Acoustic treatment of large reflective space

[_msp]

Hi all

I need a bit of newbie acoustic treatment advice please

I'm fortunate enough to have moved to new place with a large garage/studio space underneath the house. It's roughly a quad garage space about 8m wide, 10m long & 3m tall. There's a large pillar slightly off center that divides the space into 4 quarters, each about the size of a car garage. It is concrete walls, floor and ceiling.

The space (shared with my partner) will be used for audio work but also art projects and installation work so some bare white walls suit us. We'll also rehearse some live a/v projects.

You can get an idea from the pics below. The quadrant I'm setup in right now is the front left (facing outwards), 3.4m wide and 4.8m long.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B14GqkRUiGN2RFK

Unsurprisingly, the problem I'm having is reverb (a good 4-5 seconds). It sounds like a Berlin warehouse in here! As fun as that is for a moment, mixing is a nightmare and I'm having to refer to headphones constantly.

We make mostly textural electronic music & dance music so acoustic recording is not a primary concern. Just being able to monitor without the muddiness.

1) Mostly I read that introducing walls adds more reflection but surely in this case, some freestanding, treated walls are the best option?

2) Should I be looking at diffusors only or a mixture of diffusers and absorbers (ideally, I'm not covering all the outer walls)

3) Happy to spend some cash but concerned this might get expensive. Tips on DIY solutions (partial or whole) gratefully received. We are remote with many companies not delivering to our location.

Many thanks!

[Sam Spoons]

Welcome to the forum...

You are lucky to have such a good sized space.

You'll need bass trapping, full range absorption and, maybe some diffusion. It sounds like you are fairly handy so building your own should be no problem. It is what I did, I'm very pleased with the results and build ing them saved me around 40% compared to buying. I could have saved a fair bit more but I chose to use a fairly expensive fabric to cover them as I wanted them to look good.

You also need to look into positioning the monitors and listening position to get the best stereo imaging and (particularly, bass) balance.

There are lots of useful threads in this forum relating to the subject including this one I started.

https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=57392

[_msp]

Thanks Sam!

I've read around a bit already but I suppose the main question I'm unsure about is:

1) Mostly I read that introducing walls adds more reflection but surely in this case, some freestanding, treated walls are the best option?

I'm really not sure if I should be boxing off a quadrant of the room.

Cheers

[Sam Spoons]

If you don't have to I wouldn't do so but if you are both working in there together it may become necessary. From a purely acoustic POV a bigger room will pretty much always sound better than a smaller one. You will need a fair bit of acoustic treatment and remember that stud walls will do little to reduce noise getting into the other section of the room unless they are well built and well sealed (air gaps are the enemy where sound isolation is concerned). Gobos might be a solution to improving sound in the mixing area but will do nothing to stop sound getting into the other part of the room.

But,. as you have a fairly large space to work with you could consider dividing it in half, (ideally making the studio section 8 x 5 metres rather than 10 x 4 which is still larger than many home studios and a good sized room) and then adding acoustic treatment to the studio. Place your monitors on the short wall a couple of feet into the room and the desk between them maybe with a large bass trap behind and absorbers at the 'mirror points'.

[_msp]

Good advice, thank you Sam.

I didn't know the term "gobo" so that's useful to help me research further. I'm not worried about containing sound as we'll either use the space exclusively or together for collaborative projects.

The gobos can be put to one side also if needed.

Cheers

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, I believe the term 'gobo' is a contraction of "go between" and was first used to describe masks for theatre/film lamps. Recording studios refer to moveable acoustic screens, used to improve separation between instruments/amplifiers, as 'gobos'. Yes they can be placed at the sides and, if appropriately constructed, will act as absorbers wherever they are placed.

A film/video editing suite will also benefit from controlled acoustics so I'd have though some moveable acoustic treatment (gobos) would never outlive their usefulness.

[Wonks]

There are lots of posts in this section about making DIY rockwool bass traps and absorbers. Both can be covered in white fabric if you want to maintain the overall look of the space as it is.

But some soft furnishings in there will also help reduce some of the reverb. Maybe some rugs on the floor and even hung from the walls will start to tame the reverb (at least at high frequencies). But you won't get a more acoustically accurate area until you get some decent bass trapping and broadband absorbers in there.

[_msp]

Thanks Wonks.

[Martin Walker]

Hi _msp, and welcome to the SOS Forums!

In addition to Wonks' comment, I should also point out that people absorb sound as well, so your acoustics could improve a little even when you work 'together for collaborative projects'

Martin

[_msp]

Oh, so I need a bigger team?!

[Sam Spoons]

Acoustic treatment is probably going to work out cheaper.....

[Martin Walker]

Oh, so I need a bigger team?!

An audience might help, as long as they can be really quiet during recordings

Martin

[Music Wolf]

I've certainly encountered live audiences where the silence was deafening.

[Drew Stephenson]

I've certainly encountered live audiences where the silence was deafening.

Not just me then!

Reminds me of a choir tour my sister did years ago which included a recital to a community (think it was in Slovenia) where they showed their appreciation by not applauding.
Very disconcerting apparently.