treatment you but in for the low end is going to make it even smaller. You will most likely still have a problem with the low end even at low volume levels.

 

You can research Diffusers, or the absorption values of 4" rock wool, or look up ideas from Ethan Winer.

 

If you or someone you know can made portable baffles, then you wouldn't really have to mess up your room. You may have enough space to make a small vocal/guitar isolation booth for recording and if it comes down to it, look into a set of quality headphones and headphone amp.

 

Also, there are some online sites that can give you a rough idea of where your problem frequencies will accumulate after you input your dimensions.

 

Other than that, it is hard to give advice to give you 100% successful results.

[Hamlet S.]

I would say to rotate your desk 90 degrees so it faces the file cabs and the couch end of the room. Then slide it back and forth from that wall to get most of the low end to cancel/even itself out. Use the room depth/length to your advantage.

 

The room is really small and whatever treatment you but in for the low end is going to make it even smaller. You will most likely still have a problem with the low end even at low volume levels.

 

You can research Diffusers, or the absorption values of 4" rock wool, or look up ideas from Ethan Winer.

 

If you or someone you know can made portable baffles, then you wouldn't really have to mess up your room. You may have enough space to make a small vocal/guitar isolation booth for recording and if it comes down to it, look into a set of quality headphones and headphone amp.

 

Also, there are some online sites that can give you a rough idea of where your problem frequencies will accumulate after you input your dimensions.

 

Other than that, it is hard to give advice to give you 100% successful results.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I've got a high end set of headphones in the mail and my Benchmark DAC 1 is a beautiful D/A & amp for them. So I'll be able to close my eyes and pretend the room isn't there

 

I think you're right about spinning 90 degrees. Although I may do it in the direction of the glass door, otherwise people I'm working with (and me) have to squeeze by the table every session. Diffusion and absorbers are definitely on the cards, I just decide to work out what needs to be made, and where it needs to go. Portable gobos are a good idea, maybe even hinged ones for a vocal booth. I have light asthma and take my air quality serious. And I intend on spending A LOT of time in this room. I'm possibly being paranoid, but I hope to avoid having any fibreglass in the room if I can. We'll see if I can.

[John Reid]

I'm with you on the weird room thing. I recently bought a house that has a room that I'm going to remodel and dedicate as my work office and studio... and it's also a weird shape (a squashed diamond..wtf?!).

 

I've looked into using these on one or more of my walls, after I do the whole sound proofing thing:

 

http://mioculture.com/paperforms/acoustic-weave-paperforms.html

 

They're paper based tiles so can be removed if you want/need to in the future, and look pretty snazzy. Not cheap, but...

 

Also look here for sound proofing:

 

http://www.tmsoundproofing.com/

[Mr. V]

You can use rigid fiberglass boards covered in muslin or some material that you can breath through. 4 inches is recommended for bass traps. (You can stack 2 inch thick unsurfaced boards together if needed).

 

The really cool thing about bass traps is that they do their job when covering some corner angle in the room. By definition, this means you could just lean them up against the wall (floor/wall angle) for the easiest of installations.

 

http://afarawayland.blogspot.com/2006/08/diy-acoustic-treatment-703-rigid.html

 

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/90422-owens-corning-703-705-vs-duct-board.html

 

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

 

 

Here's my space which is an L shaped room 14 ft by 10 ft by 8 ft (LxWxH).

4 inch thick bass traps. 2 inch boards for high frequency dampening. Now using Blue Sky vs KRK.

The chair to the right is where my cat hangs out when I working.

You might need to mouse around the image to see all of the details.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Mr. V

[Hamlet S.]

You can use rigid fiberglass boards covered in muslin or some material that you can breath through. 4 inches is recommended for bass traps. (You can stack 2 inch thick unsurfaced boards together if needed).

 

The really cool thing about bass traps is that they do their job when covering some corner angle in the room. By definition, this means you could just lean them up against the wall (floor/wall angle) for the easiest of installations.

 

http://afarawayland.blogspot.com/2006/08/diy-acoustic-treatment-703-rigid.html

 

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/90422-owens-corning-703-705-vs-duct-board.html

 

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

 

 

Here's my space which is an L shaped room 14 ft by 10 ft by 8 ft (LxWxH).

4 inch thick bass traps. 2 inch boards for high frequency dampening. Now using Blue Sky vs KRK.

 

You might need to mouse around the image to see all of the details.

 

That's a lot of absorption in a small space! Nice natural light too. Have you experienced any issues in air quality or irritation with the fiberglass in place?

[Mr. V]

Just double-wrap the boards with muslin or material of your choice.

 

They have been in place since 2006 without filtration issues.

 

I used plastic piping to quickly make stands for the wall/wall corner bass traps.

[shivermetimbers]

That's a lot of absorption in a small space!

 

That's the way it works. The low end will accumulate in those areas and the idea place would be a room without walls (outside with no external noise). The smaller the room, the more issues you will have at a given level of sound. The absorption coefficient of 4" wool will be the same in a small room or large room.

 

Think of them like paper towels ... stick enough of them in the wet spots and let them do their job.

[shivermetimbers]

I used plastic piping to quickly make stands for the wall/wall corner bass traps.

 

Did you run out of 2x4's ?

[Scott Jackson]