Improve sound in a slopey, slanted attic room?

This forum is the best use of the web I’ve seen. Thanks so much. (And just when I was ready to go all Luddite…) Hope you can help with this problem. I have a room in an attic apartment with angled walls (under gables) where I need to record voice-over (spoken word – not vocals/singing). There are three problems I’m looking to solve: I’d like to know what I can do to keep some sound from getting in (from the street & downstairs neighbors), how to isolate the laptop noise and still keep it functional, and finally what can be done to improve the acoustics in the room. A tall order, I know, especially considering the space and my budget: $1,000US or less. Please stop laughing. The room has a wood floor and is basically 16’10” x 13’6” -- pix below. Here are the issues in detail: SOUND COMING IN The Windows – wood frame Though I’m on a side street of a small town, we still get some traffic and I hear whenever a car – or a hooligan – goes by (I assume the sound’s coming in only through the window, but it’s a 100+ year old house w/vinyl siding, so I’m not sure). I’ve seen DIY window covers, but I haven’t seen any that are removable. I mean removable, not just when I move out, but when I’m not recording. Is there anything other than heavy drapes you can suggest here? The French Doors – wood frame I’m guessing they’re trouble. They lead to another, similarly sized room (with three times the windows – these facing the street). I have to have access to the doors, so again, anything I put up here I have to be able to take down daily. I have absolutely no idea how to treat this. Maybe I really need to treat the windows in the adjoining room? Clueless here and cursing the French. Suggestions welcome. The Old Bag Ok, this is a truly unkind way to refer to the old lady who lives underneath me. But whenever she is home, her TV is on and I can hear it through the floor. Not quietly. I would love to address this (I mean, besides addressing her directly), but I’m guessing that one may be a lost cause given my budget/constraints. Fortunately, she has a day job. But on those times when I need to record at night, is there any hope of reducing the constant drone of CSI:Miami? THE LAPTOP I know, I know. But it’s all I’ve got. And while it’s got all the power I need, I pay for it in noise. You’d be surprised how much she squawks after she’s been running for awhile. I’ve got no choice – I’ve got to run the mic through the laptop. I’ve seen brilliant DIY iso-boxes for desktops, but I obviously can’t box off the laptop and still get to the keyboard. All I can think to do is iso-box it somehow (or stick it in another room) and run a remote monitor, keyboard & mouse, but then I’ve got those added expenses (…Not being currently in possession of said remote monitor, keyboard & mouse…) Any one else out there silly enough to record to a laptop? Ideas? ROOM ACOUSTICS This is actually my biggest concern. I can wait for the truck to pass if need be. I can stick the laptop in the next room or on the other side of the French Doors and keep running back and forth. But I need the sound in here to be the best it can be for Voice. For under a grand. If there are inexpensive solutions for the other things I’ve noted, by all means pass them on. But acoustics is where I’m most lost. I’ve read many excellent explanations (some here), but what can I say: I’m the talent. I’m not necessarily the brightest snow-cone in the truck. Add my crazy wall angles and I’m completely lost acoustically. It actually doesn’t sound terrible when I simply record as is, but I know it could be better. If someone could have a look at my room and give it to me straight, I’d really appreciate it. Is there any hope for this room? What can I do to improve my sound. I know with my limitations I’m not going to get anything near professional, but any improvement would be won-der-ful. I should mention the room is currently loaded with furniture and a few rugs. (2 wooden desks, 2 wooden bookshelves, 2 file cabinets: one wood, one metal, and various office equipment) I can clear this out if it will make a tremendous difference. I mean, Tremendous. And though I realize this is really more of an acoustics question, if you’ve read this far and are maybe feeling a little generous, I’d be very happy to hear your opinion of where I should stand and which direction I should face to get the optimal sound in this funhouse. If it weren’t for the slanted walls, I would guess with the window to my back, shooting lengthwise. But I’m really straining to grasp basic acoustics in a perfectly rectangular room, so in here I might as well play Russian-VO-roulette, spin the mic and speak where it lands. As a final alternative, I see the Auralex “MAX-Wall 1141 Vocal Booth” – their portable four-walled booth thing – goes for $1,000US. If you think I would do just as well to plop one of these into the room, I’d like to know. I have no experience with this product. Obviously it won’t stop the Old Bag from watching her shows or keep the hooligans from roaming the streets, but at least I could be buried in it when my wife finds out I spent a grand on a foam playhouse. More details here: http://www.truesoundcontrol.com/products/MAX1141.html Any help you kind people care to offer will be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you need more information. I’d confident enough with tools to build simple things and would prefer to build rather than buy if it meant reducing the costs. Oh, about the room. The two regular doors at the end. One leads to a hall; fairly quiet. The other is a closet (and no, there’s no way I can get in there with my gear – the slants) I believe both doors to be solid, sturdy examples of exemplary doormanship. Sorry the drawing is so crude. If you’d prefer to see it from another angle, let me know. Thank you, Richard

Aloha and welcome to the forum Richard :D

This forum is the best use of the web I’ve seen.

Hey, I gotta agree with you there! :D Isolation from sound coming in/going out requires a principle called mass-air-mass. One of the side effects of m-a-m is $$$. Another is weight, and LOTS of it. Being that you're on an attic level, you might want to consider checking to see if the structure can support the added load. Here's a couple of links with some great info on acoustics, absorbers, etc. for you to read while you're waiting for those trucks to pass. :wink: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm I am in a similar situation where I am located in the family room in our home and needed to improve the acoustics.I cently made a bunch of the wall units and the improvement to the sound of the room is quite remarkable. If you care to, you can find them here: http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... ght=#15598 http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4091 Looking forward to your project. Aloha 8)

kendale, Thank you very much for your reply. Unfortunately, I'd read all that before I posted -- but still wasn't sure how to apply it given the slanty aspects of my space. :oops: I realize I can't expect to completely isolate or block out sound/noise. But are there things I can do --within my budget, limitations, etc --that will quiet them some? And I'm still kind of wondering what, if anything, I can do in this room to help improve the acoustics. Any more help you -- or anyone -- would care to throw my way I'd really appreciate. Thank you thank you.

Aloha Richard,

I'd read all that before I posted -- but still wasn't sure how to apply it given the slanty aspects of my space.

Any chance you could post a little more info, please? - angle of degree of your slopey areas - floor layout (top view) indicating voice-over location - do you stand or sit during voice-overs & proximity to walls/windows - photos of room/work space

I realize I can't expect to completely isolate or block out sound/noise. But are there things I can do --within my budget, limitations, etc --that will quiet them some?

More than likely! :wink:

I'm still kind of wondering what, if anything, I can do in this room to help improve the acoustics.

My understanding of small vocal booth/voice-over treatments tend to lean toward the "dead" side. During the insulating phase of my front soffits, I noticed how nice and quiet it got with each 4' x 2' x 3" section of rockwool that was installed. It occured to me that this approach would make a nice vocal booth environment given a little more attention to inside dimensions and air circulation. In your case, several well placed absorbers, whether free standing or wall/ceiling mounted depending on your work area, should help things quite a bit. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Thanks so much for your help thus far. I've included a drawing of the room from above that hopefully will help. It's drawn to scale. Also gives you an idea of the furniture. I'd like to keep the stuff in there if possible. The angle of the sloping walls (both of them) is 135 degrees. If you don't mind, I'd like to concentrate solely on improving the acoustics. (As for the other issues -- I can wait for traffic and put the computer in the next room). As I said, in an ideal situation, I'd leave all the furniture in the room. (Doesn't it help in some sense; breaking waves?) What I'd like to know is if there are things I can *add* to improve the sound. If it's hopeless to achieve any kind of decent sound with all that junk in there, please say. You mentioned adding absorbers, and I don't think I'd have trouble making those, but all the plans I've seen seem to imply they are permanently attached to the walls. I can't do that -- I'm renting. So can I simply create absorbers and have them free-standing? If so, where would you put them? Regarding mic position: I stand to do VO, about where you see, facing the door. Distances from me to walls: 10'6" in front of me; 6' to window behind me; 6' to my left; 8' to my right. But I'm happy to stand anywhere in the room, facing any direction, if you see an obvious optimal position. I have some photos of the room. I'll post them separately. Thank you again. Please let me know if more information would be helpful. Richard

Facing the window... obviously. :wink: (kindly disregard all the clutter in these shots)

Facing the door...

Askew angle... French doors. Thanks again for any and all help!! :D

Aloha Richard, Tried to post this last night but wasn't able to log on the site for some reason. :(

I've included a drawing of the room from above that hopefully will help. It's drawn to scale. Also gives you an idea of the furniture. I'd like to keep the stuff in there if possible. The angle of the sloping walls (both of them) is 135 degrees. If you don't mind, I'd like to concentrate solely on improving the acoustics. (As for the other issues -- I can wait for traffic and put the computer in the next room). As I said, in an ideal situation, I'd leave all the furniture in the room. (Doesn't it help in some sense; breaking waves?) What I'd like to know is if there are things I can *add* to improve the sound. If it's hopeless to achieve any kind of decent sound with all that junk in there, please say. You mentioned adding absorbers, and I don't think I'd have trouble making those, but all the plans I've seen seem to imply they are permanently attached to the walls. I can't do that -- I'm renting. So can I simply create absorbers and have them free-standing? If so, where would you put them? Regarding mic position: I stand to do VO, about where you see, facing the door. Distances from me to walls: 10'6" in front of me; 6' to window behind me; 6' to my left; 8' to my right. But I'm happy to stand anywhere in the room, facing any direction, if you see an obvious optimal position.

In light of the challenging architecture and quest for the "ideal situation regarding the furniture," would it be viable to build several of John's "rear absorbers" in a more portable size (I say that loosely - mine weighed in at about 60lbs each, but had the added weight of wooden slats), stack and arrange them in a non-square configuration, capping the whole assembly off with a cloud unit (either hung from the ceiling or just placed as a cover on the wall unit assembly? I approached the side absorber treatments in my room in the same way (stackable, portable) and the difference they made in the room (in addition to other treatments) is amazing. What's nice is that after you're done recording, you can take them down and store them in a corner, closet or against the wall and have your living space back all without having to move your furniture. There are commercially available units like these which look great, but are pretty expensive. Depending on the cost of materials in your area, you should be able to construct this much more affordably than the commercial products. Hope this helps.

Kendale, Thank you so much -- that was very generous of you. I think that looks like an answer to me. I have only three follow up questions... for now :wink: Will it make a difference how tall the absorbers are? If so, what height would you recommend given the configuration you suggested? (My ceiling is 7'10") Also, I've searched but haven't found this answer: Is it important what kind of wood I should use for the slats? And finally, you mentioned commercially available units like this: Are you referring to those super expensive all-in-one IsoBooths & WhisperRooms, or are there actually commercial free-standing absorbers/walls out there? Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Aloha Richard,

Will it make a difference how tall the absorbers are? If so, what height would you recommend given the configuration you suggested? (My ceiling is 7'10")

I would imagine that at least as high as a foot above the level of your microphone would be good, but if you're planning to place a "cloud cover" over the walls, then I'd plan for as much extra room above your head as you can spare.

Also, I've searched but haven't found this answer: Is it important what kind of wood I should use for the slats?

I remember reading about that somewhere around here, but the gist of it the answer was, whatever's available/affordable: pine, hemlock, cedar, birch. I used hemlock on mine; it was affordable and looked good to me. There was even a couple of posts of someone routing out the variable sized slots into a sheet of plywood. One thought though, my understanding of very small room acoustics (as in vocal booth size) is that it might be better to have it "dead" than "live." I saw that the plans for the vocal booth called for slats, but there were several posts around here lately that recommended a "dead as possible sound." Perhaps you could try a couple of recordings without the slats and see if you like it that way or prefer a more live sound and add the slats later.

And finally, you mentioned commercially available units like this: Are you referring to those super expensive all-in-one IsoBooths & WhisperRooms, or are there actually commercial free-standing absorbers/walls out there?

http://www.taytrix.com/StackIt_Gobosx.html Aloha 8)

Kendale, Thanks so much for your quick reply and all your help. Much appreciated. Richard

Aloha Richard, My pleasure! Hope it works out for you. :wink: Aloha 8)