Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

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Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by Limitbreaker »

Hello guys,

There must be a dozen topics regarding this topic but since it feels so specific to room types as well I wanted to make a post + show some pictures. As you can see I have a reflection booth + usually use a rack with some weighted blankets right behind it, but it feels incomplete. I want my NTI-A to sound as best as possible.

Considered using a closet but then heard those can give a lot of dead sound.. so hm. Lets just do the acoustic treatment. I don't really have a budget, though i wouldn't spend thousands on it. Can you guys help with placement and type? Where should I hang all the boxes and plates

Bedroom layout: (Please excuse the mess lmao)

https://imgur.com/a/HEZb4cq
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Re: Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by Sam Spoons »

Welcome to the forum. I'm assuming you only need to record vocals? If so the setup you are using will probably have got you 90% of the way there. That said you may see a small improvement if you add a ceiling panel over the mic position. The thing to avoid (as often happens in small vocal booths/closets) is too much mid and high absorption sucking the top end out of the sound so panels at mirror points* are most effective at reducing unwanted room reverb. Be aware that reflection filters/booths can cause colouration so care when positioning the mic in them pay dividends, the usual advice is to keep the mic just outside the front opening.

* Usually taken to mean where a mirror on the wall/ceiling would show the monitors when you are sitting in the mix position but equally valid in a recording context, place absorbers in such a way to minimise reflections of the source getting back into the mic.
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Re: Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Sam's pretty much got it covered but it's worth lobbing up a couple of mic stands and duvets and having a play around to see what works best where. With small, irregular rooms it's almost impossible to do a sensible theoretical approach without being in the room and having a bucket load of experience.
So experiment and see what works, then work from there. You can do it a bit at a time as well so there's no need to spend on stuff that isn't needed.
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Re: Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by Limitbreaker »

Thank you guys for the answers!

Though, I am very surprised. I am 90% done already? I did not expect this. Is it because of the carpet on the floor and my blinds being a ''cape'' of sorts too? I expected to needed to add panels, and those black foam things everywhere.

Yes, it is for vocals only. Singing/rapping :)
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Re: Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by Sam Spoons »

Duvets as acoustic treatment come up a lot here, and are a good basic solution in many cases, likewise beds or sofas often serve as surprisingly effective bass traps. The worst thing for acoustics is allowing reflections between opposite, parallel surfaces to escape so a room cluttered with soft furnishings, bookshelves and so on will undoubtedly sound better than an empty room.
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Re: Could use some help with Acoustic Treatment (Bedroom + Pictures)

Post by DanDan »

I sometimes like to think of Acoustics as 'The Game of Opposites'

When we treat surfaces near the source and mic we absorb the earliest reflections. Removal of these comb filtering HF destroying unwanted extra sources leads to great clarity, like outdoors. Or an Anechoic Chamber, where the clarity is so good we measure speakers and mics there. Unarrested those early bright reflections arriving later than the direct sound would comb filter it leading to dull response at the mic. So.....curiously perhaps, a totally fluffy absorbent dead booth allows crystal clear uncoloured vocals.
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