In an audio studio, there is nothing more important than sound and noise control. This begins with acoustic treament. However, acoustic treatment doesn’t mean you have to spend a bundle on acoustic paneling in order to get those unwanted noises, rings, flanges and echos under control, not to mention the standing waves that build up in the corners.
Sure, if you’ve got a bundle of cash to spend, you’ll want to invest in professional grade materials from Auralex, ATS or Soft Sound (among others), but for those of us in the home studio who don’t have a bundle of cash, there are alternatives.
1) Fill your room with fabric – the heavier the better. I cover my windows with some one inch fiberboard (masked with fabric for more absorption and better looks) and then supplement that with some heavy curtains.
2) Pillows and cushions – A big old comfy couch give you a place to relax when your spending ours in the studio, is a place for the talent to sit and it absorbs a lot of low to high frequency sound. The more pillows the merrier. I have a futon in my studio, which is also a good place to crash when you just can’t edit anymore.
3) Quick, cheap mid to high frequency acoustic panels:
You’re certainly going to eventually put in some bass traps to handle low frequency absorption. But getting a room under control is as simple as hanging some acoustic tile in your problem areas. For me, I have a big chimney running through my studio which causes some awful rings between it and the opposing wall. For the most part, these are problems that occur in frequencies above 1kHz, which acoustic tile handles quite nicely.
The one problem here is that acoustic tile looks absolutely awful. Mine came with the kitchen, which I quickly replaced with luan paneling, which looks much better. However, there was plenty of extra panels in my rafters, so I saved a few bucks there.
Simple solution? Cover them with fabric, the thicker the better. Lay out your panel on a corner of the fabric to allow about an inch and a half of fabric overlay. Cut the remaining two sides with about an inch and a half of overlay.
Fold the overlay of fabric over the back of the tile and staple or glue in place, working frist on one side, the the opposite side to pull the fabric taut to get rid of any wrinkles.
Looks better. Doesn’t it?
That’s really it… Except, of course, hanging the boards. Have an assistant help you fin your problem spots, by clapping to hear the ringing areas, and placing the board until the ringing decreases or is eliminated. It’s a goo idea to also place a few from any blank wall that faces another wall. You don’t have to cover the entire wall, but get a good surface covering going to reduce reverb and ring in the room, which will ultimately effect your recording and editing by adulterating the sound.
Here’s my finalized wall with the curtains and futon.
Have Fun!
Another easy trick is you are using a basic living space to record in- bookshelves, filled
with books that create an irregular surface.
In the olden days of radio stations, it was shelves full of records and the paper or cardboard sleeves.
What you don’t want are two smooth parallel walls for sound to bounce back and forth between.
Thanks, Henry. I’m actually going to cover that next week when I talk about diffusers . Records and bookshelves don’t do much by way of absorption, but they make outstanding diffusers.