VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Matto · Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:07 pm Post subject: Your thoughts on a new rig

Hey team,

I've moved across the world and have been improvising a recording setup for the first couple of months, but now I'm finally getting a studio organised in our new space.

I was just wondering if you have any thoughts on what I plan to add in the next couple of weeks and if there is anything I've missed.

So, what I have so far is:

-2 RODE mics - NT1A and the NTG-2 (a new mic is on the cards a little further down the track), Focusrite ISA One pre and an Apogee One, MacBook Pro, M600 Mic mount and what the heck, Shure SRH 840 headphones Smile

I have on the way to arrive in the next week, the DAWbox plans for a 4x4x7 booth and 96 sq. ft. of acoustic foam. My MacBook is feeling its age (and perhaps the glass of water that was spilt on it a year ago!) so I'm thinking of grabbing one of the new iMacs. Looking to also purchase some studio monitors but not really interested in going all out and spending a stack of money on those.

Is this all sounding suitable and can you think of anything that I've missed that would be helpful/imperative?

Cheers in advance for your help!
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www.mattcowlrick.com

Steve Knight · Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:45 pm Post subject:

Gear wise, that's a pretty nice set up,..I tried building my own booth last year with roughly the same dimensions as yours, and found it "boxy" sounding..I then converted a closet that's 4x6 and the extra 2 feet made a noticeable difference..

There are others on this board who are far more knowlegable about acoustics than I am that can give more in-depth input

Matto · Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:49 pm Post subject:

Nice one, Steve...the extra 2 feet may be in order. Thanks for chiming in.
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Mike Sommer · Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:07 pm Post subject:

Here is the question I ask everyone who wants a small booth: Why do you feel you need to sequester yourself in a little tiny stuffy box?

I know a lot of people feel there studio is not complete with out having an isolation booth, like commercial studios do. I'll just say that isolation booths in commercial studios are about the size of an average home bedroom and can be easily treated to sound good.

Unless you have major noise issues, it would be best not to buy or build a small booth, and just dedicate the quietest room in your home as a studio. And unless you are experienced in the building studios, building your own iso box is often a futile exercise. It might be best to understand that Whisper Room's are only capable of delivering an isolation rating of 30 STC's which is about the same as a hollow-core door-- and this is only in the frequencies above 500Hz. The DAW box plans are not much better and it is the builders that "plus" the problems of the design.

So if you're only having small issues with unwanted noise, it might be best find where noises are coming from, and learn how to fix or eliminate them. The time and money used to build or buy a small booth is often the same or less than what it would cost to remedy most noise issues.

Your fist step, before you do anything, should be to learn out how noisy your recording space is, and what the noise is or coming from.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

Matto · Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:01 pm Post subject:

That is awesome Mike, thank you very much for taking the time.

At this stage, I'm unfortunately limited in selection of recording spaces in the house. I believe though, that I've been lucky and have scored one the best rooms to make my 'office'. However, I still battle with upstairs noise, neighbour noise and most significantly, piano lessons.

I am getting by at the moment, but I often need to carefully select my time window to record in and am wasting a whoooole heap of time with pauses during jobs and also editing.

I'd love to be able to use the whole room as my recording space, but it's just not a practical solution, considering how long we'll be here etc. and the fact that we are renting.

Does that sound reasonable....or am I still heading in the wrong direction?
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www.mattcowlrick.com

Mike Sommer · Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:19 am Post subject:

First understand how loud the noise is, and at what frequencies.

I would suggest getting an SPL meter, but I'll guess the noise you are hearing is below 50dB's, and most meters may not be of help to you. Recording the room during the loudest portions of the day will help, and then post them so we can have an understanding of what's going on.

Dealing with the piano could be as simple as talking to its owner, and let them know what's going on. Ask them to try to set a regular time for practice. Decoupling the piano from the floor using a medium density foam should help too. (The legs are just transferring the sound into the building.)

It might be best to know what kind of construction the building is. If it is wood frame with a wood sub floor, then they may not be much that you can do, because the structure is resonating, and thusly is amplifying the noise.

The windows cold be leaking noise too, as well as any gaps in the construction. It's amazing how much sealing cracks will keep noise out, especially the crack between the floor and walls.

This is a step by step process.
_________________
The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.