So, you’ve decided what kind of a studio you want to create:
- Mix some loops and record some rhymes
- Voiceover work
- Songwriting/Project Studio
- Recording a full band
And, you’ve decided on how large of a space you’re going to need.
Mix some loops and record some rhymes
Corner of your bedroom, a small office will work just fine.
Voiceover work
A small office or den for your computer, speakers, rack unit and a small closet converted into a vocal booth works great.
Songwriting/Project Studio
Maybe an extra room in your house (den or second bedroom) with a nice walk-in closet for a vocal booth or a portion of your basement or garage.
Recording a full band
You’re going to need space. Space to spread out the musicians and a vocal booth for the singer that can do dual function to record guitar. Want to record drums and get a decent sound? Think high ceiling to get a more natural response from the drums. Ever hear a recording of drums made in a small room? Sounds pretty bad.
In any case, before you pull out that credit card and buy one mic, or cable or stand, you must thing about the acoustics of the room.
I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel so I want to turn you on to an article written by Ethan Winer a couple of years ago that was a great learning experience for me. Take a few minutes and read through the article. CLICK HERE
Okay, welcome back. Is your brain spinning yet? Bass traps, rigid fiberglass, diffusors and absorbers… you probably just want to record your music without the hassle of building a monster studio. Don’t worry, we’ll get there.
Let’s look at two things first: Sound-Proofing vs. Acoustic Treatment.
A lot of folks think that this is the same thing. It’s not. When you’re sound-proofing a studio, you’re trying to do two things: keep the sounds you make from leaking out and keeping the outside sounds from leaking in.
Now, I’m not going to spend a lot of time on sound-proofing, simple because it can become pretty expensive. But, suffice it to say, if you’re going to be recording in an apartment with thin walls, live next to a freeway or airport, or have neighbors that enjoy restoring old cars next door and have an occasional need to test fire engines, you may need to look into some kind of sound-proofing. The folks at Soundproofing 101 have created a quick course that can help.
For the rest of us, we’re interested in Acoustic Treatment or better yet, Noise Absorption. For most of you, you’ll be recording, mixing and possibly mastering in the same room. We need to create a room that is acoustically beneficial to recording and mixing.
What I will tell you up front, put down the egg crates and carpeting. That is going to do nothing to help the room.
We don’t want the room completely dead. That will make for a lousy mixing atmosphere. And, we don’t want the room too live (echoey or too reverberating) because that will play hell with recording and getting a good sound.
In Part Two, I’ll discuss the simple treatments we can do to make a room record/mix ready.
