SOUND ON SOUND

[Chrismos]

I'm trying to get started but I don't even know how. My room is in the attic and is about 6 by 6 qq meters. I'm going to try diy bass traps but I'm wondering if I should cut the room halfway with some sort of partition wall wouldn't help a lot already? If not what essential things should I do besides bass traps?

Here Is the room :

[Eddy Deegan]

Welcome to the forum :-)

Are you really wanting soundproofing (preventing sound from entering/leaving the space), or are you more meaning acoustic treatment (taming the acoustics in the room to enable better recording and/or monitoring)?

Bass traps are more in the latter camp - they won't do much, if anything, for soundproofing.

What sort of recording do you do? Some more information about your objectives would be useful!

[Sam Spoons]

Merry Christmas and welcome to the forum #Chrismos :D

I'm pretty much just re-enforcing what Eddy says. You will want 'acoustic treatment' if you plan to record 'real' instruments/vocals or mix using speakers. You may need 'soundproofing' if you plan to do either of the above at any sort of volume.

[blinddrew]

Yes indeedy. Sound treatment can be DIY, affordable, and fairly straightforward. Sound proofing is difficult, expensive and oh-so-easy to get wrong. See Eddy's thread here about how he's tackling his loft space: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... 24&t=74805

[Luke W]

Yes indeedy. Sound treatment can be DIY, affordable, and fairly straightforward. Sound proofing is difficult, expensive and oh-so-easy to get wrong.

This. :thumbup:

It's also even more difficult to soundproof something that's already built as a lot of the main culprits for sound transmission are hidden away in the construction of the room/building itself rather than anything that can be fitted afterwards.

[Chrismos]

Thanks for the welcome :D
Yeah sorry English im my second language and I mixed my words here. The right term was actually sound treatment not soundproofing.
Basically get a "faithful" sound, that's not drowned in reverb, from the monitors.

What sort of recording do you do? Some more information about your objectives would be useful!

Recordings well... I'm doing a lot of genres, mostly alone at the moment, ranging from electronics to symphonic with metal in-between. Instruments are a midi keyboard for basically all instruments except drums (which a v-drums too), guitar and bass, singing (for which I suppose it's best to buy a separate shield?) a few extras percussions and small instruments (harmonica, kalimba, etc). But it's mostly directly plugged in instruments usually. The goal is here is mostly focused on getting a neutral sound I'd say.

[Music Wolf]

Hi Chrismos and welcome to the forum.

As the other guys have said, acoustic treatment i.e. to obtain a more neutral sound will be much easier to achieve. In a small room it is almost never better to divide the room up into smaller spaces. Search the articles in the Sound on Sound magazine and the many threads on here for tips on how to build, and where best to place, bass traps / broad band absorbers and start with the ‘first reflection’ or ‘mirror’ points (imagine sitting in your mix position and placing a mirror on the wall either to your side or above your head. The point where you would be able to see a reflection of your monitors is where you should place your absorbing panel.

Looking at your picture I would say that you are starting out with a good layout (symmetry). You will need to experiment but, if it were me, I would be thinking about filling the small space where the sloping roof meets the floor with bass traps. This may not be the best position but it is probably space that is not easy to use for anything else.

[CS70]

Thanks for the welcome :D
Yeah sorry English im my second language and I mixed my words here. The right term was actually sound treatment not soundproofing.
Basically get a "faithful" sound, that's not drowned in reverb, from the monitors.

I assume you will be using the room also for mixing? In this case, first pick your monitors position (make sure the speakers point along the longest axis, and have the desk a little off the wall if you can).

Then the classic "shopping list" is : absorbers at mirror points from the speakers (google), bass traps in the corners, absorbers at the wall facing the speakers, absorbers/bass trap behind the speakers and trap on the ceiling. Then, it depends on what you want. The main issue is of course to fit all these and still have space to move but a 6x6m asymmetrical room is not a bad start! More info as mentioned in many Studio SOS or dedicated articles on the internet.

[Chrismos]

and where best to place, bass traps / broad band absorbers and start with the ‘first reflection’ or ‘mirror’ points (imagine sitting in your mix position and placing a mirror on the wall either to your side or above your head. The point where you would be able to see a reflection of your monitors is where you should place your absorbing panel.

I didn't knew about this, pretty cool, thanks!

As the other guys have said, acoustic treatment i.e. to obtain a more neutral sound will be much easier to achieve. Looking at your picture I would say that you are starting out with a good layout (symmetry).

That's good to know!

You will need to experiment but, if it were me, I would be thinking about filling the small space where the sloping roof meets the floor with bass traps. This may not be the best position but it is probably space that is not easy to use for anything else.

I can/planned to put some low shelves in here, maybe this will help absorb a tiny bit...but yeah if I don't I'll definitly think about bass traps here.

I assume you will be using the room also for mixing? In this case, first pick your monitors position (make sure the speakers point along the longest axis, and have the desk a little off the wall if you can).

Yep mixing. I knew about the off the wall thing, I also read something about how you should be place about 1/3rd of the room if possible In think

Then the classic "shopping list" is : absorbers at mirror points from the speakers (google), bass traps in the corners, absorbers at the wall facing the speakers, absorbers/bass trap behind the speakers and trap on the ceiling.

Well...that's already a lot to add and can certainly help, thanks for the list.