John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi,

search high and low but couldn't find an answer on this one on the site.

I'm in the planning stage of building a one-room studio (5,5mx9m outside) and was thinking about variable acoustics or different sounding spots in the recording area of the room.

Something that came to mind was a picture of an older studio with a wall made of river rocks, which looks really cool and will without doubt have some kind of diffusing use.

question: could I fake such a wall with stone strips (link to picture here, dutch link to product info here


TIA,
Herwig

Herwig,

Stone rooms are indeed unique sounding. There are sections covering their design in Newell's book, Recording Spaces. Unfortunately, I don't think the unique sound of stone can be "faked" with what looks to be a plastic replica. The plastic is likely not nearly as dense as stone, would probably be thin, and would not offer much variation of depth in the spaces between the stones - something Newell points out as being crucial to the unique sound of "stone" rooms.

Now, what I can tell you is that, properly applied, this sort of surface does offer advantages over, say, a flat-paneled wall.

You can buy stone veneer.....real stone, just cut thin. It's used for fireplace installations, and uber rich people might put it on the outside of their houses.

I'm thinking of a stone veneer, river rock for the rear wall of my studio. I think it's be a cool focal point, add to the vibe, and have some decent diffusion. Sure, QRD's and other mathematical diffusers will work better for a given square footage area, but stones look cool!

Cheers,

Kris

drfrankencopter wrote:Sure, QRD's and other mathematical diffusers will work better for a given square footage area, but stones look cool!

I wouldn't necessarily agree. Mathematical diffusors are popular and successful largely because they're predictable and efficient. However, there is simply not enough research or data to support that they're "better" than other options, such as the stone veneer you described. And, as is often the case in this biz, "better" on paper doesn't always constitute "better" sounding. That sort of thing is largely subjective.

Jeff, I definitely agree with you on the subjective bit...

I think that the QRD's and Prime Residue diffusors would give a higher diffusion coefficient than thin stone veneer, also, the mathematical diffusors will diffuse to a lower frequency as they will tend to be thicker than stone. BUT, the stone may be more random, which may be a good thing. Me, I think that low frequency diffusion is over-rated, you need diffusion at high frequencies to keep flutter echoes down, and to provide some sense of spaciousness, but low frequency control is best left to bass traps, and good modal design.

Cheers,

Kris