John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there,

Wish I had a fancier request to post;)

I have the following small room next to my kitchen that I'm using as a vocal booth. It's not really a coal shed but I like to think of it that way.

H = 236 cm
W = 91.5 cm
D = 196 cm
Floor = concrete, Ceiling=concrete Walls-exposed brickwork
Wooden door entry

Randomly sticking a couple of bass traps and some duvets works ok at the moment with my ribbon mic which is forgiving but after a u87 session with a female singer I need to proper fix this...

It's rented so I cant go crazy. I'm in Manchester UK.

An approach or treatment equip advice much appreciated....in UK terminology please if possible.

Main objective - good sound - dead room.
Secondary objective - leakage minimisation.

Many thanks
Anthony
www.flyingmountainrecords.com

bump....y'all are the dons...I can't concieve of not consulting before having a go....

I have 2 Real Traps (basstraps) that i was thinking to put in - is that overkill - would 1 do?

As to the treatment for mid and high frequencies - should i just put in two densities of insulation?

Carpets on the floor? Rubber?

Should I keep one brick wall exposed?

Of course I can try all these permutations but it's a pain running up and down the stairs;) All help appreciated.?

no-one? sorry it's such a boring request!

> no-one? sorry it's such a boring request! <

You didn't mention a particular problem, only "I need to proper fix this." So it's difficult to know what to suggest beyond the most general advice.

If you already have two MiniTraps, put them in corners to help reduce the boominess. Then you should put more absorption panels elsewhere to get rid of the "early" reflections from all the nearby walls and ceiling. That's the real issue - reflections from nearby reflecting surfaces create comb filtering which gives that hollow, boxy, off-mike sound.

--Ethan

thanks ethan - sorry the problem wasn't clear....the u87 showed the room up and it sounded bad/boxy....I was wanting a dead room

I thought the dimensions of the booth might be an issue or that using the dimensions and the list of materials the room is made out of various things could be inferred about how the room would behave with certain frequencies...

should I
- carpet the floor? or put rubber down?
- what densities of absorption panels should i put in? (other than the minibass traps)
- should I cover all the surfaces in the booth?
- will using a mic on figure 8 be the best bet for really removing the narrow side walls OR if I fully treat the room should this not be an issue?

thanks again for replying
anthony

2 mini traps should do it for the bass trapping. At this point you want to cover the more of the walls and ceiling with 2" rigid fiberglass or mineral wool. Keep the foor bare for the time being to see how it will sound.

Glenn

cool - thanks...

is it possible the early reflections from the floor might be useful? i.e. the high frequency/excitement frequencies for vox?

Anthony,

> the u87 showed the room up and it sounded bad/boxy....I was wanting a dead room <

Gotcha. As Glenn said, mid/high frequency absorption on the walls and ceiling is the next step. And Yes, you can leave the floor reflective, but in that case you definitely should treat the ceiling as well as the walls. Since the room is so very small, covering all of the walls and ceiling is probably best. It will be very dead, but that's better than boxy sounding.

--Ethan

excellent....thanks Ethan

what are the densities and proportions of high and low freqency dampeners I should use?

e.g.
fibreglass Density X on 30% of room
fibreglass denisty Y on 70% of the room

I'm guessing I would also spread them evenly around the room.

thanks once more
Anthony

Anthony,

> what are the densities and proportions of high and low freqency dampeners I should use? <

In a room that tiny I'd use the thickest stuff you can manage, and put it everywhere. I usually do not recommend covering all surfaces! But this room is just too small to aim for anything but totally dead.

--Ethan

cool - thanks Ethan...