Home Improvement

Acoustics and Your Home Studio

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So you want to set up a home recording studio?  You have purchased some great recording and mixing software, as well as top of the line sound recording equipment. So, you are set, right?  Hold on!  Have you considered the physical space for recording in your home? A poorly setup up recording space can ruin a recording, even one made with the best equipment.  Here are some important things to consider when setting up your home studio.

Space

Is the space you have chosen large enough for your recording system, microphone setup, and you?  If you use desktop recording software, consider that any noise, such as computer fan noise, a squeaky chair, a nearby refrigerator, could be recorded on your track if you cannot be separated from or be a reasonable distance away from the microphones.  If the space is unfinished, adding insulation in the walls and ceilings, such as spray foam insulation Maryland under sheetrock can go a long way to creating a quiet recording area.

Room Acoustics

Consider the acoustics of the room.  Sound waves reflect or bounce off of hard surfaces, such as walls, floors, and ceilings. As the sound waves bounce off the surfaces, they can cancel each other out creating dead zones, or create areas of enhanced or diminished unwanted frequencies. Sometimes these effects are exactly what you want and other times they are not.

Sound Proofing

There are several materials available to add to your recording space to improve the acoustics. Soundboard and acoustic foam are two that are commonly used in recording and broadcasting studios. These materials provide soundproofing, but also can reduce the intensity of the sound reflections off of the hard surfaces and reduce unwanted dead nodes. There are many resources that can help you in determining the number, size, thickness, and location of acoustic foam, for a given space.

A home studio space chosen and setup correctly can produce sound recordings that can rival the professionals.

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