DJpullchord Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I’m moving to house with an underground garage, maybe 16’ x 14’. There are no neighbours so I intend to make as much noise as possible. Get some recording gear etc. The floor is concrete and walls block. Would standard carpet be okay for aiding recording in the future? I literally know nothing about recording music, sound engineering etc but very excited at the prospect of learning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Carpet is fine, but beware of damp. I'd suggest a vinyl floor covering, and rugs. These can be laid out or rolled up as required (the sound may be better with e 'hard' floor, or not; it all depends...), and cleaning might be easier (a decent broom over vinyl is a doddle, or mop and bucket in cases of spillage...). In any case, don't go looking for professional sound quality at first; get 'bedded in' a bit, to see what (if anything...) would make things as you want 'em. Subject to correction, completion and/or contradiction from others; good luck with the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 What dad says , the voice of experience there I reckon 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 1 hour ago, lurksalot said: What dad says , the voice of experience there I reckon 👍 You've seen me (trying to...) carry trays of mugs of tea, then..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 1 sugar please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Sugar..? In tea..? Heresy..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Sorry, poor grammar,. 1 tea please sugar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 4 hours ago, lurksalot said: Sorry, poor grammar. 1 tea please, sugar. Sorry, poor punctuation. Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_sub Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Don't go crazy with carpeting and acoustic panels straight away - very easy to overdo it and end up with a weird-sounding room that's sounds boxy and lacking natural highs! Better to take it slow, read up on recommended standard acoustic treatments and gradually fix problems as you become aware of them. That, or pay for an acoustician to come in and do their magic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJpullchord Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) Cheers chaps. I’m still at the stage of negotiating with the wife, over what will be kept in said garage. It’s a dynamic situation. I need to build this studio without her questioning the price of anything, lots of ‘oh it only cost me thirty quid’ type conversations. Edited January 15, 2018 by DJpullchord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 I know that @Skol303 recommends a particular company highly but I can't remember their name for the life of me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 18 hours ago, DJpullchord said: I’m moving to house with an underground garage, maybe 16’ x 14’. There are no neighbours so I intend to make as much noise as possible. Get some recording gear etc. The floor is concrete and walls block. Would standard carpet be okay for aiding recording in the future? I literally know nothing about recording music, sound engineering etc but very excited at the prospect of learning! Install a vinyl floor and add a nice shaggy rug. Best of both worlds and much easier to maintain in a cellar (which is ultimately going to be prone to damp). But really that's the least of your concerns in a room like this. Your biggest issue is going to trying to control the different frequencies that will be ping-ponging off those hard brick and concrete surfaces and causing bedlam with the acoustics. I've been in this situation myself - and am still trying to make improvements to my own humble music room at home - so here are a few insights that I've learnt along the way: 1) Firstly, forget covering the walls with carpet/ egg boxes/ acoustic foam. All of these suggestions are proven to be duds - they’ll just dampen some of the high frequencies at best (if they do anything at all) and you’ll end up with a room that sounds lifeless and ‘boxy’ (and smells like a wet dog if you start nailing carpets to the walls). So just ignore any of those ideas right from the start, no matter what people tell you. Trust me. 2) What you need are bass traps made out of rigid mineral fibre, like Knauf/ECOSE mineral wool. And lots of them! These will help to dampen the low frequency problems that are going to plague your room, known as ‘room modes’ or standing waves. Bass frequencies (esp. below 100Hz) contain lots of energy and are able to penetrate through walls (as your neighbours will soon testify!), but some of that sound energy gets reflected back into the room. Where these reflected sound waves meet they either reinforce each other - making the bass louder - or they cancel each other out - causing the bass to suddenly drop in volume. These peaks and dips in volume will occur at different places in the room and are very difficult to fix (this is a problem that plagues professional mix rooms as much as it does home studios, so you’re in good company). This might be fine if you’re using the room to practice live music in - but it’s going to cause problems if you want to record/ produce /mix in the room, because what you’ll be hearing/recording will be a very inaccurate, especially in the low end where it counts. Dips of up to 30db or more are not uncommon and in my own room that one particular spot where 60Hz just drops out completely. So what can you do about it?… Quite simply you need to build/buy and install some mineral wool bass traps. These are basically wooden frames, packed with mineral wool and covered with a breathable fabric, fitted to the walls and ceiling. If you want to make a good job of it, you’ll need lots of these bass traps. IN a room of your size I’d recommend building a wooden frame 60cm deep, floor to ceiling, at one end of your room and packing it with mineral wool then covering with fabric. Add some additional bass trap panels (approx 3’ x 5’ x 6-7” thick) to the remaining walls - say, two on each wall - and the same on the ceiling. Yes, it will feel like a padded cell but it it will sound much, much better. You could probably do all this DIY for around £500. If you let me know the exact dimensions of your room (length, width, height) and can post a rough floorplan, I'll happily work out which frequencies you'll need to tame and how best to do so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Where's @Happy Jack ? I think he did a floating floor in his garage, though I could be wrong. He posted a whole thread about converting a space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 20 minutes ago, charic said: I know that @Skol303 recommends a particular company highly but I can't remember their name for the life of me! I do indeed! The guys I used are called Blue Frog Audio, run by a chap called Joe. Very friendly, expert advice and good prices for good products (slightly cheaper than the bigger companies for equivalent products). There's also GIK Acoustics who are arguably the market leaders in acoustic treatment. Also great products from what I've read (I haven't used them myself) and very helpful in providing advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 24 minutes ago, DJpullchord said: I need to build this studio without her questioning the price of anything, lots of ‘oh it only cost me thirty quid’ type conversations. Sounds like DIY is definitely going to be your best option. Timber frames, loads of mineral wool and elbow grease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 1 hour ago, discreet said: Where's @Happy Jack ? I think he did a floating floor in his garage, though I could be wrong. He posted a whole thread about converting a space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Incidentally, that rehearsal space became known as "the junkyard". When I migrated to an industrial unit in Acton (during my divorce), the new space became Junkyard II. Now that we are settled into our new place in Harrow, Silvie & I went ahead with The Final Junkyard, developed along very much the same lines as the one I did in 2011, and that's where my band now rehearses. Most unusually, Silvie didn't document the build in great detail (I think ... Silvie?) but the build principle and materials used were much the same. The two big refinements were (i) a proper aircon/heater unit so it's always comfy in there, and (ii) a steel multi-bolt door that wouldn't look out of place at Fort Knox - it would be easier for an intruder to demolish one of the walls than to come through that door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 9 hours ago, Dad3353 said: Sorry, poor punctuation. Fixed. Oh no , a tea boy with attitude Never mind the punctuation, you need to concentrate on the perforation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 1 minute ago, lurksalot said: ... you need to concentrate on the perforation Are you back on Astronomy? There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in, But the holes are small - that's why rain is thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 18 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: Are you back on Astronomy? There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in, But the holes are small - that's why rain is thin. Aha..! You're a poet, but just didn't ... realise it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 22 minutes ago, lurksalot said: Oh no , a tea boy with attitude Never mind the punctuation, you need to concentrate on the perforation I'm having trouble with this. Am I to understand that you're alluding to the use of... tea bags..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 6 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Aha..! You're a poet, but just didn't ... realise it. That was Spike Milligan mate ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Yeah, he nicked all my best lines, the scallywag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJpullchord Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 Thank you all for your input. We get the keys this weekend and I’ll then establish what needs to live in the garage. Also how much shelving I need to erect etc. I’m fairly practical, are there any links to self build bass traps? thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 8 minutes ago, DJpullchord said: I’m fairly practical, are there any links to self build bass traps? Some great advice here from Ethan Winer, an American chap who runs the company RealTraps - generally regarded as among the best in the business. http://ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html http://audioundone.com/do-it-yourself-bass-traps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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