Acoustically treating a project studio, a strict landlord

[Kapek10]

Hi there,

I recently moved to a new space with really strict rules. I am not able to drill any holes, stick anything on walls or permanently alter 'my' room. Which is inconvenient as this is the only room available form my personal use.

Looking for a way to create a mixing/recording (mainly vocals and guitars) environment, but I don't see an exit from overcoming this inconvenience mentioned earlier. Also there are few minor issues.

it's a 341cm length / 267cm width space with a double bed in a middle (207cm/151cm). This doesn't leave a lot of space, as one of the walls along the length of the room is a 3 piece cupboard with a bookshelf in a middle. So positioning a bed in most convenient way might be crucial. Bass trap placement will be hard as no matter where you place them, these will be in the way of a cupboard door.

Measurements for cupboard wall;

Window side, 236cm L/ 156cm W
Wall side, 236cm L/ 108cm W
Middle, bookshelf - made of 6 rectangular compartments 36cm L / 58 cm W + lower cupboard 81cm L / 119cm W.

Sorry, thickness and depth measurements hasn't been included.

Good side to a room is that it has a carpet instead of a solid floor. However what other materials would work for treating this room? walls are made of plasterboard just to specify.

I would appreciate any help in overcoming this issue, just cannot think of any plan for this room. Please let me know if it would be useful to prepare a 3D sketch of a room.

It's my first time using this forum, if I missed something or worded something wrong please let me know.

Many Thanks.

[Soundman2020]

HI there "Kapek10". Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

I am not able to drill any holes, stick anything on walls or permanently alter 'my' room.

You should check your written rental contract carefully. Often they simply say that you have to return the place in the same condition it was given to you, so if you do put a nail in the wall to hang a picture (or whatever), you then have to take it out, cover up the hole properly, and paint the wall.

But anyway, assuming that you only want to TREAT your room acoustically (to make it sound good inside), and you have no need to ISOLATE it (stop sound coming in/going out), then that can probably be achieved to a certain extent without needing to touch the walls: you would just build self-supporting treatment devices that stand on the floor, or are hung from some type of "truss" that you put up in the room, supported on self-supporting posts.

Looking for a way to create a mixing/recording (mainly vocals and guitars) environment,

So you want a room that you can both track in and also mix in? Unfortunately, that isn't really possible. The acoustic response that you need for tracking is different from that needed for mixing. That said, if it is ONLY vocals and ACOUSTIC guitar, then it can be done.

it's a 341cm length / 267cm width space with a double bed in a middle (207cm/151cm).

Ummmm... so the room is 9m2, and over one third of that is taken up by a bed? First thing you need to do, is get rid of the bed! There's a huge amount of acoustic absorption going on with that. Way more than the room needs.

one of the walls along the length of the room is a 3 piece cupboard with a bookshelf in a middle.

So another large section of the room is taken up by other furniture? This is not good.

Bass trap placement will be hard as no matter where you place them, these will be in the way of a cupboard door.

I suspect that bass trapping might not bee too much or a problem in that room: fill the cupboards with insulation and leave the doors open. That wall where the cupboards are will have to be the rear wall of the room: the opposite wall is where your speakers will go, but I don't see where you are going to have your desk! It would have to be on top of the bed...

Good side to a room is that it has a carpet instead of a solid floor.

Nope! That's a major DISADVANTAGE to the room! Carpet is terrible for acoustics in small rooms. Think about this: I'm sure you have seen many photos of high-end professional studios in magazines and on the internet (if not, then just look around at John's studios, and the studios of other folks here on the forum).... now count how many of those top studios have wall-to-wall carpet on the floor.... If your count rises above zero, I would be very surprised! There's a very good reason why we don't carpet the floors of studios: it makes them sound bad.

So, you will need to figure out a way of making our floor hard and reflective: Since I'm assuming you cannot remove the carpet ( ! ), you will have to cover it with panels of plywood, or OSB.

However what other materials would work for treating this room?

That's impossible to say without knowing what the acoustic response is at present! You would first need to run an acoustic analysis of the room, with everything set up correctly (speakers and mix position in the right location, for example). Do it like this: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... =3&t=21122 .

Please let me know if it would be useful to prepare a 3D sketch of a room.

Definitely! Even a 2D sketch would be useful. Photos too.


- Stuart -