Most of us think that a sound-dead (no reverb or echo at all) studio is very important. But that doesn’t necessarily make your room ideal for recording or even mixing. What you are really after is acoustic treatment.
The goal for recording is to absorb some of the sound bouncing (reflecting) around your room so that what gets recorded isn’t filled with reverb-y sound – like you recorded in a bathroom. You’d be surprised how many recordings sound like that.
By attaching acoustic foam panels at strategic places in your home studio, you can control echo-y reflections without killing natural sound.
If you have the budget, the absolute best thing to do is seek the services of an acoustician. These are experts when it comes to acoustics. Acoustic treatment can get pretty complex. Acousticians do all the math. It makes me cringe to think about it:).
But even if you aren’t in a position to hire an expert, you can help a lot by placing acoustic panels on your walls. See our article: Improve The Quality Of The Audio You Record At Home – Tip 6: Acoustic Treatment for my project in acoustic treatment. there are several before-and-after audio samples in that article so you can hear what acoustic treatment can do.
To get started, get yourself some acoustic absorption foam panels from Auralex. See picture on the left.
And for even more on the subject, check out this article from Audiofanzine: http://en.audiofanzine.com/homestudio/editorial/articles/acoustic-treatment-for-a-home-studio.html
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