Tips to improve entirely carpeted studio

summereire

Hi, I've got a small rectangular studio space: 1.6d x 3.4w x 2.4h metres. It's carpeted on all walls, the floor and the ceiling, as a way to keep external noise out.

I want to use it for spoken word vocal recording, and know this isn't good acoustically. However it would be handy to leave the carpet up to help keep out external sound.

Are there any cost effective ways of improving the acoustics? I was thinking maybe mounting some panels at key places, but wasn't sure where, what material to use, and what level of coverage to aim for?

Thanks for any advice on this!

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i would just hang a few duvets around the walls . all you need is a very dead space
especially behind the artist.

or anything heavy and pretty looking if you need it

you just need to kill reflections

use a good close mic like an sm7b or even an sm58

put the mic about 1.1 meter from the front wall with the other 2.3 meters behind you

standing up with mic at about 1.6 or 1.7 meters high

or sitting with mic about 1 meter high .

godfrey

There are 2 completely different issues raised here;
1/ Reducing external sound insode the studio - the only way to achieve this is to isolate your studio, not insulate it. The most cost effective way is to line it with a product like Calibel. The rockwool 'coating' attaches to your walls, and absorbs the vibrations (sound) on that wall, leaving the inside surface of plasterboard with attenuation of 25db or more. Depending where the sound is coming from, you may need to treat the ceiling in this way also. This is a pro solution, not some old wives tale!

2/ Improving the acoustics within the room. I'm guessing you're unhappy with a bass and low-mid boominess, being a small space. The answer to this is bass absorption or 'traps'. Have a look for Paul Brewer and Genius Move Studios online for advice on this. It's not something easily achieved with guesswork.

Hope this helps ~

g

summereire

Brilliant thank you

Echoplex

Carpet absorbs High Frequencies very well, but this effect drops off entirely at wavelengths longer than about ten times the thickness. Let's assume no absorption below 1000Hz. If your room boundaries are pretty solid, there will be very strong LF modes. These will dominate that sound in the room. Very close micing will help by featuring the direct sound over the room tone.
Carpet would have very little blocking effect, although dampening plasterboard surfaces is probably beneficial.
Soundproofing is difficult. Blocking all 'leaks' can result in a very warm and unhealthy space.

Make a plan, replacing carpet with 4" thick fibre absorption, plus a 4" airgap behind each panel. If you perform standing, start with the ceiling.
There are commercial panels readily available, but there are also really good really cheap DIY options.
DD