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How create the warm fuzzy studio feeling in my home?

Steve Clark

Steve Clark

Jan 9, 2004
2,492
91
60
London ON
www.steveclarkonbass.com
#1
I would like to improve the sound quality in a room that intend to use to demonstrate amplifiers. It doesn't need to be completely sound proofed. I just want to create that 'still' studio quality. Know what I mean?

What can I do relatively cheaply to create this? The room is a finished basement with concrete walls behind the finished walls. The floor already has carpet. The room already sounds good but I want it to be better.

Thanks for your help.
 
#2
false walls are the way to go imo.
i outfitted a concrete garage with false walls and the result was the drumkit could barely be heard in the driveway. and the garage itself was accoustically quite dead.
i created a 2x4 frame for each wall and covered/filled them with carpet i stole from the carpet store dumpster once a week or so. i also kept an eye out for buildings being renovated and scored a couple loads of good carpet.
then i leaned the two large walls up, then wedged the smaller walls up and didn't have to use nails or anything to keep the walls up.
if four whole walls are over the top for your purposes, you can make smaller frames using the same principal to lessen the total reflective area of your walls.
here's a good link for some light technical how to regarding accoustically treating a room. i say light because it isn't a super dry scientific read, but it doesn't assume you're an idiot either.
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#4
Auralex has a good budget line of bass traps, baffling, diffusers, you name it. Budget, of course, being $199 and up for a tiny room, but it comes in varying colors, textures, portability, etc. There are tons of other companies, but not all even bother with pricing below $20,000.
 
#9
I've had a lot of success with mounting Corning ridgid fiberglass (701 or 703) sheets (24X48) in my room. I have a very small room that I use as my home studio mixing room, so I had to do something to even out the response. The bass was completely non-existant in spots, and boomy in others. Of course, this also happens when I practise my bass playing.

These sheets look like ceiling tiles without the paper backing. They're ugly so you could cover them if you like with some nice fabric.

Anyway, I mounted them across the corners where 2 walls meet, creating a triangle. This includes where the roof meets the side/back walls and where the side walls meet the front and back walls, ie: Horizontal and Vertical corners.

Also, a couple of panels mounted on parallel walls helps to cut the ring you sometimes hear with sharp sounds. A little airspace goes a long way when mounting these. The more airspace, the deeper that they will absorb to.

While not perfect, it is MUCH better. I can hear the bass in my room now, and when you walk into it from the hallway, you notice how much quieter it is.

- Andrew
 
#10
Steve,
It sounds like you are just trying to improve the sound in the room, not block sounds from coming in or out. If this is the case, you don't need to worry about double walls and other potentially expensive stuff.
Here's some things to consider:
High end:
I'm guessing that the walls are painted drywall, giving alot of reflections in the high end. If this is the case, adding stuff like curtains, a comfy couch etc. can make a noticable improvement. What do you have on the ceiling? There are lots of options for absorbant ceiling tiles. You can put foam or egg cartons on the wall, but they are ugly and tend to make the room too dead. A couple of walls of cedar panelling will give a much more natural sound.
Low End:
Do some bass notes seem overpowering and others non-existant? This is caused by standing waves between parallel surfaces. The more "square" your room is, the more likely to have this problem. Do a quick measurement of length, width, height. If any of these are close to the same (or double) you probably have problems. There are some optimum ratios. Do a google for "Bolt's graph". If you don't want to get scientific, just try to keep parallel surfaces to a minimum and the lengths different.
There's lots of good info on the internet, but be wary of sites trying to sell you expensive stuff like resonators and fancy foam. There is usually a better (and cheaper) solution.
Another thing you might consider is a small wood "stage" so you can get a real world "feel" for the amps/cabinets.
 
#11
ashbory said:
Do a quick measurement of length, width, height. If any of these are close to the same (or double) you probably have problems.
Click to expand...

He'll have problems with standing waves even if the LWH distances are unrelated. The Golden ratio works by spacing the frequency of the modes in such a way that the modes don't combine to create "super" modes :) By putting the cheap 703 across corners in the room, you're attempting to reduce the standing waves by damping where the most bass energy will be present, which is the corners.

There's actually a very good book, called "Sound studio construction on a budget" by F. Alton Everest (ISBN 0-07-021382-8) which has a design for several budget minded set-ups including recording studios, vocal booths, personal project studio, home theatre etc.

If you really want to go the distance, Google "Super Chunks", or visit here:

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There's some really good discusion on this very subject.

- Andrew
 
#12
AndrewShirley said:
The Golden ratio works by spacing the frequency of the modes in such a way that the modes don't combine to create "super" modes :)
Click to expand...

This is absolutely correct. But if two pairs of surfaces that are multiples of each other, you'll have combined modes in every octave - not a good starting point.
I second your recommendation on the Everest book! He recommends eliminating coincident frequencies below 300Hz. As a bass player that sounds just about right. :)
 

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