Post by andyhowell on Apr 22, 2013 19:03:33 GMT
Andrew asked if I would start a thread about Sound Treating my recording space. So, here goes!
First off the space. I have an office at the top of my house which is an attic conversion. This is a long room with a curved roof — it is only really possible to stand up along the middle section. The curved walls of the room are 'hollow' in a sense. At the far end of the room I have my desk which also acts as my computer based mixing space.
I record a lot of audio for various projects. Initially, after I moved into the house 5 years ago, I tried to survive using an SE Reflection Vocal booth. This helped a little but when working at my desk it wasn't practical — I wasn't able to record vocal scripts easily when reading from them and when mixing music I didn't really trust what was being presented to my ears.
I spent quite a long time looking at acoustic treatment companies. I should point out at this point (and I'm sorry as I assume you already know this) that the 'acoustic treatment' is not the same thing as sound proofing. Basically, I wanted something that would absorb a lot of the reflections that came off both the brick wall where my mixing space was and the curved walls and ceiling of the room.
I bought my acoustic tiles from Advanced Acoustics at: www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/
There are a number of companies producing similar products for the home market.
Gazing at these sites is a bit of a nightmare as these companies sell a range of products and treatment kits. There are specialist foam devices for installing in the corners of a room and special 'bass traps'. I could see that the costs would soon mount up. Did I really need these special tiles?
The companies themselves often provide a specialist advice service which involves you both describing your room and send in the measurements to in house 'experts' The odd curvature of my room made this a bit difficult to do.
Fortunately I decided to ring up the company and I phoned early in the morning when things were quiet. The staff I spoke to were incredibly helpful. They were clear that I really didn't need too much technical and specialist stuff. They suggested buying a pack of their tiles installing them and seeing how that worked. If I needed more treatment I could always order another pack.
The reflections I was dealing with were quite severe and so I ordered two of their Euphonic Wedge PRO FAT tile packs. If the room had been a little less problematic I would have only have needed two packs and maybe could have got away with a cheaper and thinner tile set.
This was quite an investment at around £200 but I knew I really wasn't going to be able to deal with the problem any other way.
The Wedge Pro tile pack comes with two types of tiles. The first has a series of deep wedge slashes in the tile and the second is a simp thick flat surface style. You can easily arrange these in patterns and shapes that look quite professional. Each pack came with a can of spray glue for fixing the tiles to the wall.
I started by dealing with my back wall, which sits behind the computer/mixing space. I created a long run of alternate tiles along the wall, the narrow width of the room. I was pretty sure I needed a lot of sound dampening here.
Next I used a classic treatment technique, which is well worth remembering.
I used a full length mirror to calculate the exact reflection points on the walls and the ceiling between my sitting position and my monitors — basically you can simply adjust the position of the mirror to ensure that you are in the right spot. Keep the chair fixed and move around to make sure that from different angles you can see the monitor and the chair.
At the reflection point I then created two runs of tiles — 3 tile long and 2 high — on each wall, and a similar run of tiles on the roof.
I then took the other tiles and created two smaller runs on each wall, put a few tiles on the ceiling and then finished off by placing four tiles on the opposite wall to my mixing desk — where the door is located.
If I am honest I did this in a frenzy of activity. The glue takes time to set and so it is reasonably easy to remove them early on if you think you have just killed the space. In fact, my long run of tiles along my monitor wall began to slide and despite all best efforts the effect looks as if I was a little drunk when I put them on. However, you don't need a square and ordered run of tiles and often sound engineers prefer irregular shapes. Well that's my excuse — and its also one reason there are no photographs.
My treated space now works very well. The reflections around the mixing/desk recording/ area have completely gone. Sometimes I think I may have killed of too much of the highs but audio sound recorded here sounds like classic Radio 4, which is very good for a lot of what I do.
When recording instruments I have found I can simply sit myself in the middle of the room and have a nice sound. The treatment is not as severe here and the sound is not quite as dead. I've recorded instruments here and also conversations with three seating positions and three mics and it all comes out nicely.
It has been a great investment which has completely revolutionised the use of this space. For home recording you really don't need the complicated sets, bass traps and so on. For a long shaped room my arrangement works well, maximum treatment in the mixing space but with reducing amounts of treatment as I move backwards.
Things get a bit more complicated I guess if you worry about the decor of your room but the grey colour of these slates is really not too obtrusive.
For problem spaces this kind of basic treatment is worth considering
First off the space. I have an office at the top of my house which is an attic conversion. This is a long room with a curved roof — it is only really possible to stand up along the middle section. The curved walls of the room are 'hollow' in a sense. At the far end of the room I have my desk which also acts as my computer based mixing space.
I record a lot of audio for various projects. Initially, after I moved into the house 5 years ago, I tried to survive using an SE Reflection Vocal booth. This helped a little but when working at my desk it wasn't practical — I wasn't able to record vocal scripts easily when reading from them and when mixing music I didn't really trust what was being presented to my ears.
I spent quite a long time looking at acoustic treatment companies. I should point out at this point (and I'm sorry as I assume you already know this) that the 'acoustic treatment' is not the same thing as sound proofing. Basically, I wanted something that would absorb a lot of the reflections that came off both the brick wall where my mixing space was and the curved walls and ceiling of the room.
I bought my acoustic tiles from Advanced Acoustics at: www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/
There are a number of companies producing similar products for the home market.
Gazing at these sites is a bit of a nightmare as these companies sell a range of products and treatment kits. There are specialist foam devices for installing in the corners of a room and special 'bass traps'. I could see that the costs would soon mount up. Did I really need these special tiles?
The companies themselves often provide a specialist advice service which involves you both describing your room and send in the measurements to in house 'experts' The odd curvature of my room made this a bit difficult to do.
Fortunately I decided to ring up the company and I phoned early in the morning when things were quiet. The staff I spoke to were incredibly helpful. They were clear that I really didn't need too much technical and specialist stuff. They suggested buying a pack of their tiles installing them and seeing how that worked. If I needed more treatment I could always order another pack.
The reflections I was dealing with were quite severe and so I ordered two of their Euphonic Wedge PRO FAT tile packs. If the room had been a little less problematic I would have only have needed two packs and maybe could have got away with a cheaper and thinner tile set.
This was quite an investment at around £200 but I knew I really wasn't going to be able to deal with the problem any other way.
The Wedge Pro tile pack comes with two types of tiles. The first has a series of deep wedge slashes in the tile and the second is a simp thick flat surface style. You can easily arrange these in patterns and shapes that look quite professional. Each pack came with a can of spray glue for fixing the tiles to the wall.
I started by dealing with my back wall, which sits behind the computer/mixing space. I created a long run of alternate tiles along the wall, the narrow width of the room. I was pretty sure I needed a lot of sound dampening here.
Next I used a classic treatment technique, which is well worth remembering.
I used a full length mirror to calculate the exact reflection points on the walls and the ceiling between my sitting position and my monitors — basically you can simply adjust the position of the mirror to ensure that you are in the right spot. Keep the chair fixed and move around to make sure that from different angles you can see the monitor and the chair.
At the reflection point I then created two runs of tiles — 3 tile long and 2 high — on each wall, and a similar run of tiles on the roof.
I then took the other tiles and created two smaller runs on each wall, put a few tiles on the ceiling and then finished off by placing four tiles on the opposite wall to my mixing desk — where the door is located.
If I am honest I did this in a frenzy of activity. The glue takes time to set and so it is reasonably easy to remove them early on if you think you have just killed the space. In fact, my long run of tiles along my monitor wall began to slide and despite all best efforts the effect looks as if I was a little drunk when I put them on. However, you don't need a square and ordered run of tiles and often sound engineers prefer irregular shapes. Well that's my excuse — and its also one reason there are no photographs.
My treated space now works very well. The reflections around the mixing/desk recording/ area have completely gone. Sometimes I think I may have killed of too much of the highs but audio sound recorded here sounds like classic Radio 4, which is very good for a lot of what I do.
When recording instruments I have found I can simply sit myself in the middle of the room and have a nice sound. The treatment is not as severe here and the sound is not quite as dead. I've recorded instruments here and also conversations with three seating positions and three mics and it all comes out nicely.
It has been a great investment which has completely revolutionised the use of this space. For home recording you really don't need the complicated sets, bass traps and so on. For a long shaped room my arrangement works well, maximum treatment in the mixing space but with reducing amounts of treatment as I move backwards.
Things get a bit more complicated I guess if you worry about the decor of your room but the grey colour of these slates is really not too obtrusive.
For problem spaces this kind of basic treatment is worth considering