New Studio, lots of echo please help!

I have now uploaded some pictures at the following URL: http://rapidshare.com/users/LZTY5F As you can see the corners of this room are pretty crowded with pipes/weird shapes. Thanks ---------------------------------- Hello! My band just moved into a new studio and the echo in the room is out of control. It is a bit better now that we have more things in the room but the sound is still pretty bad. First and foremost I'd like to point out that we are on a low budget but we also want the room to look visually pleasing as it is a really cool lofty (as in loft) space. I will post pictures soon! With that said here is some info about the room. The dimension aren't exact but pretty close. Length 20ft Width 22ft Height 14ft Plus a smaller room that comes off of the main room. Walls are all drywall with the exception of the main wall which is brick and is mostly a huge industrial type window with a frame around smaller square glass pieces. There are currently blinds on the windows. Most corners of the room have metal pipes and two of the corners are concrete columns that reach the ceiling. The floor is also concrete which we painted and so is the ceiling. We are mainly concerned about the actual sound in the room and not about sound proofing. The room will mostly be used for live rehearsals but also for recording in the future. That's all I can think of. Again I will post pictures very soon which will help a lot. The studio is located in New Jersey. Thanks a lot! Carlos

Start with the second announcement at the top of the forum.

Yes I read the announcement. I know there is a lot of information on this forum and online in general however this room is pretty unique and thats why I decided to start a new post. I am also not sure about exactly what to use (diffusers, acoustic panels etc) and where to place them.

please don't do anything! Don't even read :) Please download the room EQ wizard , take some measurements and post it.

Welcome Yardley and thank you for filling in your location. That is a nice size space you have. What you need is absorption. Suggestions are: 1. absorbers (insulation in frames with pretty fabric covering) equally distributed on the walls with twice as many per square foot on the ceiling. 2. if on a very low budget, carpets will help on the highs and some mid reflections and reverb. Andre

Thanks Andre. How many absorbers would you recommend on the walls? I was thinking of building some frames with two 2" mineral wool panels in each and hanging two of them (attached to one another) from the ceiling on every corner. Then bridging the wall/ceiling with some panels along the room. Is that overkill? Thanks

yardley wrote:

Thanks Andre. How many absorbers would you recommend on the walls? I was thinking of building some frames with two 2" mineral wool panels in each and hanging two of them (attached to one another) from the ceiling on every corner. Then bridging the wall/ceiling with some panels along the room. Is that overkill? Thanks

Smaller rooms have an emphasis on bass traps because the the room modes start to become separate (bad) at frequencies where significant music energy is still present, causing unwanted coloration of the sound. In your room the separation of starts (going down in frequency) with one hole around 67 Hz. In other words you do not have to worry about room modes and do not have to put absorbers in the corners. You have to treat the ceiling also, not just the walls. The ceiling is only place that absorbs in the vertical plane. It is difficult to walk on absorbers placed on the floor. :D (So that other people know how the ratios were developed) The walls have a surface of area 1176 ft^2, the floor/ceiling 880 ft^2 for a total surface area 2056^2. The ratio of walls to floor/ceiling is about 4:3. Since you are not going to walk on absorbers double the second factor in the ratio, giving 4:6. Mount 4 absorbers on the walls for every 6 on the ceiling. How many? If I were designing the acoustics professionally, I would use at least 400 ft^2 (20%) of the surface. Assuming 2'x4' absorbers, that would be 50 absorbers. If I was in your situation, I would start with intentions of building 20. 2 for each wall and 12 for the ceiling. Then listen and decide how close it is to what I want. When mounting them, alternate the locations on the walls so that each absorber is an untreated surface on the opposite wall. If you are using 2" insulation, leave a gap of 2-4" between the absorbers and the wall/ceiling. If you do some price research you can probably some material so cheap that you will just make thicker absorber and not have to worry about gaps. Read this for more on prices. Andre

Thanks again Andre that helps a lot. One last question, if I get fiberglass panels do I even need a frame? Can I just glue some burlap onto them and hang with some Rotofast Anchors?

The frame is for looks and physical strength. It does nothing acoustically. Attach as you wish. Updates as you go through each stage will help people here learn from your experience. Pictures are always appreciated. Have fun! Andre

Will do. Thanks